The descendants of hippopotamuses that were kept in a private zoo by now-deceased Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar are creating havoc and attacking people, Vice News reported.
The "cocaine hippos" have reportedly invaded a school yard and have terrorized local fishing communities and sent people to the hospital after attacking them.
The problem has persisted even after the Colombian government pledged millions of dollars to round up the nearly 170 hippos, who, according to Vice, "have become one of the largest invasive species in the world."
"The original four hippos, three females and one male, were part of the hundreds of exotic animals at Escobar’s private zoo, Hacienda Nápoles, from the 1980s," the publication writes. "After the drug lord’s death in 1993, animals from the abandoned estate were donated to other zoos, except the hippos who have since reproduced uncontrollably."
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Although there are under 200 hippos at the moment, they are projected to grow to over 1,000 in the next decade if left unchecked.
Susana Muhamad, the current environmental minister of Colombia, tells Vice that the hippos are "a threat to ecosystems" that "risks for the communities that surround them.”
