A hippopotamus yawns while remaining cool in a river on November 26, 2021 in the Sabi Sands. Photo: David Silverman/Getty Images
A hippopotamus that can be tied to infamous drug kingpin Pablo Escobar has been killed in a collision with an SUV, authorities in Colombia have confirmed. The hippo is a descendant from a line of animals that were illegally imported by Escobar during the peak of his drug empire. He brought them to Colombia in the 1980s and placed them in his private zoo, Hacienda Nápole, in the northwest of the country where they remained until his death. They currently number in the 100s and are considered an environmental hazard in the country. Police said the people in the vehicle were not harmed in the accident, which happened on a highway from Bogotá to Medellín. The hippo died immediately.“This is one of the dangers that the presence of this species represents,” David Echeverri López, a biologist at a local environmental authority, told the AP. “Many of them cross the highway where many vehicles pass, it is also a danger to people. “Hippos are unpredictable, at any moment they can attack a person.”The animals do not have any natural predators in the country, which means there is no way of controlling their ever-growing population size. The hippos are regularly seen roaming freely in neighbouring towns. Colombia has declared Escobar’s hippos an “invasive species.” The government is working on plans to relocate them to other countries.
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