Pablo Escobar's escaped hippos thriving in Colombia

Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar built an empire on cocaine that made him one of the richest people on the planet.

His organisation was responsible for around 7,000 deaths and nearly toppled the government through assassinations, bribes, and intimidation, but in addition to the violence and drugs, Escobar was generous to the local community.

One of the 'benefits' was the invitation to visit his private zoo, which he built in the early 1980s on his ranch Hacienda Napoles.

Escobar was shot dead in 1993, and now Hacienda Napoles is run by the very government he tried to overthrow, as a park and tourist attraction. Most of the exotic animals that had been housed there were transferred to other facilities around the world, but not the hippos.

Three females and one male hippo were left to their own devices in the ranch's pond. With mild weather and no competition, the hippos thrived.