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When the Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar was killed in 1993, most of the animals he had imported as pets \u2014 zebras, giraffes, kangaroos and rhinoceroses \u2014 died or were transferred to zoos.<\/p>\n
But not his four hippopotamuses. They thrived. Perhaps a little too well.<\/p>\n
Officials estimate that about 170 hippos, descended from Mr. Escobar\u2019s original herd, now roam Colombia, and the population could grow to 1,000 by 2035, posing a serious threat to the country\u2019s ecosystem.<\/p>\n
This month, after years of debate about what to do with the voracious herbivores, Colombian officials announced a plan to sterilize some, possibly euthanize others and relocate some to sanctuaries in other countries. On Friday, one official said that four hippos \u2014 two adult females and two juvenile males \u2014 had already been surgically sterilized.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are in a race against time in terms of permanent environmental and ecosystem impacts,\u201d Susana Muhamad, Colombia\u2019s environmental minister, said in a statement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Colombian officials describe the hippos as an aggressive and invasive species with no natural predators.<\/p>\n
Mr. Escobar brought the first four to his lavish estate, Hacienda N\u00e1poles, in the 1980s as part of a wild animal menagerie he used to entertain guests.<\/p>\n
Mr. Escobar\u2019s son, Juan Pablo Escobar, wrote in a book, \u201cPablo Escobar: My Father<\/a>,\u201d that his father traveled in the early 1980s to a wildlife breeding center in Dallas, where he negotiated a deal to have the animals brought to his estate. Hacienda N\u00e1poles also had an airstrip, swimming pools and a 1,000-seat bull ring.<\/p>\n After Mr. Escobar was killed in a rooftop shootout<\/a> with security forces in Medell\u00edn in 1993, his hippos fended for themselves. They waddled into an artificial pond and reproduced, drawing affection and ire as their numbers multiplied.<\/p>\n The animals, for better or worse, became recognizable mascots in Colombia, memorialized in sculptures<\/a>, including one of a giant pink hippo<\/a> named Vanesa that greets visitors to Mr. Escobar\u2019s former estate, which has been turned into a theme park.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In the United States, the news media has less nobly referred to them as \u201ccocaine hippos.\u201d<\/p>\n A hunting party that included Colombian soldiers, hoping to stop the hippos from spreading beyond Mr. Escobar\u2019s estate, shot and killed one named Pepe<\/a> in 2009. The hunt prompted a public outcry, fueled by the publication of a photo of the soldiers posing with the dead hippo. A judge in Medell\u00edn later suspended the hunt for Pepe\u2019s mate and their offspring.<\/p>\n Ms. Muhamad blamed 30 years of government inaction for allowing the hippos to multiply far from their native habitat in sub-Saharan Africa. She said that 130 to 150 live in the Magdalena River, Colombia\u2019s principal river.<\/p>\n The government\u2019s goal is to sterilize 40 hippos a year.<\/p>\n But sterilizing a hippo is not like spaying or neutering a cat.<\/p>\n Hippos can weigh more than three tons and spend most of their days wallowing in the water, so they\u2019re easiest to capture at night. Experts said they are generally tranquilized with a dart and undergo surgery wherever they land. If they run into the water after being hit with a dart, they could drown, experts said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis procedure is very dangerous since the veterinarian must be very skilled to sterilize it in the shortest time possible, before it wakes up,\u201d said Germ\u00e1n Jim\u00e9nez, a biologist at the Pontifical Javeriana University in Colombia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The hippos could also be lured into a paddock baited with vegetables, where it might be easier to operate on them, said Jonathan Shurin, an ecologist at the University of California, San Diego, who has researched the effects of the hippos on water quality in Colombia.<\/p>\n \u201cGetting them sedated in a position where you can work on them is the hardest part,\u201d Dr. Shurin said, adding that the undertaking is \u201cnot for amateurs.\u201d<\/p>\n Colombian officials say each sterilization will cost about 40 million pesos, or roughly $10,000, and will require a team of eight people, including veterinarians, technicians and support staff.<\/p>\n Ms. Muhamad said the government was also developing an \u201cethical euthanasia protocol,\u201d but did not say how many hippos might be targeted or by what method.<\/p>\n Andrea Padilla, a Colombian senator and animal rights activist, said she supported the plan, as long as it did not call for killing healthy hippos. Euthanasia should be a last resort, she said, \u201cmainly in cases of sick animals whose suffering warrants it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe important thing is to act quickly and effectively\u201d in sterilizing as many hippos as possible, she said, transferring others to sanctuaries and confining the population.<\/p>\n Dr. Shurin said that it would be \u201cmuch more effective and humane\u201d to control the population when it\u2019s small than when it\u2019s large and might require extensive hunting.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s led to a lot of strong emotions and tempers on both sides,\u201d he said. \u201cI think the plan they\u2019ve come out with is very reasonable and sensible, and you\u2019ll be able to see if it works if you don\u2019t see baby hippos around.\u201d<\/p>\n Researchers have warned that the hippos, if left unchecked, could displace other mammals, such as manatees and capybaras<\/a>, and that the large amount of waste they produce could alter aquatic ecosystems, leading to harmful algal blooms. As the hippos spread, they could also come into more frequent contact with people.<\/p>\n In April, An\u00edbal Gaviria Correa, the governor of the Colombian region of Antioquia, posted a photo on social media<\/a> of a dead hippo in a road after it was hit by a car. He implored Ms. Muhamad and Colombia\u2019s president, Gustavo Petro, to expedite the relocation of what he called \u201cthese majestic animals.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Ms. Muhamad said the government was in talks to have some of the hippos relocated to sanctuaries in Mexico, India and the Philippines.<\/p>\n Dr. Jim\u00e9nez expressed concerns about the plans outlined so far, saying they \u201caren\u2019t enough to control\u201d the exploding hippo population. If the hippos aren\u2019t eliminated entirely, he said, Colombia must consider \u201cliving with this species permanently.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n