When Escobar was killed by police in 1993 and his drug empire collapsed, the animals escaped the drug lord’s vast private zoo. Since then, Colombia has had a small but steadily growing population of hippos. There are now about 90.
Too popular to shoot
The country has long struggled with the presence of the animals, which many people love to shoot, but are life-threatening. And sterilization seemed unfeasible for a long time: too expensive and too dangerous.
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With arrows filled with contraceptives, the authorities now hope to have found a solution.
Now it’s still possible
They want to intervene while they still can. “Hopefully this will help stop the population growth before it reaches thousands and people are killed,” said one of the project’s leaders.
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Hippo droppings threaten wetlands in Colombia and they themselves eat crops and destroy crops.
In addition, the hippos are aggressive towards humans and life threatening. In Africa, the seemingly unwieldy animals are responsible for hundreds of deaths every year.
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