Twenty-four out of 80 hippopotamuses roaming on the former ranch of late drug kingpin Pablo Escobar were sterilised due to the “uncontrolled” spreading of the “invasive” species, said authorities yesterday.

Before he was shot dead by police in 1993, the notorious Escobar had purchased a number of exotic animals to live on his ranch, including flamingos, giraffes, kangaroos and zebras.

After his death, all but the hippopotamuses were sold to zoos. Escobar had originally acquired a single male and female hippo.

The hippopotamuses have been left to roam on Hacienda Napoles estate, which has since been converted into a theme park, as they are considered too large to try to move, but since then, their numbers have multiplied.

They were shot with darts to inject them with a medicine called GonaCon, according to a bulletin by Cornare, a regional environmental protection organisation in Colombia.

“It is a contraceptive that is effective in males and females” and cheaper than surgical sterilisation, it added.

“However, it is complicated because experts suggest giving three doses.”

Another 11 hippos were previously sterilised by more traditional means.

Experts believe this to be the largest herd of hippopotamuses outside of Africa, and it has led to problems.

“The presence of these animals in an ecosystem that is not their own, brings consequences such as the displacement of local fauna,” said David Echeverri, a Cornare expert quoted in the bulletin.

The hippos are also responsible for “changing ecosystems” and attacks on local fishermen.

Escobar became one of the richest men on the planet, according to Forbes, thanks to the drug trafficking empire he built.

Almost 30 years since his death, Colombia remains the largest producer of cocaine in the world, much of it smuggled to the United States. – AFP, October 16, 2021.