Hippopotamus have lived in Pablo Escobar s personal zoo since the late 80s. After the drug lord was shot dead in 1993, most of the animals were shipped away, but four mammals were left in the pond. Scientists estimate that now there are around 100 hippos living there, making them the largest invasive species on the planet. Photo by PB Images /Getty Images
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Scientists want Colombia to cull its “cocaine hippos” that roam the Magdalena river basin, breeding voraciously and causing an increasing menace.
Colombia’s marshlands have been home to the giant mammals since they were illegally imported in the late ’80s by the drug lord Pablo Escobar.
Colombia s best-known drug trafficker, Pablo Escobar, may have been killed in 1993 but his influence continues to be felt in the country, sometimes in unexpected ways. Hippopotamuses brought to Colombia as part of Escobar s private zoo at his ranch, Hacienda Napoles, have bred so successfully that there is serious concern over their environmental impact and human safety, according to a new study by researchers at Mexican and Colombian universities. The hippos have spread out from their original home, some 100 miles east of the city of Medellin, in the Antioquia department, dispersing around the Magdalena river basin as their population continues to grow steadily.
About 100 hippos of the descendants of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar's former pets are now invading Colombia's waterways and poisoning wildlife with their toxic urine and feces, scientists said.
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PABLO Escobar s so-called cocaine hippos are out of control and must be culled, scientists have said.
Experts fear the hippos, which breed in Colombia s Magdalena river basin, could ruin the country s natural habitat.
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Pablo Escobar had hippos in his zoo in ColombiaCredit: Getty - Contributor
The drugs lord, who was shot dead at the age of 43 in 1993, left behind four hippos he brought to his private zoo in Colombia.
After Escobar s death, most animals at the zoo were relocated, but it is believed the four hippos escaped.
Since then, the number of hippos has been growing and it is estimated there are now between 80 and 100 descendants of the Escobar’s former pets.