Colombian authorities are preparing to hand over 70 invasive hippos, an unusual legacy left by drug lord Pablo Escobar in the Medellín region, to reserves in India and Mexico by July, in an operation estimated at around $3.5 million, AFP reports.

Since the most famous drug lord (killed by the police in 1993) brought several hippos to his hacienda in the Antioquia department (northwest) in the late 1980s, the herd has multiplied uncontrollably in the tributary of the Magdalena River, now numbering almost 150 specimens.

“The whole operation should cost about $3.5 million,” Ernesto Zazueta, owner of the Ostoc Animal Sanctuary in northern Mexico, which will house the ten giant mammals, told reporters on Wednesday.

“They only need a passport”

The aim is to “save the lives” of these animals, which originate from Africa and were declared invasive species by Colombia’s Ministry of the Environment last year, leaving open the possibility of their euthanasia.

According to Anibal Gaviria, the governor of the department of Antioquia, all that is missing is a kind of “passport for hippos that will be issued by the Ministry of the Environment” after the operation is authorized by CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which is endangered).

The goal is to move the hippos “in the first half of this year,” Gaviria explained.

“It’s about reducing the population of young specimens to reduce the growth rate” of the colony, Zazueta told Medellin-based media.

“The next stage is to rent planes (and) build cells (…) We will start with India, then Mexico,” he added. The plan is to bait the animals into enclosures where they will be locked up before being placed in special cages to be transported to new shelters.

Ten copies will be transferred to Mexico, and about 60 to India, to a nature reserve, the name of which has not been disclosed.

Hippos “inherited” from Pablo Escobar

After Escobar’s death, the hippos were left to their own devices and inhabited the region of Magdalena Medio, a hot savanna crisscrossed by rivers and swamps. The government resorted, but without success, to a sterilization program to keep the hippo population under control.

Experts and the region’s environmental authority (Cornare) agreed at the time that hunting was a “necessary choice” given the threat these animals pose to local populations and fauna.

“We strive to save the lives of the hippos, as well as protect the lives of the residents of Magdalena Medio (…) This is a risk to peace and people’s lives,” the governor’s office explained.

The local environmental protection service (Cornare) recorded two attacks on residents in 2021. (Agerpres)