Colombia: Pablo Escobar's Hippos Have Become an Invasive Species in Colombia

Jan 29, 2020 | Alison DeNisco Rayome, CNET
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In the early 1980s, infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar created a family zoo full of exotic animals in Colombia, including rhinos, giraffes, zebras and hippos. When Escobar's empire crashed in the '90s, the animals were relocated to zoos -- except for the four hippos, now considered an invasive species whose waste is wreaking havoc on the Colombian aquatic ecosystem, according to a new study published in the journal Ecology.