Pablo Escobar's hippos to be relocated for 'mating too much', 'dirtying rivers'

The late drug lord, Pablo Escobar, imported four hippos from Africa in the 1980s. The animals have since reproduced and grown significantly in numbers. [Courtesy of Getty Images]

Colombia is proposing transferring at least 70 hippopotamuses that live near Pablo Escobar's former ranch - descendants of four imported from Africa illegally by the late drug lord in the 1980s - to India and Mexico as part of a plan to control their population.

The hippos, which are territorial and weigh up to 3 tons, have spread far beyond the Hacienda Napoles ranch, located 200 kilometers (124 mile) from Bogota along the Magdalena River. Environmental authorities estimate there are about 130 hippos in the area in Antioquia province and their population could reach 400 in eight years.