Baby "cocaine hippo" linked to infamous drug lord is rescued in Colombia
Colombia has around 200 so-called "cocaine hippos" living in the wild, all of which descended from a colony brought to South America by slain cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar.
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Colombia has around 200 so-called "cocaine hippos" living in the wild, all of which descended from a colony brought to South America by slain cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar.
Anant Ambani, the son of tycoon Mukesh Ambani, said he formally requested the Colombian government to stay a decision to kill the animals.
The hippos are the descendants of four brought to the country in the 1980s by notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar as he built a private zoo.
Three people survived the incident and were rescued, and "a search is ongoing in the hope of finding the missing victims," an official said.
About 50 hippos have died of anthrax poisoning in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Virunga National Park, the oldest national park in all of Africa.
The lawsuit claims that as a horrified Craig Manders watched the hippo attack his wife, the tour guides walked away without helping the couple. The company denies the lawsuit's allegations.
Officials in Zimbabwe say 7-year-old Tinotenda Pudu survived five nights in the "unforgiving wild" of a game park thanks to his wilderness skills.
A baby pygmy hippo is the gift the Metro Richmond Zoo in Virginia received for Christmas this year. Weighing in at just 15 pounds, the new hippo's name will be decided in an online poll that closes on Tuesday.
A small zoo in Thailand plans to capitalize on Moo Deng the baby pygmy hippo's popularity, hoping to patent her brand to help all its animal inhabitants.
Huge crowds of doting fans are flocking to a small, previously quiet zoo in Thailand to see its latest sensation, a baby pygmy hippo named Moo Deng . With a name that means "bouncing pig" and a playful personality to match, Moo Deng has given her keepers an opportunity to boost the zoo's coffers. CBS News' Tina Kraus has more on the adorable hippo tale.
The hippo took a DNA test and it turns out he's 100% a female.
Colombia started sterilizing descendants of hippos illegally brought to the country by late drug kingpin Pablo Escobar in the 1980s.
After Pablo Escobar's death, the so-called "cocaine hippos" were left to roam freely and environmental authorities have been helpless to curb their numbers.
The 1-year-old hippo is "trying out everything, every which way" as he makes himself at home at the zoo.
Locals managed to pull 13 people from the treacherous waters, while another 23 were still missing, police said.
"There are about 35 children playing that could approach them and provoke a tragedy," said an official from the local environment authority.
"Hippos are unpredictable, at any moment they can attack a person," a local biologist said.
In the 1980's, the Colombian drug kingpin imported just four hippos from Africa — and now there are nearly 150 of them.
Environmental officials in Colombia are considering a new plan to handle the herd of hippos born from Pablo Escboar's infamous estate. Manuel Bojorquez reports.
This is the second pygmy hippo calf born at the zoo and in the state of Virginia.
Police said the boy was playing at his home, which is about a half-mile from a lake where about 6,000 hippopotamuses live.
The Toronto Zoo has been administering COVID-19 vaccines to susceptible animals — including hippos, tigers and bears. The zoo has received 320 vaccine doses for 120 animals, with two doses required per animal given about two or three weeks apart.
Escobar's hippos have become a sort of local tourist attraction in the years since the kingpin was killed by police in 1993.