Has Pablo Escobar come back as a hippo? | Peter Bradshaw

The Colombian drug lord’s legacy is paralleled by the environmental catastrophe unleashed by his escaped pets

There are times when journalists are unqualified to document events in the world, and we all just have to step back and let the Latin American novelists get on with it. Colombia is facing a potentially deadly infestation of hippos, the descendants of the 24 hippos that were the personal property of the infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar.

The original hippos lived in Escobar’s private zoo, and escaped in the chaos after Escobar was killed in 1993. Now, without predators, these aggressive animals are thriving and evolving to become the largest hippo herd outside Africa, relentlessly destroying flora and fauna but leaving the humans alone.

This state of affairs will come as no surprise to the Colombian author Juan Gabriel Vásquez. His novel The Sound of Things Falling, about drugs and crime in his homeland, began with an image of a dead hippo, an escaped male the “colour of black pearls”, inspired by a picture the author had seen in a magazine. Vásquez told an interviewer: “That image did something very strange for me. For Colombians of my generation. One of the strongest images we have is the photograph of Pablo Escobar shot dead on the rooftops of Medellín. That hippo, in a very strange way, resembled Escobar.” Could these hippos be the spiritual heirs of the notorious Pablo?

Tory runners and riders

There’s nothing I like more than a tasty conspiracy theory, and this one is a joy. Admirers of the Conservative leadership candidate Andrea Leadsom are complaining that Michael Gove’s chances of winning are being artificially kept alive, by Theresa May’s supporters “lending” their votes to him. This is to give May a chance of facing the unpopular Gove in the final two-person beauty contest rather than wildcard Leadsom, who would probably win by hoovering up that Trump/Corbyn/Brexit protest vote that now scares the jeepers out of everyone.

It’s a gorgeously neurotic theory. And for those who think May is the best of a bad lot, there is something exquisitely bizarre in the political classes considering it their civic duty to keep Gove in the game as a sacrificial lamb. But there is something else in the Tory leadership vote that makes it a great spectator sport: the melancholy spectacle of defeated candidates solemnly declaring whom they will now support.

Liam Fox, having garnered a paltry 16 votes, told an indifferent world he was now “backing” May. His ringing assertion of importance is the equivalent of a riderless horse in the Grand National galloping frantically on in the direction of the winning post.

Tony Fear of a white feather

The artist Jeremy Deller recently commemorated the Somme centenary by creating his brilliant #wearehere performance art event: thousands of volunteers dressed as first world war soldiers gathered at railway stations and public spaces, and giving out cards with their name and rank. It was inspired. But I wondered if Deller mightn’t consider another installation event that could commemorate the uglier side of that war and probably all others: the handing out of white feathers to civilians of fighting age – the accusation of cowardice.

The Chilcot report is now with us, and for me any report into Tony Blair’s enthusiasm for war would have to address his obvious fear of getting the Neville Chamberlain white feather from the Americans. This was the horror of appearing scared of al-Qaida or whomsoever the US decided was the enemy – while appearing, like the great appeaser of the second world war, to have rationalised this fear into some kind of specious policy. The white feather movement is a little forgotten now, but it’s a key to understanding New Labour’s determination to go to war in Iraq.

Contributor

Peter Bradshaw

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
Why it’s time to bring back the great British stork | Patrick Barkham
The last breeding pair of these magnificent birds nested in Edinburgh in 1416. Elsewhere, they are a shining example of how people and animals can peacefully coexist

Patrick Barkham

26, Jun, 2017 @5:36 PM

Article image
Bring back childhood’s wild side | Patrick Barkham
The opportunities to roam free are not what they once were, but the rise of forest schools shows we still see the outdoors as a great educator

Patrick Barkham

12, Sep, 2016 @5:35 PM

Article image
Why tolerate Tarmac-geddon in the countryside? | Patrick Barkham
The Arundel bypass shows the folly of our car-crazed culture, says Guardian columnist Patrick Barkham

Patrick Barkham

13, Nov, 2017 @6:51 PM

Article image
Tilikum and Granny are dead. Here’s why you should care about these killer whales | Patrick Barkham
The documentary Blackfish challenged attitudes to our treatment of orcas, but these deaths should warn against complacency

Patrick Barkham

09, Jan, 2017 @4:47 PM

Article image
How to repair our environment, one species at a time | Patrick Barkham
Bringing back rare beetles and butterflies proves that individuals can make an impact, says the Guardian writer Patrick Barkham

Patrick Barkham

20, Nov, 2017 @3:51 PM

Article image
Why has Andrea Leadsom gone so quiet on foxhunting? | Patrick Barkham
The environment secretary’s silence on hunting at the Conservative conference reflects a party waking up to the fact that the public cares about animal welfare

Patrick Barkham

10, Oct, 2016 @3:05 PM

Article image
They erased nature from our dictionaries. The fightback starts here | Patrick Barkham
Conkers, along with wrens and adders, were deemed outdated. What were the editors thinking, asks Patrick Barkham, a natural history writer for the Guardian

Patrick Barkham

18, Sep, 2017 @3:56 PM

Article image
Planet Earth II showed that wild animals are the true metropolitan elites | Patrick Barkham
At a time of conservation bad news stories, cities have become havens for many species – as evidenced by the BBC’s extraordinary wildlife show

Patrick Barkham

12, Dec, 2016 @6:20 PM

Article image
On the hunt in Finland for a better life – or better hunting? | Patrick Barkham
We can’t all flee to the south Pacific like the tech billionaires. Luckily Finland seems an island of sanity – and cheaper

Patrick Barkham

30, Jan, 2017 @5:57 PM

Article image
A great big wall – could this be the way to curb roadkill? | Tim Dowling
I admit that spotting dead animals has eased the pain of many a long car journey. But there must be something we can do for our unfortunate friends

Tim Dowling

25, Apr, 2017 @6:13 PM