Colombia Plans to Cull Invasive Hippos Descended from Pablo Escobar's Zoo as Population Surges

Indian billionaire Anant Ambani has offered to relocate 80 hippos to his Vantara wildlife reserve in Gujarat, India, potentially sparing them from Colombia's newly announced cull. In mid-April, Colombia's government announced a plan to control the country's hippo population, including culling up to 80 animals this year.

Colombia's Environment Ministry warns that if drastic measures are not taken the hippo population could double over the next five years.

Scientists estimate there are now 200 hippos roaming freely around Doradal, Colombia. The hippos are descendants of four animals brought illegally to Colombia in the 1980s by Pablo Escobar. Pablo Escobar owned a private zoo on a ranch near Doradal that included elephants, giraffes, and zebras.

The Colombian government seized Pablo Escobar's properties in 1993, after which no one captured the hippos. Doradal, Colombia, is surrounded by lush forests and big rivers. Hippos are present every afternoon at a lake on the edge of Doradal, where locals and tourists gather to chat, drink beers and watch the animals floating on the water.

"This is one of the main attractions in town," says Lina Morales, a local hotel worker. In Doradal, the hippos have become a tourist attraction. Statues of hippos are displayed throughout Doradal, Colombia.

Some locals take visitors on hippo safaris and sell keyrings, T-shirts, and other souvenirs featuring hippos. "They are part of our community now," says business owner Tania Galindo. " Biologist Nataly Castelblanco-Martinez said the hippos deposit large amounts of waste in lakes and riverbeds which can lead to changes in water chemistry including changes in pH and less oxygen.

So, then all the plants that need oxygen in the water are going to collapse because of this," Castelblanco-Martinez says. " Npr reported that Colombia initially tried to curb the hippo population through sterilization first with surgeries then contraceptive injections.

Nataly Castelblanco-Martinez stated that sterilization procedures for hippos are costly and risky making large-scale sterilization difficult. She said culling is the most effective solution. "And we do it with lionfish, you see it with camels in Australia," she says.

Sergio Estrada, a biology professor at Bogotá's Rosario University, described the relocation proposal as a major undertaking. Transporting hippos 150 km by truck to the Rio Negro airport near Medellin would be required before flying them to India. Transporting the hippos to India would require a long flight with a stopover.

"Depending on where they are, when they lure them and catch them, they would have to drive them in huge trucks and lorries to the Rio Negro airport near Medellin. And that is about 150 km. So that, in itself, is no easy task," Estrada says.

Estrada expressed further doubts about the animals' prospects in India. "I don't see these animals living and roaming freely in this area, in this location in India," he says. Npr reported that questions also remain about how these wild animals would fare in Ambani's reserve.