How Pablo Escobar’s Hippos are still a problem in Colombia

December 1993, The infamous Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar dies in a shootout with the Colombian Law Enforcement. But something of the notorious criminal remains to this day, something no one thought would be both a problem and a tourist spot for Colombia... 

Most of you know the drug lord Pablo Escobar because of the hit gritty - original Netflix series ‘Narcos’. But there is much more to him then just simply drugs. Pablo Escobar was one of the most successful drug kingpins in the world and with all of that drug money he wanted to make a private zoo. So he imported several animals from different countries like giraffes, exotic animals etc. Along with theses animals he brought in four hippos. Hippopotamuses weren’t native to South America, in fact they were imported from Africa, where they are naturally found.

 When Pablo Escobar was killed, the government reclaimed Pablo's estate. Giving off the animals to different zoos and sanctuaries. All animals except the hippos. They let the hippos sort of roam around freely in the wild and the reason for this is still unclear.

The estate since then has transformed into a theme park where the hippos have now become an attraction. The theme park in itself actually plays quite an important role to Colombia’s tourism sector. The problem is that the hippos are multiplying at a large rate and they are moving outside of their given habitat, troubling the locals. Hippos are extremely territorial and aggressive animals and having them close to human beings is seriously harmful. 



Some of the factors that are involved in the increasing rate of hippos are:- 

- Colombia is tropical in nature, meaning food is available all year around. Back in their native continent, Africa, hippos face a lot of droughts which is why they aren't thriving there as much.

- There is no natural predator in Colombia for hippos, meaning that there is no control on the population. 

- Due to the reasons above, hippos in the Colombia region begin to be sexually active earlier than most hippos from around the world. 

In my opinion, this is a prime example of why nature shouldn’t be messed with. Animals have their own habitats for a reason and when they are moved from their native regions, it usually ends up in disaster and chaos. I also can’t fathom how a man single handily, added a whole species to a place where it wasn’t even supposed to be in the first place. 

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