Colombia will cull dozens of invasive hippopotamuses descended from animals illegally imported by Pablo Escobar, as authorities warn the rapidly growing population is endangering ecosystems and local communities.

Environment Minister Irene Vélez Torres said the government has authorized the euthanasia of up to 80 animals as part of a broader strategy to control the herd, which now numbers around 200 across the Magdalena River basin.

“We must act to reduce the hippopotamus population,” Vélez said, describing the cull as a “technical recommendation” following years of failed attempts to contain the species through sterilization and relocation.

The hippos — descendants of four animals brought to Colombia in the 1980s for Escobar’s private zoo at Hacienda Nápoles — have flourished in the country’s tropical lowlands, where a lack of natural predators and abundant water sources have enabled unchecked reproduction.

Scientists warn that without intervention, the population could surge to between 500 and 1,000 animals within the next decade, placing increasing strain on fragile river ecosystems.

The large herbivores consume vast quantities of vegetation and deposit significant organic waste into waterways, altering water chemistry and threatening native species, including manatees and turtles. Officials also cite rising risks to rural communities, with reports of hippos damaging farmland and attacking livestock and people.

The government’s plan, backed by a 2022 technical report from the Humboldt Institute and the National University, includes euthanasia, confinement and possible relocation. The program carries a budget of 7.2 billion pesos and is set to begin in the second half of 2026, targeting key hotspots near Puerto Triunfo and along the Magdalena River.

Previous efforts to manage the population — including sterilization campaigns in 2022 and 2023 and talks with countries such as India and Mexico to relocate animals — yielded limited results. Authorities say international transfers are unlikely, citing logistical challenges and genetic concerns linked to inbreeding.

Animal welfare advocates have condemned the cull. Senator Andrea Padilla, an outspoken animal rights campaigner, described the plan as “cruel” and accused the government of opting for the “easy way out.”

“Killings and massacres will never be acceptable,” Padilla wrote on social media, arguing the animals are victims of decades of state neglect.

But officials insist the risks posed by the species — considered among the world’s most dangerous large mammals — leave little alternative. In Africa, hippos are responsible for hundreds of human deaths each year, and Colombian authorities report increasing “hippo-human interactions,” including road accidents and attacks along riverbanks.

Escobar, who built his sprawling Napoles estate was killed in 1993, but the legacy of his private zoo has endured in unexpected ways. After his death, some animals were relocated, while others — including the hippos — escaped into the swamps.

Decades later, what began as a curiosity has become one of Colombia’s most unusual environmental dilemmas, forcing authorities to weigh animal welfare against the protection of native ecosystems.

Euthanasia planned for the numerous offspring of “cocaine hippos” originally smuggled in by Pablo Escobar. Not everyone is happy.

After years of debate over the fate of Colombia’s wild hippos – during which the feral beasts have multiplied in lush tropical rivers – the ministry of the environment has announced a plan to kill at least 80 of the African imports.

The non-native species was smuggled into Colombia by drug baron Pablo Escobar in 1980 as part of his collection of exotic animals – including rhinos and lions – which he kept at his ranch, Hacienda Napoles.

The infamous drug trafficker died in a rooftop battle in Medellín in1993, but a few hippos escaped his lowland ranch to find what biologists would later describe as “perfect conditions” in the nearby Magdalena River.

In the decades since around 200 offspring have spread over 100 kilometers (60 miles) of river and swamps bordering departments of Antioquia, Bolívar, Santander and Sucre.

But after years of procrastination over what to do with the wayward Hippopotamus amphibius – with various schemes to sterilize them or ship them to zoos and sanctuaries around the world – Colombia’s environment minister Irene Vélez said this week a cull was the only option.

“We’re talking of a process of euthanasia, which is the technical recommendation,” she told Blu Radio.

The plan was initially to reduce the population by 80 breeding individuals, then cull around 30 beasts per year which would systematically reduce the population.

Hippo boom

The controversial decision is based on a 170-page technical report by the Humboldt Institute and Universidad Nacional in 2022.

The report concluded that the hippos were damaging the tropical ecosystem of the Magdalena river valley by spreading disease and overloading their watery habitat with nitrates: the amphibious herbivores grazed the riverbanks to each munch 50 kilos of grass a day – but then pooped the waste out into rivers and lakes.

Without an urgent cull the population “could increase to 500 hippopotamuses affecting our ecosystem by 2030,” Vélez told a press conference this week. This boom would further put at risk native populations of turtles and manatees.

See also: Hippos need culling, says report

Then there what the report referred to as “hippo – human interactions”, such as a car hitting a two-ton creatures on the main Bogotá – Medellín highway – which runs close to their main hangout near Puerto Triunfo – and even cases of locals trying to keep young ones as pets.

The report also pointed out that hippos were aggressive and territorial and officially the deadliest large mammal – they kill on average 500 people in Africa every year – and attacked boats and canoes on the river aswell as people, cattle and horses around the River Magdalena.

In other videos posted online people are seen chasing them down the highstreet in the town of Doradal.

Hippo takeover

To justify the cull, Vélez said reduction methods such as sterilization were too difficult – anaesthetizing wild hippos is no easy task – and none of the seven nations initially interesting in receiving live hippos for zoos and wildlife parks had followed through.

The cull would start in the second half of the 2026 around hippo hotspots close to Hacienda Nápoles in Puerto Triunfo and Isla del Silencio, a river island near to Puerto Boyacá, she said.

