Colombia is proposing transferring at least 70 hippopotamuses that live near Pablo Escobar’s former ranch – descendants of four imported from Africa illegally by the late drug lord in the 1980s – to India and Mexico as part of a plan to control their population.

Escobar’s Hacienda Napoles – and the hippos – have become a sort of local tourist attraction in the years since the kingpin was killed by police in 1993. When his ranch was abandoned, the hippos survived and reproduced in local rivers and favorable climatic conditions.

The hippos, which are territorial and weigh up to 3 tons, have spread far beyond the ranch, located 200 km. from Bogota along the Magdalena River. Environmental authorities estimate there are about 130 hippos in the area in Antioquia province and their population could reach 400 in eight years.

Scientists warn the hippos do not have a natural predator in Colombia and are a potential problem for biodiversity since their feces change the composition of the rivers and could impact the habitat of manatees and capybaras. Last year, Colombia’s government declared them a toxic invasive species.

The plan to take them to India and Mexico has been forming for more than a year, says Lina Marcela de los Ríos Morales, director of animal protection and welfare at Antioquia’s environment ministry.

The hippos would be lured with food into large, iron containers and transferred by truck to the international airport in the city of Rionegro, 150 km. away. From there, they would be flown to India and Mexico, where there are sanctuaries and zoos capable of taking in and caring for the animals.

The plan is to focus on the hippos living in the rivers surrounding the Hacienda Napoles ranch, not the ones inside the ranch because they are in a controlled environment and don’t threaten the local ecosystem.

Ecuador, the Philippines, and Botswana have also expressed their willingness to relocate Colombian hippos to their countries, according to the Antioquia Governor’s Office.