Pablo Escobar's 'cocaine hippos' attacking people in Colombia

The offspring of illegal hippopotamuses imported to Colombia by late druglord Pablo Escobar in the 1980s have started attacking people, according to media reports.

Since these hippos do not have any natural predators in the South American country, their reign of terror has extended to humans who have become the target of theirbrute aggression.

"They're very, very dangerous. The hippos have started to attack people," one local was quoted as saying by Fox News.

Others said the giant hippos were "unpredictable and aggressive" and if one squared up against them, the best course of action is to quickly hide and hope they do not come after you.

Last year, one of the hippos, belonging to Escobar's collection died after being struck by a car.While the hippo died on the spot, the driver of the car was sent for medical assistance by emergency personnel.

The hippos were brought to Escobar'sprivate zoo in Hacienda Nápoles in the 1980s. However, after Escobar's death in 1993, these animals have spread to the nearby rivers, reproducing without control, forcing Colombia's Ministry of Environment to declare them an invasive species as they threaten the entire ecosystem.

Watch |Colombia grapples with Escobar's Hippopotamus legacy

Invasive species

As their population grew to 150, the hippos started polluting soil and water and wiping out native plants in the region. The officials said that their faeces affected water oxygen levels, lowered the water quality and caused widespread fish fatalities.

"We are in a race against time in terms of permanent environmental and ecosystem impacts,"Colombian environmental minister Susana Muhamad told the New York Times.

The environmental authorities have been helpless to curb their numbers. According to a study in Nature journal, their numbers could increase to 1,500 in 20 years. The authorities have tried various methods like using contraceptive darts and other methods to control their population, but these have yielded limited success.

As part of another plan, the authorities are hoping to sterilise 40 hippos a year and transfer some of them to other countries while euthanising a few.

However, the sterilisation task remains difficult as spotting and capturing these aggressive animals is complicated. Additionally, it costs about $9,800 for each sterilisation, making it an expensive job as well.

(With inputs from agencies)