Latin America
Related: About this forumPablo Escobar’s Hippos Are Running Wild In Colombia
Pablo Escobars Hippos Are Running Wild In Colombia
Bijan Stephen @bijanstephen
3:40 PM ET
Hungry, hungry hippos?
Pablo Escobar was one of the most menacing and wealthy criminals the worlds ever known: At the peak of his power in the late 80s and early 90s, Escobars cartel brought in around $60 million every day. With the money he earnedin 1989, Forbes estimated his net worth at around $3 billionEscobar created a luxurious estate, Hacienda Nápoles, on about 7.7 sq. miles of land 200 miles north of Bogotá, Colombia.
Nowadays, Nápoles is a theme park; after Escobars death the government expropriated the land, which housed, among various other luxuries, a private zoo with exotic animals. Because the cost of maintenance was too steep for the Colombian government to reasonably manage, they decided to disperse the animals to zoos around the country. The illegally-smuggled hippopotamuses, however, remained.
Over the years those hippos have multiplied in the idyllic conditions the region provides, and theyve been sighted as far as 155 miles away from Nápoles. This is a problem: Despite their blobby appearance, adult hippos are hugely dangerous. In fact, theyre the most dangerous wild mammals in the world, killing around 500 people per year. For Colombia, its a time bomb. So whats to be done?
There are a few possible solutions, enumerated by William Kremer over at the BBC: relocation, captivity, castration, and having the locals eat them. Its a knotty problem, one that Kremer says in some ways resembles the complex attitude Colombians had towards Pablo Escobar himself.
More:
http://time.com/2936733/pablo-escobars-hippos-are-running-wild-in-colombia/
[center]
Pablo Escobar
Pablo Escobar
Hippo preparing to pounce.
Hacienda Nápoles
Pablo Escobar's hasty departure.
Muerte de Pablo Escobar, by Fernando Botero.
Muerte de Pablo Escobar, by uh, Fernando Botero.[/center]
Agnosticsherbet
(11,619 posts)1 med. sized hippo
1 ton salt
Pepper to taste
500 bushels potatoes
1000 gals. brown gravy
200 bushels carrots
400 sprigs parsley
2 sm. rabbits (optional)
Cut hippo meat into bite sized pieces. This will take about 2 months. Cut vegetables into cubes (another 2 months). Place meat into large pan and cover with gravy. Simmer for 4 weeks. Shovel in salt and pepper to taste. When meat is tender, add vegetables. A steam shovel is useful for this. Simmer slowly for 4 more weeks. Garnish with parsley.
Will serve 2, 700 people. If more are expected, add 2 small rabbits - this is not recommended as very few people like hare in their stew.
Judi Lynn
(160,473 posts)[center] Who wouldn't love Hippopotamus Stew? Wow! It's worth the wait, isn't it?
Click: http://www.funnyjunk.com/OH+FOOD+yum+yum+yum+yum/funny-gifs/5052376 [/center]