BARRIO – (The Guardian) Colombia has said that the cost of transferring 70 hippos that belonged to deceased drug lord Pablo Escobar to overseas sanctuaries will be $3.5m.

The cocaine baron brought a small number of the animals from Africa to Colombia in the late 1980s. But after his death in 1993 the animals were left to roam freely in a hot, marshy area of Antioquia department, where environmental authorities have been helpless to curb their numbers.

Authorities said they plan to capture and move nearly half of the hippopotamuses in the coming months, with 10 bound for the Ostok Sanctuary in northern Mexico, and 60 destined for an as-yet unnamed facility in India.

“The whole operation should cost around $3.5m,” Ernesto Zazueta, the owner of the Ostok Sanctuary said.

He and the local governor of the Colombian region that is home to the hippos say they plan to lure the animals with bait into pens, where they will remain confined before being put in special crates for the transfer.

Since the hippos escaped after Escobar’s death, the government has repeatedly failed to tame the booming population who have made the Magdalena River basin their home.

In 2009 it tried culling the animals but stopped after a graphic photo caused national outrage. A sterilization programmed remains in place but the hippos breed faster than local experts can find, catch and castrate them.

From the original four hippos that escaped from Escobar’s country estate about 130 exist today – the largest population outside Africa. With no natural predators to keep them in check their population will keep growing exponentially. One study estimated that by 2034 the hippos will number 1,400.

Studies have warned that the hippos are damaging the ecosystem in the Magdalena – the largest river in one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. Each hippo eats about 40kg of grass a night meaning their excrement alone is poisoning the water, killing fish and jeopardising the river’s rich biodiversity.

The hippos are also increasingly coming into conflict with the local people and hippo attacks have become more common in recent years.

The environment ministry declared the hippos an invasive species last year, which opened the door to an eventual cull, but the hippo transfer plan is seen as a final life-saving measure.

(Posted March 30, 2023)