Hippos once owned by late drug kingpin roam on the loose

摘要

Colombia is grappling with how to contain a herd of wild hippopotamuses that once belonged to the late drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. The Colombian drug baron smuggled four hippos into the country and installed them at a zoo he built in Antioquia in the 1980s. The hippos began escaping the zoo sometime after it fell into disrepair following Escobar's assassination in 1993. Now observers say the wild herd, estimated at 50 to 60 animals, is spreading across the countryside and could pose a threat to local villagers. "We have seen that hippos are very territorial and very aggressive," said Carlos Valderrama, a veterinarian who works with hippos. "They are not a tame animal. The risk for local populations to just leave them to browse around will be huge."