Colombia’s environment minister announced Thursday that the country will slaughter some of the 166 hippos descended from a small herd acquired by drug lord Pablo Escobar in the 1980s. Authorities have tried a variety of methods to stem the Magdalena River’s population growth, including sterilization and sending individuals to foreign zoos.
However, they have been unable to control the increase in hippo numbers in Colombia’s Antioquia province, thousands of kilometers distant from their African homeland.
After drug billionaire Pablo Escobar was assassinated in a confrontation with police in 1993, the animals he had acquired for a private zoo were released into a sweltering savanna region of Antioquia crisscrossed by rivers, marshes, and swamps teeming with hippo food.
Colombia’s Ministry of Environment declared the hippos an invasive species last year, opening the door to a cull.
Experts warn that the creatures’ unrestrained reproduction endangers the nearby human population as well as wildlife.
Hippos are among the world’s most hazardous animals.
Fishing towns along the Magdalena River have been attacked, and hippos have penetrated a schoolyard, though no one has been killed in such encounters.
Minister Susana Muhamad told reporters on Thursday that officials will sterilize 20 hippos this year, while “some” of the animals would be euthanized, but she did not specify how many.
University specialists have warned that if nothing is done, Colombia’s invading hippo population could reach 1,000 by 2035, while animal groups claim sterilization causes pain for the animals and puts vets at risk.
