Drug kingpin Pablo Escobar has been revered as the world’s wealthiest drug lord amassing his fortune through trafficking cocaine, whilst running his globally famous criminal network, the Medellin cartel. As Pablo Escobar built his cocaine empire and asserted his control on Colombia, alongside came a reputation of brutality and violence.
During his reign over Colombia, Escobar’s actions resulted in thousands of deaths including civilian plane bombings and endless police murders. However today, the legacy of one of the most feared and richest men, is quickly reshaping in one certain corner of Colombia, and not in the way you would believe.
With Escobar’s position came unimaginable wealth. Along with his numerous luxurious estates, Escobar pursued a passion of his and assembled his own personal zoo. Giraffes, elephants, rhinos and zebras were trafficked illegally to form the zoo, ending up at his lavish estate in northwestern Colombia, called Hacienda Nápoles. In 1981, Escobar added four new arrivals to his collection trafficked from a zoo in the USA, which became undeniably his favourite additions and the start of the most unique ecological dilemma: the culprits being four hippopotamuses.
Pablo Escobar was shot dead in 1993 leading to his estate, Hacienda Nápoles, falling into the hands of the Colombian government he tried to overthrow, including the possession of his prized personal zoo. In the years following Escobar’s death, most of the exotic animals previously housed at his property were transferred to licenced zoos across the world, but not the hippos.
Left to wallow in the ruins of a crumbled empire, the hippos exploited being rejected, breeding rapidly and exploring what Colombia had to offer. As the government neglected the property, the electric fence stopped working allowing the hippos to roam free. With no natural predators, high annual rainfall and no noticeable dry season, the hippos found themselves in a garden of Eden.
Just starting from the original 4 hippos, the numbers have boomed since Escobar’s death resulting in an estimated 50-80 across the northern region of Colombia. Due to female hippos bearing a calf every two to three years and their high life expectancy of 40-50 years, studies have mapped out that their exponential growth could lead to a population of 400-800 by 2050 if nothing is done.
Escobar’s trafficked hippos, 3 female and 1 male, have boomed in population since his death in 1993. The animals have become commonly known as the ‘cocaine hippos’.
PHOTOGRAPH BY Perla Sofia
As of late, Hacienda Nápoles has been converted into a water park tourist attraction where many of the hippos still live, pulling in visitors. However, the hippos are spreading and have been found 250km away from the estate that they began at, many of them now reside in the largest river in Colombia, the Magdalena.
Escobar’s ‘cocaine hippos’, as they have been branded, are the largest invasive species we have ever introduced, but what will happen to them in this new climate? Are they an animal which the Colombian people can co-exist with or will the hippos cause an ecological disaster if they are allowed to stay?
The Magdalena river basin is responsible for draining 24% of Colombia’s land and is coincidentally perfect for hippos. With its relatively slow-moving pace and abundance of shallows, the Magdalena is ideal for hippos to push off the banks and glide through the water.
PHOTOGRAPH BY Perla Sofia
Scientists, conservationists and government officials are torn between allowing the hippos to stay or attempting to remove them from the Colombian wilderness for good. The initial problem with hippos in Colombia is their impact on humans. As the hippos spread further away from Hacienda Nápoles, it was clearly foreseeable that humans and hippos would inevitably cross paths.
Being up to 3000 kilograms in weight and notably aggressive, hippos pose a potentially deadly risk to local residents. Hippos have spread throughout the river basin intruding upon small fishing villages and rural cropland. People rely upon these practices to generate an income. With the ability to eat 35kg of organic matter in one evening, vital crops have been decimated and trampled.
Although no fatalities have occurred yet, human and hippo proximity to one another is becoming closer and closer. It may not take long before the hippo's assertive territorial instincts lead to attacks. Across the African continent, more people die every year of hippos than any other wild mammal; the people of Colombia do not want this to start in their own country.
Hippos are coming into closer contact with people increasing the likelihood of conflict. Hippos have even been filmed walking through towns at night. Fishermen along the Magdalena are worried about how their presence will impact their livelihood and disrupt transport along the river.
PHOTOGRAPH BY Perla Sofia
The second major dilemma is what negative impact could the hippos have on this ecosystem. Within their native African home, hippos have population checks, other animals eat them, and the natural ecosystem limits their population growth. Without the dangers of crocodiles, lions and hyenas, most hippo calves will make it to adulthood.
Additionally, the Magdalena river basin boasts of having water all year round providing constant food and breeding conditions for the hippos. However, in Africa, hippo populations are curbed by a noticeable rainy and dry season which naturally depletes resources creating a population plateau.
