Colombian court orders the hunting of Pablo Escobar's infamous free-roaming hippos

SEATTLE - A Colombian court is taking drastic measures in an attempt to finally put an end to a problem that has bothered the Antioquia state community for decades.

Concretely, the Administrative Court of Cundinamarca set a three-month deadline for the Ministry of Environment to issue "a regulation that contemplates measures for the eradication" of the hippos that have wreaked havoc in the ecosystem since Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar introduced the species at his private zoo decades ago.

After the drug lord's death in 1993, the hippos were left on their own, living in an area of abundant vegetation and where there are no predators. Fast forward to today, the hippo population living in Antioquia is the largest outside Africa.

It started with just four hippos which Escobar smuggled in, and despite countless efforts to contain them, it is estimated that around 166 hippos are now roaming freely in the area.

This is not the first time that Colombia's Ministry of Environment tries to put an end to the growing population of hippos. In late 2023, it launched an effort to sterilize part of the animals as well as euthanizing others.

However, sterilization efforts are progressing slowly, and no animal has been euthanized yet. Plans to relocate dozens of hippos to Mexico, India, and the Philippines have also been unfruitful.

The invasive species has been increasingly posing problems for the local community. But despite their impact, people are conflicted on what to do with them. In 2009, the killing of one of these hippos nicknamed Pepe saw street protests that eventually led to prompting a ban on hippo hunting in 2012.

In their homeland in Africa, the animals are responsible for more human deaths than almost any other animal but in Colombia, the hippos have become loved members of the local community and a tourist attraction. According to BBC Wildlife, hippos cause an estimated 500 human deaths annually.