Hippopotamuses in Colombia

Four hippopotamuses were first kept by Pablo Escobar in his private zoo in the late 1970s, and upon his death in 1993, they were allowed to wander his unattended estate.

In the late 1970s, Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar kept four hippopotamuses in a private menagerie at his residence in Hacienda Nápoles, 100 kilometres (62 mi) east of Medellín, Colombia.

[8] Being non-native introductions, most conservationists considered them problematic and invasive in Colombia, as they have the potential to change various ecosystems, feeding heavily on plants and displacing native species like the West Indian manatee, neotropical otter, spectacled caiman and turtles.

It has been suggested that the nutrients they introduce to the water and the occasional fish kills caused by them are overall positive,[9] but this was based on a study in their native Africa.

[2] When a photo of the dead hippo became public, it caused considerable controversy among animal rights groups both within the country and abroad, and further plans of culling ceased.

[17] In March 2023, it was announced that the Colombian government is proposing transferring at least 70 hippopotamuses to India and Mexico as part of a plan to control their population.

[19] In November 2023 the Colombian Environment Minister, Susana Muhamad, announced plans to manage the invasive hippo population.

[20][21] In August 2024, the Administrative Court of Cundinamarca gave the Ministry of Environment three months to issue a proper "regulation that contemplates measures for the eradication of the species," on the basis that the hippos were affecting the area's "ecological balance.