Hippos swim in the lake at Hacienda Napoles, once Escobar's private estate. Photo: FERNANDO VERGARA/AP
Colombia is culling hippos descended from a herd of pets owned by cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar.
Twenty of the 166 herd will be sterilized and the rest will be sent abroad, said Susana Muhamad, the country's environment minister.
Some will be euthanized, she added, without specifying how many.
The cull was announced after authorities spent years battling to control the herd's population, with hippos being the latest to be declared an invasive species.
Escobar, the former leader of the powerful Medellin drug cartel, imported four animals from Africa in the 1980s and kept them in a private zoo at his Hacienda Napoles residence.
After his death in a shootout with police in 1993, the animals were allowed to roam freely in the fertile and swampy region of Antioquia.
Surrounded by conditions conducive to their survival, such as rivers and swamps that offered abundant food sources, the animals flourished and reproduced.
Susana Muhamad, Colombia's environment minister, said many hippos would be sterilized to control their population. Photo: JUAN BARRETO/AFP
But while the animals have become a tourist attraction, their numbers have become a serious problem for authorities.
Hippos, whose adult males weigh up to three tons each and are highly territorial, are the world's deadliest large land mammals, killing hundreds of people in year in Africa.
Fishing communities along Colombia's main river, the Magdalena, have reported attacks by the animals, and some have invaded a schoolyard, although no one has been killed to date.
Hippos threaten other wildlife.
Authorities say that if left unchecked, the hippo population could reach 1,000 by 2035.
Scientists warn that hippo feces are changing the composition of rivers, which could affect the habitat of manatees and capybaras.
Previous attempts to reduce their numbers may include sterilization and transferring them to overseas zoos, which have had minimal impact.
Animal advocates say sterilization causes suffering for the animals and poses great dangers to the veterinarians who perform it.
While culling is potentially the most effective means of controlling hippo numbers, Ms Muhamad said the government would still be working on it. are trying to remove them.
“We are working on a protocol for the removal of animals.
We are not going to remove any animal unless there is permission from the environmental service. authorities of another country,” she said.
She added that Colombian officials have contacted authorities in Mexico, India and the Philippines and are considering sending 60 hippos to India.
Warning sign about hippos outside a Naples hacienda Photo: Juancho Torres/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
As a last resort to control the population, the Ministry of the Environment is creating an euthanasia protocol.
In plans detailed earlier this year by local experts, authorities focused on hippos living in the rivers surrounding the Hacienda Napoles ranch rather than those inside, as they are in a controlled environment and are not considered a threat to the local ecosystem. /p>
Authorities said they planned to lure those outside the sprawling estate into large iron food containers and then transport them by truck to the international airport in the city of Rionegro, more than 80 miles away.
p>From there, the animals can be transported overseas to sanctuaries and zoos where they can take in and care for the animals.
The relocation will help control the hippo population, and the animals' native habitat is Africa. “This is more humane than the alternative proposal to eradicate them as an invasive species,” said Lina Marcela de los Rios Morales, director of animal protection and welfare at Antioquia's environment ministry.
Ecuador, Philippines and Botswana, according to administration of the Governor of Antioquia, expressed their readiness to accept the resettled Colombian hippos.
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