Colombians are divided over the fate of hippos linked to Escobar

Hippos wallow at a lagoon in the Hacienda Napoles Park [AP Photo]

A long the Magdalena River, one of Colombia’s primary arteries, fishermen move with wary precision. From the silty, tea-colored current, hippopotamuses can surface without warning, closing the distance to a vessel in a single heartbeat.

“These hippos are a true nightmare,” said fisherman Wilinton Sánchez about the semi-aquatic animals capable of charging at speeds of up to 8 kilometers per hour in water and 30 kilometers on land. “We were out Saturday when one lunged … reared up and swung its jaws wide. If it ever gets hold of you, it’ll tear you to pieces.”

The animals also draw fascination.

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 “hippo-watching” outings can occasionally end in screams as the animals close the distance with terrifying speed, but they also bring needed business to the community.

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 Nápoles — a sprawling valley estate that featured a private airstrip and served as his secluded fortress.

‘They are Colombian’

Colombia’s Environment Ministry has warned that the country’s 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.

The measure has ignited a fierce debate. Scientists advocating for euthanasia have faced death threats, while animal welfare activists decry the plan as “murder.” Meanwhile, many residents of Puerto Triunfo, a town 200 kilometers (120 miles) of the capital, Bogota, fear that losing the animals will destroy the tourism that sustains their community.

Diana Hincapié pauses her work at a Puerto Triunfo restaurant, taking a seat to chat beside a mural of a female hippopotamus and her calf.

“We don’t want to see a dead hippopotamus. They aren’t African anymore; they are Colombian, born and bred here for over 30 years,” said the 48-year-old business owner, noting she is ready to take to the streets in protest if the euthanasia plan proceeds.

Her restaurant, situated on the banks of the Cocorná Sur River — a tributary of the Magdalena — draws nearly 200 tourists a month. Most come specifically for the hippos, and Hincapié fears that the government’s plan would decimate the area’s tourism.

Confinement, transfer or death

As one of the largest terrestrial mammals on Earth, hippopotamuses have now spread across approximately 43,000 square kilometers (16,600 square miles), according to Environment Ministry estimates.

With no natural predators and a stable, drought-free climate — a stark departure from their native Africa — the animals found a sanctuary on the “Island of Silence,” a vegetation-covered river island that has become the heart of their expanding colony.

Álvaro 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. “One night I saw 12 at once, but I understand they have been migrating,” the fisherman says. MDT/AP