Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar’s randy and troublesome cocaine hippos given death sentence

They belonged to drug lord Pablo Escobar — and just like the notorious underworld criminal, his randy group of “cocaine hippos” are causing havoc.

The infamous cartel kingpin was killed in a shootout with police in Colombia in 1993 — and ever since his “pet” hippopotamuses have been roaming free across the countryside in Medellin.

But what started out as about 16 of the animals roaming Escobar’s formerly high-security compound, from which they eventually escaped, has grown to about 200.

Not only are the randy hippos, which were brought in from Africa as an attraction for Escobar’s private zoo along with other exotic animals, ruining the landscape and killing native wildlife — they are putting the lives of water users at risk.

Fisherman in the nearby Magdalena River have been attacked by the beasts and locals fear it is only a matter of time before someone is killed.

And at the rate the hippos are breeding, there are concerns the population will soon number north of 1000 and all hope of bringing them under control will be lost.

Even the hippos’ excrement is a threat to the Colombian environment, with a single animal producing up to 9kg of waste daily.

In Africa, the animal’s waste provides nutrients for fish and other water life. But in Colombia, the flora and fauna can’t feed on it and risk being killed off.

And so just like their deceased drug kingpin owner, officials have now issued a death warrant for the hippos.

Administrative Court judges in the Colombian capital Cundinamarca have ordered the Environment Ministry to execute the animals within three months.

Environmental legal expert Juan Pablo Sarmient said the call was not before time.

“The discussion on what to do with invasive species is a global problem,” he said.

“However, due to the time that the presence of hippos in the country has spread, it has become a situation that cannot be prolonged any longer.

“These decisions must be faced to wipeout an invasive species because the impact they have on the environment generates risk to human beings.”

Environmental official Francisco Sánchez agreed.

“They’ll get all the way to the sea because they will just follow the Magdalena River,” he said. “It’s completely out of control.”

However, not everyone is onboard with killing off the hippos.

Wildlife groups have urged the Government to control and cull them, suggesting sterilising them.

There has also been a campaign to round up the hippos and fly them elsewhere.

Colombia’s Environment Minister Susana Muhamad said in 2023 that the Government intended to solve the hippo issue with a culling and sterilisation program but nothing has happened.

Escobar’s personal zoo housed an array of animal species. At the peak of his drug empire, he employed more than 1000 staff at his compound.