Not Wanting Population Explosions, 166 Nile Horses Owned By Pablo Escobar In Hacienda Nhat Colombia Destroyed

The hippos at Hacienda Napoles belong to Pablo Escobar. (Wikimedia Commons/Alvaro Morales R Wayos)

JAKARTA - Colombia will destroy about 166 hippos belonging to drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. These animals were imported by Escobar for his private zoo in Hacienda Ná. They were left on the loose after he was killed in a shootout with police in 1993. Environment Minister Susana Muhamad said, as many as 20 will be sterilized, others will be moved abroad and the rest will be destroyed. Experts have been trying to control hippo population for years. Authorities have tried various approaches to curb population explosions in Colombia's main river, Magdalena, including sterilization and the transfer of individuals to zoos abroad. However, this effort failed to contain the growth rate of the hippos. The lack of predators and the fertile and cloudy Antioquia region provided perfect conditions for native African animals to breed. Their fate was sealed when the hippos were declared invasive species last year, opening the door to annihilation. "We are working on the animal export protocol," said Muhamad as quoted by the BBC, Friday, November 3. "We will not export a single animal if there is no permission from the environmental authorities of other countries." He said the ministry was making protocols for euthanasia as a last resort. Colombian experts have long warned that uncontrolled reproduction of hippos poses a threat to indigenous humans and wildlife. Estimates suggest that the population could reach 1,000 by 2035 if nothing is done, but animal activists say sterilization causes suffering for animals including a major danger to veterinarians who do so. The hippos are one of the largest land animals, with adult males weighing up to three tons. They are also among the most dangerous, killing about 500 people per year. The fishing community along the Magdalena River was attacked and several hippos stormed the school grounds, although no one was killed. Escobar is the head of the Medell cartel and nicknamed the "goal of cocaine" that amassed a fortune of around $30 billion (£25 billion) by smuggling drugs into Miami and the southern United States. His terror government lasted more than a decade and involved kidnappings, hundreds of assassinations, briberys, bombings, and territorial wars with rival drug barons - as well as brief stops as elected politicians.