A pair of hippopotamus descended from those owned by notorious cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar are invading a small town in Colombia in a desperate bid to sniff out food.
Children in Puerto Triunfo are being told to stay away from the massive mammals, whose kin were part of a group smuggled in by Escobar in the 80s for his private zoo, according to reports.
The portly pair have been spotted grazing in fields alongside cattle and roaming around town ever since a drought pushed them away from lakes and rivers.
Biologists plan to sedate the hippos with special dart guns so they can be removed safely.
Escobar’s 7,000-acre ranch, Hacienda Napoles, was once home to several exotic animals — including four hippos, three females and one male.
But authorities seized the property after Escobar was shot dead in 1993, and most of the creatures were given new homes in zoos across Colombia.
The hippos, however, were allowed to stay, and now number more than 60, the BBC reported.
Colombians treasure the hefty herbivores–with some even welcoming calves into their homes as pets– but officials say they pose a threat to public safety and are seeking to sterilize them, the Independent reported.
Hippos do not hesitate attacking humans and are credited with killing up to 500 people a year, according to the Bill Gates Foundation.