Authorities in Colombia are grappling with the 1.5-ton legacy of Pablo Escobar after hippos the late drug lord held at his private zoo continue to roam the countryside of the northern province of Antioquia two decades after the cartel leader's death.

Two of the animals have now been sterilized in an effort to keep the species from overwhelming the local ecosystem with its offspring, officials said on Friday, according to Agence France-Presse. Hippos, which originate in sub-Saharan Africa, are not native to Colombia and have a reputation as aggressive animals that do not shy away from attacking humans.

Escobar had originally imported two hippos to live on his private estate in Antioquia, Hacienda Napoles, from which they subsequently escaped and thrived in the tropical Colombian climate, its waterways and rich vegetation, the BBC reported. Today, their population has grown to around 60, experts estimate.

Carlos Zuluaga, who heads the regional environmental authority called Cornare, told AFP that the sterilizations were necessary to protect the surrounding community and to avoid "the costs that (hippos) represent."

Local residents are concerned about the dangers association with the proximity of animals that eat around 660 pounds of food per day on average, the Venezuelan television network Telesur reported. But Hernando álvarez, a local journalist, told the station that it is not entirely clear what can be done about the situation.

"The locals just want them out because they know they're very dangerous," álvarez explained. "I think that nobody wants to mess with the hippos, but so far it's pretty much like a big question mark about what to do with them," the reporter added.

The hippos, meanwhile, were not the only exotic animals Escobar had held at his private zoo: The infamous drug lord also imported giraffes, antelope and ostriches, among other non-native species, Telesur recalled.

After the cartel leader's death, most of the smuggled animals were relocated to zoos, a fate that local residents say might also be appropriate for the free-roaming hippos, the channel concluded.