US EditionColombians are divided over the fate of hippos linked to Pablo Escobar
Anant Ambani offered to move 80 hippos to his Vantara sanctuary as Colombia weighs euthanasia after failed efforts to curb the invasive herd.
- On Tuesday, Executive Director of Reliance Industries Limited Anant Ambani formally requested the Government of Colombia stay a decision to cull 80 hippos, offering to relocate the animals to his Vantara animal centre in India.
- Colombian authorities recently authorized a cull of the 80 hippos due to their classification as an invasive species; the animals are descendants of those introduced by drug kingpin Pablo Escobar to the Magdalena River basin.
- Ambani's Vantara facility in Jamnagar, Gujarat, describes itself as "one of the world's largest wildlife rescue, care and conservation centres." He requested a "safe, scientifically-led translocation that would bring the 80 animals to a permanent home" at the site.
- Addressing the logistics, Ambani stated the proposal involves veterinary-led capture and transport to a "purpose-designed naturalistic setting." He noted that "these 80 hippos did not choose where they were born," arguing for a humane solution.
- Any translocation remains subject to approval from the governments of Colombia and India, alongside international authorities. While Vantara offers a solution, experts have previously raised concerns regarding the massive intake of animals at the facility in Gujarat.
140 Articles
140 Articles
Along the Magdalena River, one of Colombia's largest, fishermen move with cautious precision because hippos can emerge from the muddy, tea-colored current of the river without warning and pounce on the boat in no time.
An Indian billionaire's son wants to take over the ‘cocaine hippos’ of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar. It concerns the approximately eighty...
The Indian multimillionaire heir Anant Ambani offered the Colombian government to take 80 hippopotamuses to his own rescue center after euthanasia was authorized to control this invasive species introduced into the country by drug traffickers Pablo Escobar. Years ago, the drug lord illegally imported exotic animals to Colombia to beautify his estate “Hacienda Naples”. Among them were a male hippopotamus and a female. After Escobar’s death in 199…
Indian billionaire's son offers to save Pablo Escobar's feral hippos as Colombia suggests culling plan
The youngest son of Asia's wealthiest man has proposed taking in 80 feral hippos originating from Pablo Escobar, facing extermination in Colombia, offering to transport them to his wildlife facility in India
Year 2023 corrected to 2030.
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