Colombia to transfer 70 hippos from drug lord's estate

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Colombia to transfer 70 hippos from drug lord's estate

Colombia has said that the cost of transferring 70 hippos that belonged to deceased drug lord Pablo Escobar to overseas sanctuaries will be $3.5 m.

In the late 1980s, the animals were brought from Africa to Colombia, but after his death in 1993 the animals were left to roam freely in a hot, marshy area of Antioquia department, where environmental authorities have been helpless to curb their numbers.

In the coming months, the authorities said they plan to capture and move nearly half of the hippopotamuses, with 10 bound for the Ostok Sanctuary in northern Mexico and 60 going to an as-yet unnamed facility in India.

The whole operation should cost around $3.5 m, said Ernesto Zazueta, owner of the Ostok Sanctuary.

He and the local governor of the Colombian region that is home to the hippos say they plan to lure the animals with bait into pens where they will remain confined before being put in special crates for the transfer.

Since the hippos escaped after Escobar's death, the government has repeatedly failed to tame the booming population who have made the Magdalena River basin their home.

In 2009 it tried culling the animals but stopped after a graphic picture caused national outrage. A sterilization programmed remains in place, but the hippos breed faster than local experts can find, catch and castrate them.

The largest population outside Africa is now 130 from the original four hippos that escaped from Escobar's country estate. With no natural predators to keep them in check, their population will keep growing exponentially. One study estimated that the hippos will number 1,400 by the year 2034.

Studies have warned that the hippos are damaging the ecosystem in the Magdalena, the largest river in one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. Each hippo eats about 40 kg of grass a night, so their excrement alone poisons the water, kills fish and jeopardizes the rich biodiversity of the river.

The hippos are increasingly coming into conflict with the local people and hippo attacks have become more common in recent years.

The environment ministry declared the hippos an invasive species last year, which opened the door to an eventual cull, but the hippo transfer plan is seen as a final life-saving measure.