Locals fret as Colombia to declare hippos invasive species

By MARKO ÁLVAREZ and ASTRID SUÁREZ
Associated Press

PUERTO TRIUNFO, Colombia (AP) — People around the Colombian town of Puerto Triunfo have grown accustomed to living near the herd of hippopotamuses descended from a few that were imported illegally from Africa in the 1980s by flamboyant drug lord Pablo Escobar. Within weeks, Colombia’s government plans to sign a document declaring the hippos an exotic invasive species, which means coming up with a plan for how to control their population, which has reached 130 and is projected hit 400 in eight years. Among the strategies being debated are castration, sterilization or taking the lives of some hippopotamuses. Most people in Puerto Triunfo say they oppose even sterilization — let alone killing some.