Drug lord Pablo Escobar's herd of 'cocaine hippos' sterilized to stop them wreaking environmental havoc
- Colombia has sterilized 24 of the more than 80 hippos left as Pablo Escobar's legacy, the BBC reported.
- He brought four to the country, and they have bred and multiplied since he was shot dead in 1993.
Colombia is sterilizing drug lord Pablo Escobar's hippos.
Escobar brought four hippos to his estate illegally before he was shot dead in 1993. They have since bred and multiplied, and, according to the BBC, there are now more than 80.
They are sometimes referred to as "cocaine hippos" due to Escobar's prominent role in the cocaine trade and the Medellín drugs cartel.
Now 24 of them have been given a chemical that makes them infertile, the BBC reported.
The animals, weighing more than 3,000 pounds, are an invasive species, which means they can affect and harm other animals in Colombia. And they're also so big that they can cause environmental damage by just moving around, Insider's Haven Orecchio-Egresitz previously reported.
When Escobar died, many of the animals he had brought to his illegal menagerie were distributed to legitimate zoos across Colombia, but the hippos were too large to do so easily, the BBC reported.
Since multiplying, the group of hippos, known as a bloat, have survived and thrived in the Magdelena River.
Experts say the hippos' presence may also have some positive environmental effects.