This island is home to a large group one of which attacked and severely injured a farmer collecting water from the riverbank in 2020, according to a news report.  Colombia’s wet lowlands had perfect conditions for hippos, biologist Katerine Corrales told a Caracol news crew visiting the island this week.  

“Africa has droughts and adverse weather patterns. Here we have a constant climate with abundant water and resources which generates a faster reproduction rate,” she said.

In the same report local villagers complained that the hippos had “taken over the island” and restricted commercial fishing.

Poor Pepe

Not everyone welcomed news of the cull. Hippo protection group Comisión Protectora de la Vida de los Hipopótamos – founded in the town of Puerto Triunfo close to Hacienda Nápoles and which benefits from hippo tourism –  rejected the “terrible decision of the national government to authorize a hippo hunt”.

“In our municipality, we are committed to the protection and conservation of these incredible living beings. Hippos are an important part of our identity, and we must live in harmony with them,” said the group on its Facebook page this week.

It called a meeting in Bogotá to seek “non-violent” alternatives to the cull, such as a return to the plan of transferring live hippos to other countries.

Previous attempts to shoot hippos have ended in public relations disasters, such as the killing of Pepe in 2009. The large male hippo was slated for transfer to a zoo in Costa Rica after rampaging around Puerto Berrio.

But he was shot after a bungled attempt to capture him, and photos of an army platoon posing with his remains caused public revulsion, and a court ban on hunting hippos.

Pepe also highlighted the affection local communities had for “Pablo’s hippos”. For some folk the state persecution of the mammals was synonymous with the hunt for Pablo Escobar, still a popular figure among communities that benefitted from his largesse in the 1980s.

In fact, in the drug baron’s heyday the original hippos were kept at his Hacienda Nápoles in a public zoo and safari park where local families could tour for free. Today the hacienda and zoo is still there but managed by the state as part of a huge amusement park.

A grave in Colombia

This week, Minister Vélez was adamant that culling must form part of any population control.

It was global restrictions on wildlife trafficking – the CITES agreements – that had condemned the hippos in Colombia by preventing them being easily shipped abroad, she explained.

“It’s not enough for a zoo to raise its hand; the country must authorize their entry. Unfortunately, no country has given the green light. This administrative silence indicates that there is no interest in receiving them”.

It seems that putting Pablo’s hippos in overseas zoos is proving as difficult as extraditing the cartel kingpin himself. Like their progenitor, the big beasts face a violent end in Colombia rather than a cage in a foreign land.

The post Colombia to cull its wild hippo population appeared first on The Bogotá Post.

While Colombia & Ecuador are at peace, the neighboring presidents have a sour relationship going back to when Colombian President Gustavo Petro initially refused to recognize Daniel Noboa’s election.

Traders and transport operators have suspended a 19-day blockade at the Rumichaca International Bridge, the primary land crossing between Colombia and Ecuador. The protest, catalyzed by a 50% tax imposed by the Ecuadorian government on Colombian goods, was lifted to accommodate travel and commerce during the Semana Santa holiday period. Despite the suspension of the strike, the regional business community reports that significant economic damage and diplomatic tensions persist.

The closure of the border crossing created a substantial disruption in binational economic activity. Estimates from the Cámara de Comercio de Ipiales in Nariño, Colombia indicate that losses reached approximately $5 million USD per day due to freight remaining stationary in the border zone. The Comité Gremial de Trabajadores de la Frontera de Ipiales stated that while the reopening is a responsible gesture for the high-traffic holiday season, current tariff policies continue to threaten hundreds of direct and indirect jobs linked to foreign trade.

The Governor of Nariño, Luis Alfonso Escobar, criticized the trade barriers implemented by the administration of Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa. Governor Escobar argued that such measures inadvertently encourage illicit activities in the region. He emphasized that instead of facilitating formal commerce, high tariffs drive trade toward illegality, undermining regional security efforts. To mitigate the conflict, the Comunidad Andina de Naciones (CAN) has initiated high-level dialogues. Diplomatic delegations led by Colombian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Juana Castro and her Ecuadorian counterpart, Alejandro Dávalos, held a virtual working group to address pending issues in trade, transport, energy, and hydrocarbons.

“Decisions adopted without considering the reality of our communities have put at risk the livelihood of merchants, transporters, foreign trade workers, and thousands of people who live from binational exchange,” stated the Comité Gremial de Trabajadores de la Frontera de Ipiales.

Diplomatic friction has extended into the energy sector. President Noboa claimed that in 2017, Ecuador assisted Colombia during a potential blackout by charging 1.6 cents USD per kWh, whereas in 2024, Colombia charged an average of 28 cents USD per kWh during Ecuador’s hydroelectric crisis. In response, the Colombian Minister of Mines and Energy, Edwin Palma, clarified that prices during the 2023-2024 El Niño phenomenon reflected the actual costs of production and distribution, particularly when fossil fuel-powered thermoelectric plants using fuel oil and diesel were activated.

The ongoing trade dispute has impacted more than 5,500 companies over the past two months. Diana Marcela Morales, the Colombian Minister of Commerce, Industry, and Tourism, confirmed scheduled meetings with Ecuadorian officials to de-escalate the conflict and establish fair, transparent rules. Concurrently, the Ministerio de Comercio, Industria y Turismo has moved to protect domestic industries by implementing new tariffs on steel and ceramics from countries without existing free trade agreements. These measures aim to counter market distortions and protect a sector that employs more than 50,000 people while promoting circular economy practices and reducing CO2 emissions.

Above photo: Border between Ecuador & Colombia looking towards Ipiales, Colombia (Photo: Cancillería de Colombia)