Home / Environment / Rescued Hippo: A Cocaine Kingpin's Troubled Legacy
Rescued Hippo: A Cocaine Kingpin's Troubled Legacy
5 Aug
Summary
- A newborn hippo, malnourished and alone, was rescued by fishermen.
- Colombia's wild hippo population descended from Pablo Escobar's zoo.
- Government plans to cull invasive hippos approved after sterilization fails.
A vulnerable newborn hippopotamus, found dehydrated and malnourished by fishermen along a Colombian riverbank, has been rescued. This event highlights the ongoing challenges posed by the nation's invasive hippo population, which traces its origins back to drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. He imported four hippos in the 1980s for his private estate, Hacienda Napoles.
Following Escobar's death, these hippos escaped and have since proliferated, numbering around 200 and establishing the largest hippo colony outside Africa. They have become a significant ecological concern, impacting native species and waterways. Despite previous efforts to transfer them to sanctuaries and failed sterilization programs, the government recently sanctioned a plan to cull about 80 of these invasive animals.