The other question concerning conservationists is to what extent will hippos threaten Colombia’s native endemic wildlife such as manatees, otters and unique fish species? Hippos release enormous quantities of nutrients into the rivers that they inhabit, and studies are unsure if this will cause a bloom of food for certain species or famine for others, as nutrient levels are drastically altered.
Female hippos are seen to be becoming pregnant after 3 years rather than the average of 7 years old in African populations, due to favourable conditions. As populations boom due to no natural checks, males will move away due to breeding competition. The spread of the population is worrying for the health of native wildlife, such as manatees and otters.
PHOTOGRAPH BY Perla Sofia
Despite the accidental introduction of hippos to the Colombian wild, there are genuine ecological arguments for keeping them. Just by hippos grazing at night and then relaxing in the water excreting waste during the day, they complete numerous ecosystem services. Nutrients are funnelled from land to water, grassy plants are kept in check and wetland structures are altered and created all due to the hippo’s presence.
By allowing the hippos to multiply and carry out these functions is part of a controversial method called Pleistocene rewilding. Towards the end of the Pleistocene era 10,000-13,000 years ago, multiple species of megafauna became extinct worldwide. As large herbivorous animals vanished, landscapes suffered. Due to their absence, soils were depleted of nutrients and plant growth altered leading to impacts on water flow and availability.
It is now understood that hunting by humans during the late Pleistocene era was a major reason for the loss of these megafauna species, is it our duty to revive these landscapes? Colombia during the Pleistocene era was very different in some ways, giant llama (Hemiauchenia paradoxa) and semi-aquatic Toxodon grazed the Colombian grasslands. But with the introduction of hippos, these species appear to share numerous ecological traits that could revive the ecosystem seen in the Pleistocene.
Pleistocene rewilding is a very controversial topic. Some Scientists argue that ecosystems have had time to evolve and are now very functionally different to those seen in the Pleistocene era. The reintroduction of megafauna could lead to ecosystem harm and collapse rather than enhance it.
PHOTOGRAPH BY Uwe Bergwitz
Ultimately, what should we do with Pablo Escobar’s escaped hippos? Do we want them roaming around this landscape or do we want to eradicate this invasive species?
With the danger that hippos can present, some are calling for them to be culled. In 2009 when a male hippo named Pepe wandered too close to human civilisation, crushing farmer's cows, the government replied sharply killing him. However, after the execution, pictures surfaced of the army posing next to the dead hippo which was met by a forceful backlash in the Colombian community. It appears that many Colombians are proud of their hippos and killing them is not a favourable option.
Some conservationists have called for males to be sterilised to stop them from breeding. Unfortunately, the logistics of carrying this out are a lot trickier than anticipated. Sterilisation operations are expensive so they can only be performed on a limited hippos. If every male is not castrated then the effects would be minimal, and the population would still grow. Additionally, trying to sedate a hippo is a lot harder than expected which was the main reason why they were never moved following Escobar’s death. They need to be on land otherwise they will drown, they are aggressive and are highly sensitive to sedation drugs.
Trying to sedate a hippo has massive logistical problems. It requires a large team who all take a huge risk when trying to control this massive animal.
PHOTOGRAPH BY Jason Bennee
Looking at the global trend in species decline, scientists are in favour of keeping a population of hippos outside of Africa where their numbers are already declining. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, recent years have tragically seen a 95% decrease in hippos numbers due to human activities such as hunting. This points to the reason why a rewilding effort in Colombia could be vitally essential to saving this iconic species.
Surprisingly, many Locals are in favour of keeping the hippos in Colombia as they are helping drive their ecotourism industry. It is estimated that 50,000 people a year visit Escobar’s former estate Hacienda Nápoles and the tourism bucks are seen to offset the worry of the dangerous animals.
Ecotourism has become a financially viable option for people living in the region. The money that comes in from tourists is enough to sway them in favour of keeping the hippos.
PHOTOGRAPH BY Jess Kraft
With all the options at hand, scientists still believe we do not know enough about the hippo’s effects. We need to intensively study these animals for longer in order for the potential idea of Pleistocene rewilding to be followed through. This pathway raises the question surrounding compassionate conservation where looking after the animal’s welfare comes hand in hand with protecting the ecological environment.
Through this particular situation, it may prompt us to start looking at invasive species differently. The word ‘invasive’ is altering our view on potentially beneficial species to certain ecosystems, as we are already branding them as foreign and invaders to areas of land. For hundreds of years, we have introduced species across the world consciously and accidentally with differing success. Now that we have the tools to comprehensively study these introduced animals we may have to reshape our thinking on how we protect and manage our wild places, starting with the legacy of Pablo Escobar’s escaped hippos.
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