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.
