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24-842: Near this town is located the Hacienda Napoles , which was once owned by Pablo Escobar . 5°52′N 74°39′W  /  5.867°N 74.650°W  / 5.867; -74.650 This Department of Antioquia location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Hacienda Napoles Hacienda Nápoles ( Spanish for "Naples Estate") was an estate built and owned by Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar in Puerto Triunfo , Antioquia Department , Colombia, approximately 150 km (93 mi) east of Medellín and 249 km (155 mi) northwest of Bogotá . The estate covers about 20 km (7.7 sq mi) of land. Following Escobar's death in 1993, many of

48-515: A private airport , a brothel , and even a Formula 1 -racing track. Mounted atop the hacienda's entrance gate is a replica of the Piper PA-18 Super Cub airplane ( tail number HK-617-P). After Escobar was shot and killed by Colombian police in 1993, his family entered a legal struggle with the Colombian government over the property. The government prevailed, and the neglected property

72-474: A documentary about them titled Cocaine Hippos . A report published in a Yale student magazine noted that local environmentalists are campaigning to protect the animals, although there is no clear plan for what will happen to them. In 2018, National Geographic published another article on the hippos which found disagreement among environmentalists on whether they were having a positive or negative impact, but that conservationists and locals — particularly those in

96-552: A result of the pollution, heavy metals have also been detected in some commercially important fish in the river. As of 2002 , 19 fish species in the river basin were recognized as threatened. The Magdalena River and its valley crosses a wide variety of ecosystems, like páramo in its headwaters, dry forest in the upper part of its valley, rainforest in its middle course, and swamps and wetlands in its lower course. The spectacled caiman , green iguana and brown pelican are abundant in these ecosystems but other animal species like

120-519: Is 24% of the country's area and where 66% of its population lives. The Magdalena River is the largest river system of the northern Andes, with a length of 1,612 km. Its headwaters are in the south of Colombia, where the Andean subranges Cordillera Central and Cordillera Oriental separate, in Huila Department . The river runs east then north in a great valley between the two cordilleras. It reaches

144-480: Is now managed by the Municipality of Puerto Triunfo . The cost of maintenance for the zoo and the animals was too expensive for the government, so it was decided that most of the animals would be donated to various South American zoos. Other original features include dinosaur statues as well as decommissioned military vehicles and a giant hand sculpture. By November 2006, ownership of the property had passed to

168-536: The West Indian manatee , Magdalena tinamou , Todd's parakeet , American crocodile , Colombian slider , Magdalena River turtle , Dahl's toad-headed turtle and red-footed tortoise are in danger of extinction. In addition, there is a possible risk posed by invasive hippopotamus . Originally imported by Pablo Escobar , these hippopotami became feral following his demise, and have since expanded beyond their original home on Hacienda Napoles into nearby regions of

192-458: The Colombian government and was valued at 5 billion Colombian pesos (approximately $ 2.23 million). The hacienda's zoo as of February 2019 hosts bison , a rare goat , one ostrich, and zebras . Escobar's hippopotamuses have escaped and become feral , living in at least four lakes in the area and spreading into neighbouring rivers. Contact between the hippos and local fishermen led to calls for

216-572: The Magdalena River and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range. The General in His Labyrinth , by Gabriel García Márquez, is a fictionalized account of the final voyage of Simón Bolívar down the Magdalena River, where he revisits many cities and villages along the river. In Magdalena: River of Dreams (Knopf, 2020), Canadian writer, anthropologist, and explorer Wade Davis travels

240-555: The Magdalena River. Due to its geographical position in the north of South America , the Magdalena River was since precolumbian times a route towards the interior of present-day Colombia and Ecuador . Several Carib -speaking peoples such as the Panche and the Yariguí ascended through the western bank of the river, while its eastern portion was inhabited by the Muisca civilization, which called

264-598: The Magdalena River. In 1825, the Congress of Colombia awarded a concession to establish steam navigation in the Magdalena River to Juan Bernardo Elbers, but his company closed shortly after. By 1845, steamboats regularly travelled on the river until 1961, when the last steamers ceased operation. Much of the film Love in the Time of Cholera takes place in the historic, walled city of Cartagena in Colombia. Some screenshots showed

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288-514: The abandoned "ruins" of his house are still publicly accessible, but are reported to have collapsed in February 2015. Escobar kept four hippos in a private menagerie at Hacienda Nápoles. They were deemed too difficult to seize and move after Escobar's death, and hence left on the untended estate. By 2007, the animals had multiplied to 16 and had taken to roaming the area for food in the nearby Magdalena River . The National Geographic Channel produced

