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How Pablo Escobar s Hippos Sparked An Ecological Debate Vanessa, one of the hungry hippo at Pablo Escobar s estate - Sinikka Tarvainen/DPA/ZUMA
Once part of the cocaine kingpin s private zoo, the animals are now an invasive species impacting the local environment. But few in Colombia have the heart to kill them off.
BOGOTÁ The story s been told before, and dates back decades. And yet, its relevance continues to grow in a very literal sense and presents Colombia with a real conundrum.
We re talking about the handful of hippopotamuses that the notorious cocaine trafficker Pablo Escobar imported in the 1980s, for his private zoo. The drug lord was killed in 1993. But the huge herbivores lived on and made their way off the Escobar estate and into the nearby Magdalena river, where they have joyfully multiplied ever since.
Los-andesTolimaColombiaColombianColombiansCatalina-reyesIsa-naudGabriel-vallejoRafael-morenoJuan-ricardoPeter-singerAldo-leopoldColombian drug lord Pablo Escobar bought 4 hippos from California zoo in the early 1980s
They were known as his cocaine hippos because of the kingpin s love of buying exotic animals with his ill-gotten gains
In the years after his death in 1993 four escaped the compound
But decades later they are 100-strong herd that rampage his former village
Their toxic urine and faeces are killing wildlife, say eco-experts
They are now the largest invasive species in the world with largest, wild hippo population outside of Africa
By 2040 numbers could rise to 1,500, making their environmental impact irreversible and their numbers impossible to control, a new study has claimed
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