Colombia sterilises Escobar’s hippos

Twenty-four out of 80 hippopotamuses roaming on the former ranch of the late Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar were sterilised due to the “uncontrolled” spreading of this “invasive” species, authorities said on Friday.

Before he was shot dead by police in 1993, Escobar had purchased a number of exotic animals to live on his ranch, including zebras and kangaroos. After his death, all but the hippos were sold to zoos. He originally acquired a single male and female hippos.

They were left to roam on his Hacienda Napoles estate, which has since been converted into a theme park, as they were considered too large to try to move, but since then their numbers have multiplied.