06 March 2024 , 21:14
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A wildlife expert claims that officials behind Pablo Escobar's private zoo are secretly trying to kill its former hippos.
After breaking out of the cocaine kingpin's Colombian estate, the fierce animals were bred in the wild. Ever since, Colombia is struggling to deal with the imposing breed that keeps expanding. The wild hippos are also a strong threat towards local flora and fauna.
Officials were due to ship 74 of the so-called cocaine hippos to wildlife refuges in Mexico, India and Peru, but a year later the animals have still not been sent. Mexico’s Ostok Sanctuary director Ernesto Zazueta claims that Colombia’s Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of plotting "ethical euthanasia."
According to local media reports, the officials are delaying the transfer so they can destroy the whole herd of 179 hippos and get rid of the problem forever. He said: "We have all the documentation, we have complied with everything, but there is simply no political will to make the move. They deserve to live, we have done everything possible and we are not going to rest until we achieve it."
Locals are fearful of the hippos (Newsflash)
Pablo Escobar had his own private zoo of hippos (AFP via Getty Images)Zazueta said: ‘I really regret that the process is not moving forward, a year is a long time and although we understand that some successful castrations have been done, it is not enough to stop the problem.
Furious chimp launches bottle at girl filming him leaving her bleeding at zoo
"Such a number of animals reproduce rapidly, the ecosystem and all its fauna and flora continue to deteriorate. Of course we remain willing and with all the procedures and logistics very advanced. We not only represent the Ostok Sanctuary in Mexico but Greens Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre in India and Peru."
In November 2023, the Colombian Environment Minister, Susana Muhamad, officially announced that the hippo colony would be moved. However, locals were not happy, with one person telling Fox News that the hippos have started to attack people in the community.
Other people have claimed that the hippos are "unpredictable and aggressive" - and run away if they come across one of the scary hippos. Previously, Environmental minister Muhamad told the New York Times : "We are in a race against time in terms of permanent environmental and ecosystem impacts."