MORE than 100 African hippos face an uncertain future in Colombia.

They are descendants of less than a handful of hippos imported as exotic pets by drug lord Pablo Escobar.

After the government added the so-called “cocaine” hippos to a list of “introduced, invasive species” on Friday, experts said killing them may be the only viable option.

From the few once housed at Escobar’s Hacienda Napoles estate, the hippos’ numbers have ballooned, with 130 now roaming free north of Bogota around the Magdalena River.

Officials said the grazing giants, endemic to sub-Saharan Africa, threaten local wildlife and humans living along the river, with whom they have already come into conflict.

Attempts have been made to sterilise the animals – which can weigh as much as 1.8 tonnes – but doing so is difficult and expensive.

“Sacrifice (culling) remains on the table,” said David Echeverri, the Cornare environmental agency head in charge of the sterilisation effort.

“It is a necessary option… it may be the only way to stop the problem from getting worse.”

Escobar, once head of the deadly Medellin Cartel, became one of the richest men on the planet, according to Forbes, thanks to his drug trafficking empire.

With his wealth, he built a menagerie, acquiring flamingos, giraffes, hippos, kangaroos and zebras and for his ranch.

After he was shot dead by police in 1993, all but the hippopotamuses were sold to zoos.

The semi-aquatic ungulates were left to roam Escobar’s estate and continued breeding.

They are now believed to be the largest so-called “bloat” of hippopotamuses outside of Africa.

‘Complex, expensive and dangerous’

The creatures have long been a headache for authorities faced with a vocal anti-culling campaign.

Last Friday, the government officially declared the hippos an invasive species and announced it has a plan to “manage” their population, which studies have suggested can quadruple in 10 years.

Although the details of the plan have not been revealed, former environment minister Manuel Rodriguez has urged the government to use any means, including opening a hunt on the animals.

“Obviously, there are animal activists opposed to this, but what is the alternative?”

To date, Cornare has managed to surgically sterilise 11 hippos and dart another 40 with contraceptives.

The effort has cost more than US$100,000, but has failed to stop hippo numbers from swelling.

“Everything with hippos is complex, expensive and dangerous.”

Potential ‘tragedy’

For Rodriguez, the animals pose a major threat to fishermen and other river-side inhabitants.

Cornare recorded two hippo attacks on people last year, neither fatal.

In Africa, hippos kill hundreds of people every year.

“We could face a tragedy,” warned Rodriguez.

Also threatened by the hippos are the manatee – large marine mammals that make their home in Magdalena River – and a variety of native fish.

Earlier this year, activists, with the backing of green parliamentary candidate Luis Domingo Gomez, proposed creating a sanctuary for the hippos with a mix of public and private funds.

But experts rejected the proposal as costly and no less harmful to the local ecosystem.

“Are we going to maintain a sanctuary for hippos that attack the manatee?” asked Rodriguez.

Biologist Nataly Castelblanco, an expert on manatees, said local animals should take precedence.

“Native species have conservation priority over invasive species,” she wrote on Twitter. – AFP, February 7, 2022.