After a two-year hunt, the life of one of Colombia's last remaining "wild" hippopotamuses has finally come to a tragic end. In this blog, we've followed the story about how two African hippos had escaped from the abandoned narco-estate of the slain drug lord Pablo Escobar. The two animals later had a calf in the wild.

The shooting death of the male hippo, known affectionately as "Pepe" by some locals, means that mother and child now navigate the waters of the Magdalena River valley on their own. The hippo-romance once supposed by this blog has come to a bloody end.

Pepe had been part of a private zoo with a 19-strong herd of hippos at the famed Hacienda Napoles, a 5,500-acre ranch that Escobar used to entertain Colombia's glitterati – politicians included. Besides the private bullring and airstrip, Escobar had built a mini-Africa on his estate, replete with giraffes, flamingos, elephants, lions, alligators, water buffaloes, ostriches, and the hippos.

All that came to an end in 1993, when authorities gunned down Escobar as the pudgy capo tried to escape by scrambling across a Medellín rooftop. After his death, Hacienda Napoles became overgrown and decrepit. Most of the animals either died from neglect or were sent to refuges and zoos, but most of the hippos stayed. Weighing in at over a ton, it was too costly to transport the beasts; they are also known to be Africa's most ferocious animals. Logistically, the hippos were a non-starter.

In 2007, two of the hippos left Napoles and began roaming the waters of the vast Magdalena River valley. In recent months, one of them, Pepe, had been sighted between the towns of Puerto Berrío and Yondó in the province of Antioquia about 160 miles from Bogotá.

On June 9, the local environmental authority (Corantioquia), with permission from the national Ministry of the Environment, gave the order to take out the fugitive animal. In explaining the reasoning, Corantioquia says the animals are a cause of diseases, and that they have killed rancher's calves, destroyed property, frightened locals and are simply a disturbance to the local ecosystem.

An armed posse of sorts was quickly assembled including Army soldiers and two sharpshooters from a local environmental group. Exactly a week later, Pepe was shot twice in the head along with a final pointblank shot to the heart.

The pictures of Pepe's death bear chilling resemblance to those surrounding the killing of his former owner, Escobar. In both cases, Colombian security forces proudly pose over lifeless trophies:

In life and death, both Pablo and Pepe have been the source of controversy. Hated by most, but venerated by many, Pablo Escobar remains a Robin Hood-like figure for some Colombians – e.g. those in the Medellín barrios where Escobar used narco-dollars to build public works projects.

As for Pepe, some environmental groups criticize the government for unnecessarily killing the hippo. Former Environment Minister Juan Lozano has vocally opposed the government's decision. Lozano concedes that the hippos present an environmental and public safety problem, but he adds that the solution should not be to "fill them full of bullets."

Local and international environmental groups are also split on the decision, though most point out that the problem could have been resolved without killing the hippo. The government counters saying that "sacrificing" the hippo was a last resort, assuring that they tried to find a home for the hippo in Colombia or abroad, but that none of their inquiries met with success.

Some locals were upset by the news. El Tiempo quotes a farm worker who says: "We had already gotten used to their presence and what the government did is unjust. They could've just captured him and taken him elsewhere. If the government comes back, we won't tell them where the baby hippo is."

According to rumor, hunters have already killed the mother of the baby hippo, believing the government had offered a juicy reward (which it hasn't). One head of the group that hunted down Pepe says that they will try to capture, rather than kill, the hippo calf.

The torturous life of the rogue narco-hippos continues…

UPDATE 5:50 p.m. 7/11/09:

Amid public outcry, the government has suspended its shoot-to-kill order for the two remaining hippos.

Meanwhile, two entities have stepped forward with offers to take in the remaining fugitive hippos, if found. One came from the director of the Parque Jaime Duque, which is a surreal (it has a Taj Mahal replica) recreational park in the north of Bogotá. The park created an appropriate environment for hippos, when it adopted one last year from a zoo in Medellín. 2) The other offer came from the Mayor of the city of Pereira.

Damningly for the government, the first offer has been pending since 2008. This contradicts the government's original justification for shooting the hippo, saying it was a last resort decision after not having any adoption options for the animal.

Watch these reports on the situation (in Spanish):

First Report:

Follow Up Report: