Kathleen Corradi, a veteran pest fighter, said New York s mayor "has made it very clear his stance on rats; he hates rats, I hate rats, all New Yorkers hate rats," as she pledged to find "the most effective technique" as the city s new rat czar.
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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