One Of Pablo Escobar’s ‘Cocaine Hippos’ Has Been Involved In A Deadly Car Crash

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Colombia is home to a number of species with the ability to ruin your day (or end your life) thanks to the jaguars, poison dart frogs, scorpions, and other potentially deadly threats that have long roamed the country.

That list of native animals does not include the hippopotamus, the ornery beast responsible for the death of around 500 people in Africa on an annual basis.

However, hippos have been wreaking habit in Colombia for decades courtesy of Pablo Escobar, the infamous kingpin who inadvertently sparked an environmental crisis when he welcomed four of them into the menagerie he assembled at “Hacienda Napoles,” the sprawling compound where he lived prior to his death at the hands of law enforcement in 1993.

Since then, the animals (colloquially referred to as “cocaine hippos” thanks to the line of business that allowed Escobar to purchase them in the first place) have multiplied at a somewhat alarming rate while polluting local waterways with their toxic poop and urine.

Local officials believe there are currently approximately 150 hippos roaming Columbia and are concerned their “uncontrollable reproduction” habits could result in that number skyrocketing to 1,400 by the time 2039 rolls around.

While environmental regulators have pushed for an extermination campaign, they’ve been unable to get approval for a mass culling due to public opposition (the hippos have also become a bit of a tourist attraction in the areas where they’ve set up shop).

However, there is now one less cocaine hippo in existence thanks to what unfolded on Tuesday.

According to TMZ, one of the hippos was struck and killed by a car on a highway outside of Medellín (the city where Escobar’s cartel was based). The fairly graphic photos obtained by the outlet suggest the vehicle that struck the animal may have been damaged beyond repair in the collision, but the driver was thankfully able to walk away unharmed.

This isn’t the first time someone in Colombia has narrowly escaped harm at the hands (or, more accurately, hooves) of a hippo, as the animals have been at the center of multiple documented attacks on human in recent years.

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Connor Toole is the Deputy Editor at BroBible. He is a New England native who went to Boston College and currently resides in Brooklyn, NY. Frequently described as "freakishly tall," he once used his 6'10" frame to sneak in the NBA Draft and convince people he was a member of the Utah Jazz.