Fishermen in Colombia have found a malnourished newborn baby hippopotamus hidden in bushes along a riverbank in a rural area of Puerto Nare, a northern town in Antioquia. Regional environmental authority director Javier Valencia explained on Tuesday that the calf had been separated from its mother.
According to a statement, veterinarians treated the animal for advanced dehydration and malnutrition. After its health condition was stabilized, the baby hippo was transferred to a sanctuary at Hacienda Napoles, the large ranch once owned by drug lord Pablo Escobar that has been turned into a theme park.
Escobar Herd History
Colombia is home to about 200 hippos living in the wild, according to the Ministry of Environment. The population stems from four hippos that the Medellin cartel leader imported in the 1980s for his private zoo at Hacienda Napoles. Law enforcement killed Escobar in 1993.
Following Escobar's death, the animals escaped and settled along the banks of the Magdalena River, where they disrupted the river ecosystem and attacked fishermen. Now forming the largest hippo colony outside Africa, they are classified as an invasive species. The government approved a plan this year to cull about 80 hippos after sterilization attempts failed.
