Hacienda Napoles
Encyclopedia
Hacienda Nápoles is the luxurious estate built and owned by Colombian
drug lord Pablo Escobar
in Puerto Triunfo
, Antioquia (320 km (198.8 mi) NW of Bogotá
). The estate covers about 20 km² (7.7 sq mi) of land.
that included many kinds of animals from different continents such as giraffe
s, ostrich
es, elephant
s, hippopotomuses
, ponies
, rare antelope
s and exotic
bird
s. The ranch had a large collection of old and luxurious cars and bikes, a private airport and even a cart racing
track.
Following Escobar's death in 1993, his family went into a legal struggle with the Colombian government
over the property. The government prevailed and the neglected property 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 Colombian and international zoos. Some of the last survivors are the hippopotamuses, which have become feral
. There are plans to take them to a Costa Rica
n zoo. There still are buffalo
s, zebra
s, a rare goat
and one ostrich.
By November 2006, the property ownership passed to the Colombian government and was valued at 5 billion Colombian peso
s (Approx $2.23 million U.S. dollars). http://www.presidencia.gov.co/sne/2004/agosto/12/22122004.htm
Colombian people
Colombian people are from a multiethnic Spanish speaking nation in South America called Colombia. Colombians are predominantly Roman Catholic and are a mixture of Europeans, Africans, and Amerindians.-Demography:...
drug lord Pablo Escobar
Pablo Escobar
Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria was a Colombian drug lord. He was an elusive cocaine trafficker and rich and successful criminal. He owned numerous luxury residences, automobiles, and even airplanes...
in Puerto Triunfo
Puerto Triunfo
Puerto Triunfo is a municipality in Antioquia Department, Colombia. Near this town is located the infamous Hacienda Napoles once owned by Pablo Escobar....
, Antioquia (320 km (198.8 mi) NW of Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
). The estate covers about 20 km² (7.7 sq mi) of land.
History
It included a Spanish colonial house, and a complete zooZoo
A zoological garden, zoological park, menagerie, or zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred....
that included many kinds of animals from different continents such as giraffe
Giraffe
The giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all extant land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant...
s, ostrich
Ostrich
The Ostrich is one or two species of large flightless birds native to Africa, the only living member of the genus Struthio. Some analyses indicate that the Somali Ostrich may be better considered a full species apart from the Common Ostrich, but most taxonomists consider it to be a...
es, elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
s, hippopotomuses
Hippopotamus
The hippopotamus , or hippo, from the ancient Greek for "river horse" , is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae After the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippopotamus is the third largest land mammal and the heaviest...
, ponies
Pony
A pony is a small horse . Depending on context, a pony may be a horse that is under an approximate or exact height at the withers, or a small horse with a specific conformation and temperament. There are many different breeds...
, rare antelope
Antelope
Antelope is a term referring to many even-toed ungulate species indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelopes comprise a miscellaneous group within the family Bovidae, encompassing those old-world species that are neither cattle, sheep, buffalo, bison, nor goats...
s and exotic
Exotic
Exotic can mean:*In mathematics:**Exotic R4 - differentiable manifold homeomorphic but not diffeomorphic to the Euclidean space R4**Exotic sphere - differentiable manifold homeomorphic but not diffeomorphic to the ordinary sphere*In physics:...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s. The ranch had a large collection of old and luxurious cars and bikes, a private airport and even a cart racing
Champ Car
Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...
track.
Following Escobar's death in 1993, his family went into a legal struggle with the Colombian government
Government of Colombia
The government of Colombiais a republic with separation of powers into executive, judicial and legislative branches.Its legislature has a congress,its judiciary has a supreme court, andits executive branch has a president....
over the property. The government prevailed and the neglected property is now managed by the Municipality of Puerto Triunfo
Puerto Triunfo
Puerto Triunfo is a municipality in Antioquia Department, Colombia. Near this town is located the infamous Hacienda Napoles once owned by Pablo Escobar....
.
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 Colombian and international zoos. Some of the last survivors are the hippopotamuses, which have become feral
Feral
A feral organism is one that has changed from being domesticated to being wild or untamed. In the case of plants it is a movement from cultivated to uncultivated or controlled to volunteer. The introduction of feral animals or plants to their non-native regions, like any introduced species, may...
. There are plans to take them to a Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
n zoo. There still are buffalo
Bison
Members of the genus Bison are large, even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Two extant and four extinct species are recognized...
s, zebra
Zebra
Zebras are several species of African equids united by their distinctive black and white stripes. Their stripes come in different patterns unique to each individual. They are generally social animals that live in small harems to large herds...
s, a rare goat
Goat
The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
and one ostrich.
Various features
- The estate's entrance has Escobar's first plane, a Piper, mounted at the entranceGate guardianA gate guardian or gate guard is a withdrawn piece of equipment, often an aircraft, armoured vehicle, artillery piece or locomotive, mounted on a plinth and used as a static display near to and forming a symbolic display of "guarding" the main entrance to somewhere, especially a military base...
. It is this plane which carried the first shipment of kilos of cocaine that Escobar delivered to the United States. - There are some dinosaurDinosaurDinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
statues built with bones in a section of the estate, along with pre-historic animals, such as the mammoth, that the children could climb and play on.
Recent years
In September 2006, there was a rumor about building an anti-crime museum about Pablo Escobar, a jail and a theme park. The jail is currently in construction and the dinosaur park has been restored.http://www.portafolio.com.co/port_secc_online/porta_entre_online/2006-09-04/ARTICULO-WEB-NOTA_INTERIOR_PORTA-3259825.htmlBy November 2006, the property ownership passed to the Colombian government and was valued at 5 billion Colombian peso
Colombian peso
The peso is the currency of Colombia. Its ISO 4217 code is COP and it is also informally abbreviated as COL$. However, the official peso symbol is $. As 20 July 2011, the exchange rate of the Colombian peso is 1750 Colombian pesos to 1 U.S. dollar.-History:The peso has been the currency of Colombia...
s (Approx $2.23 million U.S. dollars). http://www.presidencia.gov.co/sne/2004/agosto/12/22122004.htm