Pablo Escobar’s hippos to be flown to Mexico, drug lord El Chapo’s birthplace

Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar’s hippos are being flown to Jesus Maria in the mountains of northwestern Mexico, where another drug lord from Mexico Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and his sons live and where Ovidio "El Raton" Guzman was captured after a fierce firefight in January.

New York Post reported that 10 hippos will be flown from Antioquia, Colombia, to Sinaloa, the Mexican province. Upon landing, they will be taken to Jesús María, the bastion of Guzman.

Their new home will be Ostok Sanctuary — a shelter for animals rescued from species trafficking.

The Ostok Sanctuary is located on the outskirts of Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa — a stronghold of El Chapowho is currently serving a life sentence for murder and drug trafficking at the federal supermax prison in Colorado after his conviction in Brooklyn.

The whole operation of moving the hippos to a new location is being financed by Mexican conservationist Ernesto Zazueta who is shelling out $500,000, according to a report.

The hippos are a small fraction of the dozens in Antioquia, where Escobar is said to have maintained a zoo on his Hacienda Nápoles ranch at of his Medellin Cartel days in the 1980s.

He reportedly brought four hippos as part of a collection of exotic animals like elephants, giraffes, and antelopes at his private zoo.

However, after his death in 1993, these animals were left to roam freely in the marshy area of the Antioquia department.

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. As a result, they were declared invasive species.

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.

Though most of the other animals were relocated, the hippos were too difficult to transport. The chances of sending them back to Africa is also nil as the experts believe that it might risk upsetting the local ecosystem there.

Meanwhile, 60 of these hippos will be sent to India, CNN had reported.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE