Anant Ambani offers to relocate Pablo Escobar’s ‘Cocaine Hippos’ to India
Pablo Escobar brought hippos from Africa to his private Colombian zoo in the 1980s
Anant Ambani, son of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, has offered to take in Colombia's so-called "cocaine hippos" linked to notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar.
Ambani formally asked the Colombian government on Tuesday, April 28, asking authorities to halt euthanasia plans and instead send all 80 hippos to his Vantara wildlife center in Gujarat, India.
He described the proposed move as a "safe, scientifically-led translocation" and said his facility has the resources and expertise to permanently house the animals.
"These 80 hippos did not choose where they were born, nor did they create the circumstances they now face," Ambani said, adding, "If we have the ability to save them through a safe and humane solution, we have a responsibility to try."
The hippos trace back to drug lord Pablo Escobar, who brought them from Africa to his private Colombian zoo in the 1980s. After Escobar was killed in 1993, the animals were left behind and eventually spread across the Magdalena River.
With no natural predators in South America, the population has grown rapidly and now stands at around 80. They have attacked local fishermen, poisoned rivers with their waste, and threatened species like manatees, otters and turtles.
Colombia declared them an invasive species and tried sterilization; however, the project failed. The government then moved toward culling as the only remaining option.
Colombia previously looked at sending the hippos overseas but was put off by the estimated $3.5 million cost of relocation.
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