Cocaine hippos │ Colombia hippos │ Pablo Escobar hippos
Dusk. A slow brown river, jungle on both banks. A few strides away, the water bulges. Two ears. Two eyes. Then a hippo lifts its head and looks straight at you.
In today’s video, we look at Cocaine Hippos Are Spreading Fast Across Colombia — And It’s Worse Than You Think… Keep watching to see what stops the cocaine hippos, why the Colombia hippos keep multiplying, and what every attempt on Pablo Escobar hippos has run into.
Also check out: Scientists Finally Found the “Extinct” Barbary Lion — This Shouldn’t Exist — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDu-RKQROD0
Sources & further reading:
— Subalusky, A.L. et al., Scientific Reports, 2023 — https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-33028-y
— Dutton, C.L. et al., Nature Communications, 2018 — https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-04391-6
— MinAmbiente, 13 Apr 2026 (plan de choque) — https://www.minambiente.gov.co/gobierno-activa-plan-de-choque-integral-para-frenar-expansion-y-crecimiento-poblacion-de-hipopotamos-en-colombia/
— MinAmbiente / Instituto Humboldt, 21 Sep 2026 (plan de acción) — https://www.minambiente.gov.co/autoridades-del-sistema-nacional-ambiental-activan-plan-de-accion-frente-a-los-hipopotamos/
— Mongabay Latam / El Tiempo, 2022 (G. Jiménez, D. Echeverri) — https://es.mongabay.com/2022/09/hipopotamo-es-una-especie-invasora-en-colombia/
— Smithsonian Magazine, 2020 (quoting Shurin et al.) — https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/pablo-escobars-hippos-may-pose-poopy-problem-colombia-180974202/
— El Tiempo, 22 Sep 2026 — https://www.eltiempo.com/vida/medio-ambiente/ministerio-de-ambiente-trabaja-en-una-actualizacion-del-plan-para-los-hipopotamos-invasores-se-cancelara-la-eutanasia-3587924
— CNN en Español, 28 Apr 2026 — https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2026/04/28/colombia/anant-ambani-hipopotamos-escobar-sacrificio-orix
Most of what you know about animals is out of date. Masters of Evolution makes cinematic documentaries about the natural world that keeps turning out to be stranger than we were told.
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