Update on Escobar's “Cocaine Hippos”

The “cocaine hippos” are in the news again. In the 1980s the late drug kingpin Pablo Escobar illegally imported hippos to Colombia for his private zoo at Hacienda Nápoles. They have continued to reproduce unchecked (there are now 200 of them) and their presence is said to be endangering native species, leading Colombian officials to approve a plan to euthanize approximately 80 hippos. Indian billionaire Anant Ambani has stepped in with an offer to house the hippos at his private wildlife conservation centre in India. However some critics have accused the sanctuary of indirect complicity in wildlife trafficking. The controversy continues.