The Colombian government started the sterilization process for drug kingpin Pablo Escobar's cocaine hippos on Tuesday as the animals continue to multiply in the region.
The hippos were first brought into the country by the drug lord in the 1980s and have since spread across Colombian territory as an invasive species with no natural predator. Environmental authorities noted that two male hippos and one female recently underwent surgical sterilization.
Sterilizing Cocaine Hippos
![[UPDATE] Colombia Begins Sterilization of Pablo Escobar's Cocaine Hippos as Animals Keep Multiplying](https://d.hngn.com/en/full/283663/update-colombia-begins-sterilization-pablo-escobars-cocaine-hippos-animals-keep-multiplying.jpg?w=830&f=c8ceef96f82124689a0628fb8e0193a5)
The process was part of a larger government plan to control the population of the animals, which number more than 100, that continue to roam around unsupervised in some rivers. The efforts include the sterilization of 40 hippos annually while transferring some of them to other nations, and as a last resort, euthanasia.
The animals started to spread from Escobar's estate into nearby rivers where they eventually flourished. The initial group of hippos were brought to the drug kingpin's Hacienda Napoles, a private zoo that later became a tourist attraction after Escobar's death in 1993, as per CBS News.
The majority of the animals in Colombia now live freely in rivers and continue to reproduce without control. Government officials have warned that the hippos could upset the local ecosystem if left unchecked.
Scientists also noted that the animals' feces change the composition of rivers and could impact the habitat of local manatees and capybaras. An independent journalist, Audrey Huse, has lived in the region for the last eight years. He said that since the animals roam freely, they end up killing fish and threatening endemic species such as otters and turtles.
Huse noted that because the hippos do not have any natural predators like they do in Africa, their population has skyrocketed and has started to affect the local ecosystem. She said that since they are very large animals, they consume considerable amounts of grassland and produce significant waste, which poisons the rivers.
Controlling the Animals' Population
The latest plan is to capture, anesthetize, and sterilize 20 hippos by the end of this year in a three-pronged approach. The government's plan was initially announced by Colombian environment minister Susana Muhamad on Nov. 2 during a press conference, according to Nature.
Researchers earlier this year feared that Muahamad would not take any action that is needed to reduce the population of the cocaine hippos. This was after the official met with animal-rights groups and created a new division of animal protection within the ministry and the publication of a government-commissioned student on the hippos was delayed.
A biologist at the University of the North in Barranquilla, Colombia, Jorge Moreno-Bernal said that there are still questions about how the plan will be carried out. However, he noted that it seems that the government is generally going in the right direction.
The development comes as a previous study of the cocaine hippos revealed that there could be more than double the number in the population that experts have previously estimated. The study, which was published in April, suggests that the animals number around 181 to 215, said Live Science.
