Colombia will try to control its population of more than 100 hippopotamuses, descendants of animals illegally brought to the country by late drug kingpin Pablo Escobar in the 1980s, through surgical sterilization, the transfer of hippos to other countries and possibly euthanasia, the government said Thursday.
The drug baron brought a small number of the African beasts to Colombia in the late 1980s. But after his death in 1993, the so-called "cocaine hippos" were left to roam freely and environmental authorities have been helpless to curb their numbers.
The hippos, which spread from Escobar's estate into nearby rivers where they flourished, have no natural predators in Colombia and have been declared an invasive species that could upset the ecosystem.
Authorities estimate there are 169 hippos in Colombia, especially in the Magdalena River basin, and that if no measures are taken, there could be 1,000 by 2035.
Environment Minister Susana Muhamad said the first stage of the plan will be the surgical sterilization of 40 hippos per year and this will begin next week.
The procedure is expensive — each sterilization costs about $9,800 — and entails risks for the hippopotamus, including allergic reactions to anesthesia or death, as well as risks to the animal health personnel, according to the ministry. The hippos are dispersed over a large area, and are territorial and often aggressive.
Experts say sterilization alone is not enough to control the growth of the invasive species, which is why the government is arranging for the possible transfer of hippos to other countries, a plan that was announced in March. But the cost of deporting the hippos is also expensive — an estimated $3.5 million.
Muhamad said Colombian officials have contacted authorities in Mexico, India and the Philippines, and are evaluating sending 60 hippos to India.
"We are working on the protocol for the export of the animals," she said. "We are not going to export a single animal if there is no authorization from the environmental authority of the other country."
As a last resort to control the population, the ministry is creating a protocol for euthanasia.
A group of hippos was brought in the 1980s to Hacienda Nápoles, Escobar's private zoo that became a tourist attraction after his death in 1993. Most of the animals live freely in rivers and reproduce without control.
Residents of nearby Puerto Triunfo have become used to hippos sometimes roaming freely about the town.
Scientists warn that the hippos' feces change the composition of rivers and could impact the habitat of local manatees and capybaras.
Independent journalist Audrey Huse, who has lived in Colombia for eight years, told CBS News that because the hippos roam freely, they end up killing fish and threatening endemic species like manatees, otters and turtles.
"Because they have no natural predators here, as they would in Africa, the population is booming an it's affecting the local ecosystem," Huse said. "Because they are such large animals, they consume considerable amounts of grassland and produce significant waste, which then poisons the rivers."
Hippos also pose danger to humans
While most of the focus has been on the impact on the ecosystem, the animals have also interacted with humans.
Recently, one of the hippos burst into a schoolyard in Doradal with both pupils and parents present. "The mothers get scared when they see an animal of that size," teacher Dunia Arango told AFP.
"There are about 35 children playing that could approach them and provoke a tragedy," said David Echeverri, an official from the local environment authority.
"While they may look very calm, at any moment, given their highly unpredictable behavior, they can attack, as has happened before."
John Aristides, 33, remembers very well that afternoon in October 2021 when he was fishing on the banks of a creek when a hippopotamus "lunged at me and hit me on the head with its lips."
He slipped trying to get away and was bitten on the arm.
"It grabbed me and threw me two meters," he added. "It didn't tear off my arm because they have very wide teeth."
But Aristides still spent a month in hospital recovering.
That is the closest Colombia has come to a fatal encounter but "if we don't do anything, then we expect to have thousands of hippopotami wandering around" in the future, said Echeverri, who earlier this year buried a hippo that had been hit by a driver. The animals can be deadly, killing an estimated 500 people every year in Africa.
AFP contributed to this report.
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