Pablo Escobar’s escaped hippos, roaming the Magdalena river in the north of the country, are ticking time bombs, African zoologist say.
According to the researchers, Colombian authorities must urgently decide how to prevent the reproduction of the animals.
The hippos have multiplied in recent years and become a threat to the human population of the area. To prevent further growth of the herd, male and female hippos should be separated and sterilized, the experts advised.
The possibility to bring the animals back to Africa is remote or impossible, one zoologist told Caracol Radio. Therefore, Colombia has to be open for any solutions, even to sacrifice several animals because of the danger they embody.
Some diseases of the hippos can be transmitted to human and the animals are very wild causing the highest number of human deaths on their home continent Africa.
After Pablo Escobar’s death in 1993, Colombian authorities took over the drug lord’s Hacienda Napoles ranch but failed to take care of the exotic animals. The Theme Park Hacienda Napoles expressed their willingness to develop strategies with the African experts and the authorities but demanded that organizations or individuals take care of the hippos.
