Indian billionaire’s son offers to house Pablo Escobar’s hippos at his private zoo | Colombia

This remains one of the strangest riddles in the modern history of zoology: What to do with the descendants of Pablo Escobar’s hippos?

The herbivorous animals, native to sub-Saharan Africa, were originally imported into Colombia by the drug lord for his own entertainment. However, after his death in 1993, the animals and their offspring were left to roam freely.

Now the growing population of wild hippos has become such an environmental disaster that they are facing mass extermination by the authorities.

But they may have faced a stay of execution after being offered asylum in India by the son of a billionaire.

Anant Ambani, son of Indian businessman Mukesh Ambani, has revived his earlier offer to bring 80 hippos to the Vantara animal sanctuary in Gujarat state to save them from death.

Ambani said hippos are “living, sentient beings” and if we have the ability to save them with a safe and humane solution, we have a responsibility to try.

But Vantara is shrouded in controversy. The area, which is home to more than 150,000 animals, including many endangered species, has faced allegations that its residents benefit from illegal and unethical resources. International watchdog Cites (the convention on international trade in endangered species) flagged alleged non-compliance with wildlife trade rules.

While some critics accused the sanctuary of indirect complicity in wildlife trafficking, others condemned Vantara as the Ambani family’s “vanity zoo”; There is no public access. The project also appears to have significant political support and has been restarted by Indian prime minister Narendra Modi himself.

The Ambani family and Vantara deny the allegations, and an investigation by India’s supreme court last year found no evidence of wrongdoing.

A similar plan to bring 60 Colombian hippos to the sanctuary, formerly known as Green’s rescue and rehabilitation, was first proposed in 2023.

But logistical issues involved in capturing and transporting hippos living in the wild and weighing around two tonnes each, issues with permits and the intergovernmental organization involved, appear to have prevented the animals from making the journey to India.

This time, in a statement made by Ambani, it was stated that he directly appealed to the Colombian government to allow “the safe, scientifically conducted transfer process that will enable the placement of 80 animals in a permanent home.”

“These 80 hippos did not choose where they were born, nor did they create the conditions they are now facing,” he added.

Sending hippos to India would be no small feat and would come with a hefty price tag, likely more than $4 million (£3 million).

If they reach Gujarat, it will add a new twist to the adventures of Escobar’s hippos.

In the 1980s, Colombia’s most notorious drug lord brought four hippos from sub-Saharan Africa to join the zoo at his Hacienda Nápoles; There were also elephants and giraffes in this zoo.

After Escobar died in a special forces raid in 1993, authorities left the dangerous and difficult-to-control hippos to run free. Over the years, they settled in the Magdalena River basin, where their population rapidly increased due to the lack of predators and abundance of food.

According to recent estimates, more than 200 hippos roam freely; It is the largest population outside Africa and one of Colombia’s biggest environmental threats. They destroyed vegetation and terrorized and killed local animals and livestock. Efforts to sterilize them so far have not yielded results quickly enough.

Experts have warned that their population could rise to over 1,000 in the coming years, while Colombian authorities announced this month that hippos will begin to be officially hunted and culled to control their numbers. This announcement sparked outrage from animal rights activists.

Questions remain about Vantara’s suitability for noisy, mud-loving animals.

Hippos are not native to India, and although bears, crocodiles, elephants, leopards and tigers are found in the sanctuary, there is no record of them hunting even one hippo, let alone 80 of them.

But Ambani insisted that his sanctuary would provide the Escobar hippos with the safe home they need. “Vantara has the expertise, infrastructure and commitment to support this effort, fully on Colombia’s terms,” ​​he added in the statement.