{"id":861,"date":"2026-05-20T18:45:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T18:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arabnewsmonitor.com\/2026\/05\/20\/russia-leads-international-rescue-effort-for-escobars-cocaine-hippos\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T18:45:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T18:45:19","slug":"russia-leads-international-rescue-effort-for-escobars-cocaine-hippos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/?p=861","title":{"rendered":"Russia leads international rescue effort for Escobar\u2019s \u2018cocaine hippos\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Moscow Zoo and an Indian wildlife rescue center are working to relocate 80 hippos from Colombia descended from animals once owned by the drug lord<\/strong><\/p>\n

Russia is spearheading an international effort to save 80 descendants of the so-called \u201ccocaine hippos\u201d<\/em> once owned by Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, Global Union of Zoological Institutions (GUZI) head Svetlana Akulova has said.<\/p>\n

Colombian authorities plan to euthanize the animals, which they see as a growing invasive threat.<\/p>\n

Akulova, who is also the director of the Moscow Zoo, described the effort as an \u201cunprecedented international campaign\u201d<\/em> to save the animals.<\/p>\n

Escobar imported four hippos from Africa for his private zoo in the 1980s. After he was killed in 1993, the animals were left behind on his abandoned estate and eventually escaped into the surrounding countryside, where they multiplied unchecked.<\/p>\n

The herd has swelled to nearly 200 animals and could explode past 1,000 within a decade, according to local authorities. They say the hippos are tearing up riverbanks, disrupting local ecosystems, and increasingly coming into conflict with nearby communities and fishermen.<\/p>\n

Environment Minister Irene Velez has defended the planned cull as necessary to protect Colombia\u2019s ecosystems.<\/p>\n

Authorities have long argued that relocating the animals was unfeasible, while animal rights activists have fiercely opposed the euthanasia plan. Senator Andrea Padilla called the move \u201ccruel,\u201d<\/em> writing on X that \u201cmassacres will never be acceptable.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"RT\"
Pablo Escobar\u2019s jet placed on Airbnb (PHOTOS)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

GUZI said it had appealed to Colombian authorities to halt the euthanasia plan and instead transfer the animals to zoos and sanctuaries accredited by the association.<\/p>\n

India\u2019s Vantara, one of the world\u2019s largest animal rescue and rehabilitation centers, has joined the Russian-led effort and offered to relocate the hippos to a specially designed sanctuary.<\/p>\n

\u201dThese 80 hippos did not choose where to be born, nor did they create the circumstances they now face,\u201d<\/em> Anant Ambani, Vantara founder said in a statement. \u201cThey are living, sentient beings, and if we have the capacity to save them through a safe and humane solution, we have the responsibility to try,\u201d<\/em> he added.<\/p>\n

GUZI said it was also working on a \u201cfair distribution\u201d<\/em> of the animals among accredited institutions to tackle genetic problems caused by the herd\u2019s limited gene pool.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Moscow Zoo and an Indian wildlife rescue center are working to relocate 80 hippos…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":862,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=861"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}