The Colombian government on Monday authorized plans to cull up to 80 free-roaming hippopotamuses that officials and scientists say threaten local communities and ecosystems. The animals trace back to four hippos illegally imported in the 1980s by drug lord Pablo Escobar for his private zoo.
Environment Minister Irene Velez Torres said action is needed to reduce the hippo population. Authorities warn the large mammals have been encountered on farms and in rivers in central Colombia, posing dangers to villagers. They also compete for food and habitat with native species such as river manatees and disrupt fragile ecosystems.
With no natural predators in the region, the herd has grown unchecked. The Environment Ministry estimates about 200 hippos now roam the Magdalena River basin; without intervention, their numbers could reach roughly 1,000 by 2035. The program announced Monday has a budget of 7.2 billion pesos (about €1.68 million). Proposed measures include confinement and relocation, with operations scheduled to begin in the second half of 2026.
Animal welfare groups oppose killing the hippos, arguing the animals deserve protection and that lethal measures set a poor precedent for a country long affected by internal conflict. Senator and animal rights advocate Andrea Padilla called the cull “cruel,” saying the hippos are healthy creatures made victims by government negligence and that killings will never be acceptable.
Velez defended the decision, saying prior attempts to control the population had been costly and ineffective. Efforts in 2022 and 2023 to relocate and sterilize members of the herd produced no meaningful results. Colombia also held talks with eight governments, including India and Mexico, about transferring some animals to zoos or sanctuaries abroad, but no authorizations were granted. Officials say transfers are unlikely because the herd shows genetic defects from inbreeding, and returning the animals to Africa has been deemed unfeasible for the same reason.
Pablo Escobar built a private zoo at Hacienda Nápoles, a large ranch in the Magdalena River valley that served as his countryside home and landing strip. After his death in 1993, confiscated properties were converted into a theme park with pools, water slides and a zoo; the descendants of Escobar’s hippos became one of the park’s main attractions.
Pablo Escobar was a Colombian drug trafficker who led the Medellín Cartel in the 1980s, amassing vast wealth through the cocaine trade and becoming notorious for violence, corruption and a lavish lifestyle. Edited by: Rob Turner