"The story began at Hacienda Napoles, located some 93 miles from Medellin, where Escobar possessed by the spirit of a megalomaniac Noah built a private zoo with rhinoceros, elephants, and other animals that had been purchased on the international black market. The hippos found an unexpected paradise in the Magdalena River basin: abundant water, no natural predators, and a perfect climate for breeding."
"In the 1980s, four hippopotamuses landed in Colombia, part of an exotic whim of the feared drug trafficker Pablo Escobar. Later on, Pepe a wayward descendant became the herd's most famous member when he was captured. Since then, the country has changed its Constitution, its presidents, and its wars, but four decades and various reporters later, the headline remains the same: Colombia doesn't know what to do with Pablo Escobar's hippos."
"The government of Gustavo Petro, now in its final stretch, has also failed to solve the problem posed by the country's most famous and heaviest invasive species. At the end of November, the Colombian newspaper El Espectador dedicated an extensive report to the animals that opened with the story of Luis Diaz, an illiterate farmer who was attacked by a hippopotamus as he drew water from the pond of a farm one morning in May 2020."
Four hippos introduced to Colombia at Hacienda Napoles during the 1980s have multiplied into a growing invasive population in the Magdalena River basin. The animals found ideal conditions—ample water, no natural predators, and a favorable climate—allowing rapid breeding and spread after the estate's abandonment. Population estimates have risen from the original four to 169 today, with projections of 1,000 by 2035 and 1,300 by 2060 if no action is taken. Government efforts, including under President Gustavo Petro, have not solved the problem. The hippos have caused human harm, exemplified by a near-fatal attack on a farmer in 2020.
Read at english.elpais.com
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