{"id":637399,"date":"2026-04-29T23:55:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T23:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/637399\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T23:55:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T23:55:10","slug":"colombians-are-divided-over-the-euthanizing-of-hippos-linked-to-pablo-escobar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/637399\/","title":{"rendered":"Colombians are divided over the euthanizing of hippos linked to Pablo Escobar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

A hippo surfaces in the Magdalena River near Puerto Triunfo, Colombia, on April 22.Fernando Vergara\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

Along the Magdalena River, one of Colombia\u2019s primary arteries, fishermen move with wary precision. From the silty, tea-coloured current, hippopotamuses can surface without warning, closing the distance to a vessel in a single heartbeat. <\/p>\n

\u201cThese hippos are a true nightmare,\u201d said fisherman Wilinton S\u00e1nchez about the semi-aquatic animals capable of charging at speeds of up to 8 kilometres per hour in water and 30 kilometres on land. \u201cWe were out Saturday when one lunged \u2026 reared up and swung its jaws wide. If it ever gets hold of you, it\u2019ll tear you to pieces.\u201d<\/p>\n

The animals also draw fascination. <\/p>\n

Several afternoons a week, boats filled with Colombian and foreign tourists arrive to scan the shoreline waiting for signs in the murky water. Even these \u201chippo-watching\u201d outings can occasionally end in screams as the animals close the distance with terrifying speed, but they also bring needed business to the community.<\/p>\n

The hippos, an invasive species in Colombia, are part of a population of 200 that continues to reproduce unchecked. They are the offspring of animals illegally brought to the country in the 1980s by the late drug kingpin Pablo Escobar for his private zoo at Hacienda N\u00e1poles \u2013 a sprawling valley estate that featured a private airstrip and served as his secluded fortress.<\/p>\n

Along the Magdalena River, one of Colombia\u2019s primary arteries, fishermen move with wary precision – hippopotamuses can surface without warning, closing the distance to a vessel in a single heartbeat. <\/p>\n

The Associated Press<\/p>\n

\u2018They are Colombian\u2019<\/p>\n

Colombia\u2019s Environment Ministry has warned that the country\u2019s hippo population will exceed 500 by 2030 without intervention. To prevent this, officials recently approved a plan to euthanize approximately 80 hippos starting in the latter half of the year.<\/p>\n

The measure has ignited a fierce debate. Scientists advocating for euthanasia have faced death threats, while animal welfare activists decry the plan as \u201cmurder.\u201d Meanwhile, many residents of Puerto Triunfo, a town 200 kilometres of the capital, Bogota, fear that losing the animals will destroy the tourism that sustains their community.<\/p>\n

Diana Hincapi\u00e9 pauses her work at a Puerto Triunfo restaurant, taking a seat to chat beside a mural of a female hippopotamus and her calf.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want to see a dead hippopotamus. They aren\u2019t African anymore; they are Colombian, born and bred here for over 30 years,\u201d said the 48-year-old business owner, noting she is ready to take to the streets in protest if the euthanasia plan proceeds.<\/p>\n

Her restaurant, situated on the banks of the Cocorn\u00e1 Sur River \u2013 a tributary of the Magdalena \u2013 draws nearly 200 tourists a month. Most come specifically for the hippos, and Hincapi\u00e9 fears that the government\u2019s plan would decimate the area\u2019s tourism.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Fisherman Alvaro Molina, who lives along the banks of the Magdalena River, says he regularly encounters hippos.Fernando Vergara\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

Confinement, transfer or death<\/p>\n

As one of the largest terrestrial mammals on Earth, hippopotamuses have now spread across approximately 43,000 square kilometres, according to Environment Ministry estimates.<\/p>\n

With no natural predators and a stable, drought-free climate \u2013 a stark departure from their native Africa \u2013 the animals found a sanctuary on the \u201cIsland of Silence,\u201d a vegetation-covered river island that has become the heart of their expanding colony.<\/p>\n

\u00c1lvaro Molina, 61, who lives on the riverbank opposite the island, recalls that the first pair arrived roughly 11 years ago. Since then, the population has surged. \u201cOne night I saw 12 at once, but I understand they have been migrating,\u201d the fisherman says.<\/p>\n

Encounters on the river are so frequent that Molina now takes them for granted every time he goes fishing \u2013 especially at dusk. A few years ago, his boat ended up right on top of two hippos which, startled, capsized the vessel. The fisherman managed to swim to another barge without injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether they are killed or taken away, it does us a favour,\u201d Molina said, noting that the hippos have crippled the local fishing industry because so many people have abandoned it out of fear.<\/p>\n

The government\u2019s control plan includes confinement, a move supported by Puerto Triunfo residents, transfers to international sanctuaries or zoos and euthanasia, a last resort reserved for cases where non-lethal alternatives prove unfeasible.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Hippos wallow at a lagoon at the Hacienda Napoles Park, once the private estate of the late drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, in Puerto Triunfo, Colombia.Fernando Vergara\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

Mammals in limbo<\/p>\n

In Africa, these large-bodied herbivores that move constantly between the water and the land \u201ccan significantly impact the structure of ecosystems,\u201d said Daniel Cadena, dean of the faculty of sciences at the University of the Andes, who advocates for the implementation of a mixed control strategy \u2013 including euthanasia.<\/p>\n

But euthanasia is not necessarily easy. According to the official protocol, the animals may receive a lethal injection after being lured with food into a corral and immobilized. Alternatively, they may be shot with long-range hunting rifles, but the weapons need to be high-powered because hippopotamus skin is famously thick and difficult to penetrate.<\/p>\n

Sen. Andrea Padilla has urged the government to prioritize relocation over killing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is an extermination; it is a massacre of 80 individuals,\u201d Padilla said. \u201cThis is a legacy left to us by a drug trafficker. How can we possibly close this chapter in the exact same way \u2013 by shooting the hippos?\u201d<\/p>\n

Relocating the animals to other countries has failed to gain traction.<\/p>\n

Despite initial interest, the Environment Ministry said that no country has committed to the transfer. Potential hosts have been deterred either by the high costs of receiving the massive mammals or by legal bans on importing invasive species.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Carlos Diaz, a fisherman and tour guide, steers a tourist boat on a ‘hippo-watching’ outing along the Magdalena River in Puerto Triunfo, Colombia.Fernando Vergara\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: A hippo surfaces in the Magdalena River near Puerto Triunfo, Colombia, on April…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":637400,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,66,865,61,900,892,886,323,883,913],"class_list":["post-637399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-science","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-wildlife","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=637399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/637399\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/637400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=637399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=637399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=637399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}