Key Takeaways
- Descendants of four hippos imported by Pablo Escobar in the 1980s now number about 200 and roam freely near Doradal, Colombia.
- Their waste alters water chemistry (pH, oxygen), threatening aquatic plants and the local food chain.
- Colombia’s government plans to cull up to 80 hippos this year, but many residents view the animals as a tourism asset and oppose lethal control.
- Previous sterilization attempts (surgery and contraceptive injections) proved costly and risky, limiting large‑scale application.
- Indian billionaire Anant Ambani offered to relocate 80 hippos to his Gujarat wildlife reserve, though experts question the logistics and suitability of the new habitat.
- Without intervention, the hippo population could double within five years, intensifying ecological and management challenges.
The hippos that now inhabit the lakes and rivers around Doradal trace back to a bizarre chapter in Colombia’s history: in the 1980s, drug lord Pablo Escobar smuggled four hippopotamuses into his private zoo on a sprawling ranch. After the government seized Escobar’s assets, the animals were left behind, and with no natural predators in the region they began to breed unchecked. Today, scientists estimate roughly 200 hippos wander the countryside, turning the once‑quiet town of Doradal into an unlikely wildlife hotspot.
Their presence, however, comes with environmental costs. Hippos discharge large quantities of feces and urine into the waterways, which shifts the pH and reduces dissolved oxygen. Biologist Nataly Castelblanco explains that these chemical changes can cause submerged plants—critical to the aquatic food web—to die off, thereby disrupting the entire ecosystem. The impact is described as “transversal,” meaning it ripples through multiple levels of the local habitat.
In response, Colombia’s environment ministry announced in mid‑April a plan to curb the herd by culling up to 80 hippos this year. The move mirrors strategies used elsewhere, such as lionfish removal in the Caribbean and camel management in Australia, where culling is deemed the most effective tool for controlling invasive species. Yet the proposal has met strong resistance from Doradal’s residents. For many, the hippos have become a beloved fixture: statues line the streets, tourists flock to lakeside cafés to watch the beasts, and locals have turned the animals into a source of income through hippo‑safari tours, souvenir sales, and related businesses. Tania Galindo, a shop owner, acknowledges the need for population control but insists it must be done “in a peaceful manner that respects their life and the appreciation we have for them.”
Efforts to manage the numbers without lethal measures have faltered. Early attempts involved surgical sterilization, followed by contraceptive injections, but both approaches proved prohibitively expensive and logistically risky when applied to a large, wild population. Castelblanco notes that scaling up such interventions would require significant veterinary resources and repeated animal handling, making them impractical for a herd of this size.
A surprising alternative emerged when Indian billionaire Anant Ambani offered to relocate 80 of the hippos to his private wildlife reserve in Gujarat state. The idea sparked excitement among animal‑welfare advocates but also drew skepticism from experts like Sergio Estrada, a biology professor at Rosario University. He points out the formidable logistical hurdles: capturing the animals, transporting them over 150 kilometers to Medellín’s Rio Negro airport, loading them onto aircraft for a long haul with a stopover, and ensuring their welfare throughout the journey. Moreover, Estrada doubts that Ambani’s relatively modest reserve could provide the space and ecological conditions necessary for hippos to thrive, given that the animals currently roam across expansive forests and river systems.
Despite these debates, the underlying pressure continues to mount. Officials warn that without decisive action, the hippo population could double within five years, exacerbating ecological strain and potentially increasing human‑wildlife conflicts. As the grunts of hippos echo over Doradal’s lakes, Colombian officials, scientists, local entrepreneurs, and international benefactors grapple with a complex question: how to balance conservation, public safety, economic interests, and ethical considerations for a species that never belonged to the South American landscape but now calls it home.