An exploding population of hippopotamuses descended from those that escaped the estate of cartel kingpin Pablo Escobar in the 90s has become such a nuisance that a judge in Columbia ordered them to be executed.
Shortly after the famous shootout between Escobar and police in Medellin that resulted in the kingpin’s death in 1993, Escobar’s pet hippos escaped and were never captured. The beasts, which environmental official Francisco Sánchez said were “out of control,” have since grown to a population of around 200 despite attempts by the government to stop them from breeding.
The growing number of hippos has damaged local wildlife habitats and landscapes and experts are warning that their numbers could potentially exceed 1,000 within the next few years if something more isn’t done. The hippos are dangerous and threaten humans, too, with reports of attacks on fishermen at the Magdalena River. In response to those warnings, Columbian Administrative Court judges in Cundinamarca have ruled that the Environmental Ministry must deal with the problem by executing the animals over the next three months.
On Friday, Sept. 6, judges warned that previous proposals to stop the hippos from reproducing have failed. These attempts include sterilization, which proved too difficult because of how dangerous the animals are and their size.
Escobar kept four hippos in a private zoo on his estate, which he purchased in the 1970s. After he was killed, officials transferred most of the animals in the private zoo to domestic zoos, but some were too dangerous to move. Officials allowed the hippos to wander the fallen kingpin’s unattended estate until the hippos soon broke out. They were left roaming outside that area because the creatures were too difficult to contain, and over time they started to breed, reaching around 100 in number by 2019.
Juan Pablo Sarmient, an environmental legal expert, said that how to handle invasive species is a discussion of a global problem but that the particular situation in Columbia “cannot be prolonged any longer” and that the hippos have spread because of how much time has gone by without mitigating the problem. Sarmient said wiping them out is necessary because of the impact on the environment and the risk posed to humans.
