2026年8月5日 / 美国东部时间下午1:25 / 哥伦比亚广播公司/法新社
哥伦比亚西北部当局表示，他们解救了一头被渔民在河岸发现的新生河马，这头河马独自待在一处，且出现营养不良的迹象。
根据哥伦比亚环境部的数据，哥伦比亚野外现存约200头所谓的“可卡因河马”，它们均为已被击毙的可卡因大毒枭巴勃罗·埃斯科巴引入南美的一个河马种群的后代。
地区环境管理局局长哈维尔·巴伦西亚在周二的一份声明中表示，渔民是在安蒂奥基亚省纳雷港一个乡村地区的河岸灌木丛中发现这头与母亲失散的小河马的。
声明称，兽医对其进行了治疗，该河马存在“严重脱水和营养不良”问题。
病情稳定后，这头河马被转移到了纳莱斯庄园的河马保护区，该庄园曾是埃斯科巴的私人产业，如今已成为主题公园。
哥伦比亚西北部当局表示，他们解救了一头被渔民在河岸发现的独自待着的小河马，这头河马出现营养不良的迹象。哥伦比亚政府
埃斯科巴在20世纪80年代为其私人庄园动物园引进了四头河马。
1993年这位麦德林贩毒集团头目被击毙后，这些河马逃脱并在马格达莱纳河沿岸定居，它们破坏了当地生态系统，甚至还袭击过当地居民。
在哥伦比亚生活多年的独立记者奥黛丽·休斯此前告诉哥伦比亚广播公司，由于河马自由游荡，它们会捕杀鱼类，威胁海牛、水獭和海龟等本土特有物种的生存。
“在非洲它们有天然天敌，但在这里没有，所以种群数量激增，正在影响当地生态系统，”休斯说道。“作为体型如此庞大的动物，它们会消耗大量草地，还会产生大量粪便，进而污染河流。”
这些河马如今被视为入侵物种，正在破坏本土生态系统。此前政府尝试通过绝育手段控制其繁殖，但未能成功，因此今年政府批准了一项计划，将捕杀约80头河马。
政府此前曾考虑将部分河马转移到海外保护区，但运送河马的成本高昂，预计约为350万美元。
这里拥有非洲以外规模最大的河马种群。
Newborn “cocaine hippo” linked to drug lord Pablo Escobar is rescued in Colombia
August 5, 2026 / 1:25 PM EDT / CBS/AFP
Authorities in northwestern Colombia said they rescued a newborn hippopotamus found alone by fishermen on the banks of a river and showing signs of malnutrition.
Colombia has around 200 so-called “cocaine hippos” living in the wild, according to the Environment Ministry, all of which descended from a colony brought to South America by slain cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar.
Fishermen found the small hippo separated from its mother and hidden in the bushes along the riverbank in a rural area of the Puerto Nare municipality in Antioquia, said Javier Valencia, director of the regional environmental authority, in a statement on Tuesday.
Veterinarians treated it for “advanced dehydration and malnutrition,” according to a statement.
After being stabilized, the animal was transferred to a hippo sanctuary at Hacienda Napoles, the estate previously owned by Escobar and which is now a theme park.
Authorities in northwestern Colombia said they rescued a baby hippopotamus found alone by fishermen on the banks of a river and showing signs of malnutrition. Colombia government
Escobar imported four hippos in the 1980s for his private zoo at the hacienda.
After the Medellin cartel leader’s death in 1993, the animals escaped and settled along the banks of the Magdalena River, where they have disrupted the ecosystem and even attacked local residents.
Independent journalist Audrey Huse, who has lived in Colombia for years, previously told CBS News that because the hippos roam freely, they end up killing fish and threatening endemic species like manatees, otters and turtles.
“Because they have no natural predators here, as they would in Africa, the population is booming and it’s affecting the local ecosystem,” Huse said. “Because they are such large animals, they consume considerable amounts of grassland and produce significant waste, which then poisons the rivers.”
They are now considered an invasive species and are destabilizing native ecosystems, prompting the government this year to approve a plan to cull around 80 of them after attempts to curb their reproduction through sterilization failed.
The government previously arranged for the possible transfer of hippos to overseas sanctuaries. But the cost of deporting the hippos is also expensive — an estimated$3.5 million.
It is the largest hippo colony outside Africa.
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