Behemoth lured and killed truck on your highway Colombiawhere the animal, the “legacy” of drug lord Pablo Escobar, is considered an “invasive species” as the fire department announced.

A hippopotamus weighing over a ton was hit by a truck on the Bogotá-Medellin highway in an area near an estate owned by Escobar, Maria Magdalena Perez, fire chief of the municipality of Puerto Triunfo, said.

The collision destroyed the front of the truck. Its driver was not injured.

In the late 1980s, a drug lord who was killed in a shootout with police in 1993 kept a small herd of hippos on his hacienda. Over the years, the animals have multiplied, and today it is estimated that there are about 150 hippos living in the area.

This is not the first traffic accident involving a hippopotamus in Colombia. In December, the car collided with an animal, no one was injured. The hippo came out unscathed.

In 2022, the Department of the Environment designated the hippo as an “invasive species”, paving the way for the animals to be hunted. He also unsuccessfully tried to implement a sterilization program.

According to experts, their uncontrolled reproduction poses a threat to local flora and fauna. In March, the governor of the province of Antioquia announced a plan to relocate nearly half of the hippos to reserves in Mexico and India. The business is valued at $3.5 million..

Source: APE-AFP.