Hundreds of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar’s hippos ‘are attacking people | US News

Pablo Escobar’s hippopotamuses have left locals living in fear as it is claimed they have started to attack people after spreading across his estate.

The Colombian drug lord’s pet hippos have been described as ‘very dangerous’ and were first imported to the South American country in the 1980s from Africa. 

Escobar, dubbed the ‘King of Cocaine’, forged a zoo of kangaroos, zebras, and other exotic animals at his lavish estate, which became a tourist attraction after he died in 1993.

The Colombian Ministry of Environment began to sterilize them in November, but they had been living freely in rivers and reproducing without control, leading to them becoming an invasive species and a threat to the ecosystem. 

Last year one of his hippos was killed as it crossed the road and was hit by a Renault duster.

One local speaking about their fears over the animals told Fox News: ‘They’re very, very dangerous. The hippos have started to attack people.’

Others have branded the beasts as ‘aggressive’ and ‘unpredictable’, and said they ‘hide’ if they come across a member of the herd. 

Colombian environmental minister Susana Muhamad told the New York Times: ‘We are in a race against time in terms of permanent environmental and ecosystem impacts’.

The environmental authorities have said two male hippos and one female underwent surgical sterilization in November, as part of a larger government effort to control the unsupervised mammals that roam free in rivers.

The government has said they plan to sterilize 40 hippos a year, as well as transfer some abroad, and possibly euthanise others.

David Echverry López, chief of the environment office said sterilization takes time as capturing the aggressive three-ton animals is complicated.

‘Rain events around the area have complicated efforts to capture the animals. More grass means ‘they have an oversupply of food, so baiting them to capture them becomes even more complicated’, he stated in a video distributed to the press.

Nataly Castblanco-Martínez, an ecologist at the University of Quintana Roo in Mexico, told AP that the hippo crisis was ‘one of the greatest challenges of invasive species in the world.’, and that some of the animals needed to be killed.

Sterilizing the hippopotamuses may not be enough to stop their growth, experts have said. The Colombian government announced a plan in March to transfer 60 of the animals to the Philippines, Mexico, and India.

‘We are working on the protocol for the export of the animals,’

‘We are not going to export a single animal if there is no authorization from the environmental authority of the other country.’, Susana Muhamad said. 

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

MORE : ‘Escobars of Ealing’ hid spoils of £700,000,000 cocaine deals in dingy flat

MORE : Which dog breeds are illegal in the UK following the XL bully attack?

MORE : Woman left dog to die alone inside grim house after moving in with new partner

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.