DORADAL — Colombia's government announced in mid-April a plan to control the country's invasive hippo population, including culling up to 80 animals this year. The Environment Ministry has warned that the hippo population could double over the next five years if drastic measures are not taken.

Scientists estimate that 200 hippos now roam freely around Doradal, descended from four animals brought illegally to Colombia in the 1980s by Pablo Escobar. Escobar kept the hippos alongside elephants, giraffes, and zebras at a private zoo on a ranch near the town. After the Colombian government seized Escobar's properties in 1993, no one captured the hippos, and the population has expanded in the decades since.

Colombia initially tried to curb the population through sterilization procedures, first with surgeries and then with contraceptive injections. According to biologist Nataly Castelblanco-Martinez, sterilization is costly and risky, making large-scale efforts difficult, and culling is the most effective solution for controlling hippo populations, citing examples involving lionfish and camels in Australia. Biologists estimate that hippos deposit large amounts of waste in lakes and riverbeds, causing changes in water pH and reduced oxygen levels that lead to the collapse of aquatic plants and disrupt the local food chain, according to Castelblanco-Martinez.

In Doradal, locals and tourists gather each afternoon at a lake on the edge of town to watch the hippos floating on the water. The animals have become a tourist attraction, with statues displayed throughout the town and some residents offering hippo safaris and selling keyrings, T-shirts, and other souvenirs featuring the animals.

"This is one of the main attractions in town," said Lina Morales, a local hotel worker. Tania Galindo, a business owner in Doradal, said the hippos have integrated into local life. "They are part of our community now. There's no other place outside of Africa with wild hippos," Galindo said. "Their population should be controlled. But in a peaceful manner that respects their life, and the appreciation we have for them."

Indian billionaire Anant Ambani has offered to relocate 80 hippos to his Vantara wildlife reserve in Gujarat, India. Biology professor Sergio Estrada questioned the logistics of such a move. "Depending on where they are, when they lure them and catch them, they would have to drive them in huge trucks and lorries to the Rio Negro airport near Medellin. And that is about 150 km. So that, in itself, is no easy task," Estrada said. "I don't see these animals living and roaming freely in this area, in this location in India," he said.