312-443: The basin such as five Hemibrycon in 2013, two Ancistrus in 2013 and a Farlowella in 2014. Among the more famous species in the basin are Kronoheros umbriferus , Ctenolucius hujeta , Geophagus steindachneri , Ichthyoelephas longirostris , Panaque cochliodon , Pimelodus blochii , Potamotrygon magdalenae , Prochilodus magdalenae , Pseudoplatystoma magdaleniatum and Salminus affinis . About 55% of

336-429: The basin, but there has been a drastic decrease in the annual harvest with a fall of about 90% between 1975 and 2008. The primary threats are pollution (such as human waste, mining, farming and deforestation causing siltation ) and habitat loss (such a dams ). Additional dams are being constructed, including El Quimbo (opened in 2015) and Ituango (expected operational in 2018), which has caused some controversy. As

360-548: The coastal plain at about nine degrees north , then runs west for about 100 km (62 mi), then north again, reaching the Caribbean Sea at the city of Barranquilla in the zone known as Bocas de Ceniza . The Magdalena River basin, which includes the Cauca River and other tributaries, are very rich in fish. As of 2008 , 213 fish species were known from the basin. Since then several new species have been described from

384-475: The fish species in the basin are endemic , including four endemic genera : The catfish Centrochir and Eremophilus , and the characids Carlastyanax (often included in Astyanax ) and Genycharax . In general, the fish fauna shows connections with surrounding basins, notably Atrato and Maracaibo , but to a lesser extent also Amazon – Orinoco . The most productive fishing areas in Colombia are in

408-401: The hippo population to be culled. By 2011, there were at least 30 animals roaming wild in the countryside; the large number of hippos makes it difficult to find zoos into which they can be resettled. There are also reportedly 40 hippopotamuses living on the grounds of the hacienda itself; as of June 2014, the park's mascot, a live female hippo named Vanessa (who responds to her name), remains at

432-416: The original buildings on the property were demolished or reconditioned for other uses. The estate included a Spanish colonial house, a sculpture park, and a complete zoo that included many kinds of animals from different continents such as antelope , elephants , exotic birds, giraffes , hippopotamuses , ostriches , and ponies . The ranch also boasted a large collection of old and luxury cars and bikes,

456-453: The population could reach 1,000 by 2035. 5°55′33.60″N 74°43′18.57″W  /  5.9260000°N 74.7218250°W  / 5.9260000; -74.7218250 Magdalena River The Magdalena River ( Spanish : Río Magdalena , Spanish pronunciation: [ˈri.o maɣðaˈlena] ; less commonly Rio Grande de la Magdalena ) is the main river of Colombia , flowing northward about 1,528 kilometres (949 mi) through

480-725: The river Yuma . Likewise, the Spanish conquistadores who arrived to today's Colombia early in the 16th century used the river to push to the wild and mountainous inland after Rodrigo de Bastidas discovered and named the river on April 1, 1501. During the Spanish colonization of the Americas , the river was the only transport link communicating Bogotá with the Caribbean Sea port Cartagena de Indias and thus with Europe. The Magdalena Campaign of Pierre Labatut and Simón Bolívar took place along

504-464: The site. In 2014, a "Jurassic Park"-style African theme park was operating on the grounds, which have been rented by a private company. "Parque Temático Hacienda Nápoles" comes complete with a water park, a guided safari attraction, aquariums, and a replica of the caves in Colombia's Cueva de los Guácharos National Park . In December 2018, a day ticket to the park cost 42,000 pesos (around $ 15). The Escobar museum, his burned private car collection, and

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528-471: The tourism industry — were mostly in support of their continued presence. In January 2021, scientists proposed to euthanize the now approximately 100 hippos, as they have dispersed over the Magdalena river basin. Some scientists have suggested castrating the male hippos to prevent further breeding. In February 2022, the Colombian government announced that hippos will be declared an invasive species . The hippo

552-478: The western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene . It is navigable through much of its lower reaches, in spite of the shifting sand bars at the mouth of its delta , as far as Honda , at the downstream base of its rapids. It flows through the Magdalena River Valley . Its drainage basin covers a surface of 273,000 square kilometres (105,000 sq mi), which

576-452: Was officially added to the list of invasive alien species on March 25 2022. On November 3 2023, Environment Minister of Colombia, Susana Muhamad , said that, of the 166 hippos descended from Escobar's herd, 20 would be sterilised, others would be transferred abroad - and "some" would be euthanised. Colombian experts have long warned that the hippos' uncontrolled reproduction poses a threat to humans and native wildlife and estimates suggest that

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