Pablo Escobar's Cocaine Hippos

Pablo Escobar's Cocaine Hippos Legally Ruled as People in Court Case (Oct. 15)

Who Is Pablo Escobar?

Pablo Escobar is Columbia’s resident crime lord and the founder of the Medellin Cartel. From kidnapping and the illegal selling of cigarettes within Columbia to the spread of his influence through developing America’s first smuggling routes for the distribution of cocaine, and cartel fights resulting in the deaths of many influential people, Pablo Escobar could not be stopped. Despite his criminal history, monopoly, and his play in Columbia becoming the murder capital of the world, he still fell into a ‘Robin-Hood’ situation among his people, and upon his death at 44 years old, as many as 25,000 civilians were in attendance at his funeral. Mourning this man who became one of the world's billionaires after having amassed the equivalent of $64 billion in American Dollars today, through his international drug ring.

Where did the Hippos Come From, And Why Does The Columbia Government Want Them Gone?

These Hippos were illegally imported in 1980 and stored in Pablo Escobar's personal zoo, now a park owned by the government. From the initial four imported by Escobar, now there are almost 100 hippos raging war against the environment. Scientists in the area are shouting for a population cut, and/or sterilization. If nothing is done, then the environment will experience a crash, a crash that the government will have to pay for dearly. Despite other scientists claims that the hippos are instead restoring a long-dead environment.

How Did The Most Recent Court Case End With Hippos Being Declared Human?

It all begins with the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), based in the U.S., which filed an application to stop the Colombian government from killing off the hippos. Using the Colombian Law which allows animals with support to obtain legal standing, the ALDF applied for the documents and sent two Ohio wildlife experts to go and advocate for the non-human plaintiffs. Now, with the help of American attorneys, these hippos have the hope of seeing another day. Quite an amazing life to live, if I do say so myself. Good luck to these hippos, and the people working on this case that are pushing further than anyone has ever before in the fight for animal rights.

Interested in further reading about Pablo Escobar's Hippos? Feel free to visit these articles;

"Pablo Escobar." , Wikipedia, 28 Oct. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Escobar. Accessed 4 Nov. 2021.

Cheng, Amy. "Pablo Escobar’s ‘cocaine hippos’ are legally people, U.S. court rules." The Washington Post, The Washington Post, 26 Oct. 2021, www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/10/26/pablo-escobar-cocaine-hippos-colombia/. Accessed 4 Nov. 2021.

Moye, David. "Court Rules Pablo Escobar's Cocaine Hippos Are Legally People." HuffPost, 21 Oct. 2021, www.huffpost.com/entry/pablo-escobar-cocaine-hippos-legal-standing-as-people_n_6171cee3e4b010d9330e81c8. Accessed 4 Nov. 2021.

Seewer, John. "U.S. judge: Pablo Escobar’s cocaine hippos legally ‘people’." Border Report, 25 Oct. 2021, www.borderreport.com/news/national/u-s-judge-pablo-escobars-cocaine-hippos-legally-people/. Accessed 4 Nov. 2021.