Colombia plans to send 70 “cocaine hippos” to Mexico and India, says governor

• Experts warn that hippos lack a natural predator in Colombia and are a possible threat to biodiversity.
• The aim is to concentrate on the hippos that live in the rivers surrounding the Hacienda Napoles ranch.
• A federal court determined in 2021 after the Colombian government was sued over its plan to sterilize or kill the animals.

Colombia is proposing to move at least 70 hippopotamuses living near Pablo Escobar’s former ranch – descendants of four illegally smuggled from Africa by the late drug lord in the 1980s – to India and Mexico as part of a population control strategy.

The “cocaine hippos,” which may weigh up to 3 tonnes, have expanded well beyond the Hacienda Napoles property, which is located approximately 125 miles from Bogota along the Magdalena River. According to environmental authorities, there are approximately 130 hippos in the Antioquia province area, and their population might reach 400 in eight years.

Escobar’s Hacienda Napoles — and the hippos — have become a sort of local tourist attraction in the years since the kingpin was killed by police in 1993. When his ranch was abandoned, the hippos survived and reproduced in local rivers and favorable climatic conditions.

Experts warn that hippos lack a natural predator in Colombia and are a possible threat to biodiversity because their excrement modifies the chemistry of rivers, threatening the habitat of manatees and capybaras. Colombia’s authorities labeled them a dangerous invasive species last year.

A federal court determined in 2021 after the Colombian government was sued over its plan to sterilize or kill the animals, that the hippos can be regarded as people or “interested persons” with legal rights in the United States. According to a legal expert, the ruling is meaningless in Colombia, where the hippos live.

Hippos kill more people in Africa than any other huge animal. Thus yet, no assaults have been reported in Colombia. But, David Echeverri, who works for the environmental organization in charge of tracking and controlling hippos in the area, told Bojorquez that it’s only a matter of time before someone is injured.

Lina Marcela de los Ros Morales, director of animal protection and welfare at Antioquia’s environment ministry, said the idea to transfer them to India and Mexico had been in the works for more than a year.

The hippos would be coaxed with food into enormous iron containers and transported by truck to Rionegro’s international airport, 150 kilometers distant. They would then be flown to India or Mexico, where there are sanctuaries and zoos that can take in and care for the creatures.

“It is possible to do, we already have experience relocating hippos in zoos nationwide,” said David Echeverri López, a spokesman for Cornare, the local environmental authority that would be in charge of the relocations.

The aim is to send 60 hippos to the Greens Zoological Rescue & Rehabilitation Kingdom in Gujarat, India, which will cover the cost of the containers and airlift, according to De los Ros Morales. Another ten hippos would be sent to Mexican zoos and sanctuaries, such as the Ostok in Sinaloa.

“We work with Ernesto Zazueta, who is the president of sanctuaries and zoos in Mexico, who is the one who liaisons with different countries and manages their rescues,” said the official.

The aim is to concentrate on the hippos that live in the rivers surrounding the Hacienda Napoles ranch, rather than those that live within the ranch because they are in a controlled habitat and do not pose a threat to the local ecosystem.

The relocations would help reduce the hippo population, and while the animals’ native home in Africa, they are more humane than exterminating them as an invasive species, according to De los Ros Morales.

According to the Antioquia Governor’s Office, Ecuador, the Philippines, and Botswana have all expressed interest in relocating Colombian hippos to their respective nations.

Alvaro Molina, 57, declared last year that he favours “cocaine hippos,” despite being one of the few Colombians who has been assaulted by one. He was fishing one day when he felt a disturbance beneath his canoe, causing him to fall into the water.

“The female attacked me once – the first pair to arrive – since she had just given birth,” he explained.

Locals claim that hippos occasionally emerge from the river and walk through the town’s streets. When this happens, traffic comes to a halt and people move out of the way.

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