Subscribe
Colombia’s Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development has approved a plan to euthanise hippos descended from four individuals brought by drug lord Pablo Escobar to the country in the 1980s, according to a statement issued on April 13, 2026.
“The National Government, through the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, activated a shock plan to tackle the expanding numbers of hippos (Hippopotamus amphibius) in Colombia, incorporating for the first time a technical euthanasia protocol as part of a comprehensive strategy based on scientific evidence,” the statement noted.
“There are two ways to reduce the hippopotamus population: translocation and euthanasia. The latter is a technical measure, part of what science tells us to do when translocation is not possible. Today we are announcing a euthanasia protocol so that environmental authorities can implement it with the support of scientific institutions, because without this action it is impossible to control the growth of the species,” stated the acting Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Irene Vélez Torres.
With an investment of 7.2 billion pesos, the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, through the Fund for Life and Biodiversity, will finance the implementation of the Plan for the Prevention, Control and Management of the hippopotamus, which includes technical protocols for the reduction of the population and the control of its geographical distribution.
“For the first time, we are going to allocate resources for these actions to be implemented. Part of the barrier we face from corporations has to do with limited resources. Our corporations don’t always have resources specifically allocated for these types of actions, which is why this Ministry, through the Fund for Life and Biodiversity, has just decided to allocate 7.2 billion pesos,” stated Vélez Torres.
According to CNN, “Colombia is the only country outside of Africa with a wild hippo population. The hippos are the descendants of four brought to the country in the 1980s by Escobar as he built a private zoo in Hacienda Nápoles, a gigantic ranch in the Magdalena River valley with a private landing strip that served as his rural abode.”
Hippos were officially declared an invasive alien species in Colombia in 2022 due to the negative impacts they have on ecosystems, especially on water quality and native species such as the manatee and the river turtle.
Currently, the population is estimated to exceed 200 individuals, and if no control measures are implemented, it could reach 500 specimens in 2030 and close to 1,000 in 2035, significantly increasing environmental and community risks, according to the official statement.
“We are committed to a rapid action plan so that we can quickly begin to flatten the curve. According to the initial estimates and model, what we had seen was that the recommendation from the experts in 2022 was to reduce, to remove from the ecosystems, at least 33 specimens per year. There is therefore a shortfall, and with these resources we would like to focus on at least half of the individuals that we can estimate exist in the ecosystems today,” the minister pointed out.