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Colombia has spent years figuring out the best way to deal with a growing population of invasive hippos that arrived in the country courtesy of Pablo Escobar, and it would appear officials are gearing up for a massive culling after trying (and failing) to find an alternative solution.
Africa (specifically the sub-Saharan region) is currently the only continent on the planet where hippos naturally roam the wild.
However, the endemic species was able to expand its footprint in the 1990s in the wake of the death of Pablo Escobar, the infamous leader of the Medellin Cartel who kept four of them in the private menagerie he assembled at Hacienda Nápoles, his compound in the mountains of Colombia.
The estate fell into disrepair after it was seized by the government after Escobar was killed in a shootout in 1993, and while some of the other animals were relocated to zoos, the hippos were left to roam the grounds unchecked due to logistical headaches involving their transportation.
However, that turned out to be a fairly shortsighted decision, as the massive mammals eventually made their way to the nearby Magdalena River. The population of the “cocaine hippos” also began to grow while subsequently wreaking havoc on the local ecosystem thanks to fecal matter that altered the chemistry of the waters they reside in to the point where it’s caused harmful algae blooms in the area.
In recent years, officials in Colombia have harnessed a number of strategies in the hopes of combating a hippo population that’s now believed to have surpassed more than 160, including castration and an ambitious plan to capture and airlift some of them to Mexico to the tune of $450,000.
According to AFP, an administrative court has expedited a ruling that was previously issued in 2021 that gives the country’s Ministry of Environment three months to finalize and submit a blueprint “that contemplates measures for the eradication of the species” while specifying the use of “controlled hunting and sterilization” to reach that end goal.
Hippos are responsible for the deaths of around 500 people a year in Africa, and while the “cocaine hippos” haven’t claimed the life of anyone in Colombia, there have been reported attacks on fishermen who’ve drawn their ire and a car cras where the driver was lucky to walk away without any serious injuries.
We’ll have to wait a few months to see how the country officially plans to tackle the issue, but it would appear their reign is about to come to an end.