Indian Billionaire's Son Offers to Bring Pablo Escobar's Hippos to His Private Zoo

Anant Ambani, the son of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, has revived a proposal to relocate 80 hippos—all descendants of a pet once owned by Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar—to his private zoo in Gujarat state, aiming to save them from culling.

This remains one of the most intractable problems in modern zoological history: what to do with the herd of hippos descended from Escobar's?

These herbivores, native to sub-Saharan Africa, were imported into Colombia by drug lord Pablo Escobar for his personal amusement. But after Escobar's death in 1993, they and their offspring were set free.

Now, the ever-expanding wild hippo herd has become such an environmental menace that Colombian authorities are facing a plan for mass culling.

However, they may have found an unexpected escape route, with the Indian billionaire's son offering them sanctuary in India.

Anant Ambani said that because hippos are "sentient beings... if we have the capability to save them through a safe and humane solution, we have a responsibility to try."

But Vantara—the Ambani family's animal sanctuary—remains controversial. With over 150,000 animals, including many endangered species, it has faced allegations of illegal and unethical animal sourcing. The monitoring body Cites (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) has warned about allegations of non-compliance with wildlife trade rules.

Some critics accuse the sanctuary of indirectly abetting wildlife trafficking, while others denounce Vantara as a "vanity zoo" belonging to the Ambani family—not open to the public. The project is also said to have strong political backing, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself having relaunched it.

The Ambani family and Vantara deny the allegations. An investigation by India's Supreme Court last year found no evidence of wrongdoing.

A similar plan to bring 60 Colombian hippos to this sanctuary, then called Green's rescue and rehabilitation, was first proposed in 2023.

However, logistical challenges in capturing and transporting the hippos—each weighing about two tons and living in the wild—along with licensing and intergovernmental issues, apparently prevented the move to India.

This time, Ambani stated he has directly appealed to the Colombian government to permit "the safe, scientifically based relocation of 80 animals to a permanent home."

"These 80 hippos did not choose where they were born, nor did they create the circumstances they are facing," he added.

Transporting hippos to India is no small feat and could come with a hefty price tag, estimated at over $4 million (£3 million).

If they reach Gujarat, it would mark a new chapter in the saga of Escobar's hippos.

In the 1980s, Colombia's most notorious drug lord brought four hippos from sub-Saharan Africa to his zoo at Hacienda Nápoles, which also housed elephants and giraffes.

After Escobar died in a special forces raid in 1993, authorities left the hippos—dangerous and difficult-to-control animals—to roam wild. Over the years, they settled in the Magdalena River basin, where their population exploded due to a lack of predators and abundant food.

Recent estimates suggest over 200 hippos are living in the wild, making it the largest population outside Africa and one of Colombia's biggest environmental threats. They have destroyed vegetation, terrorized and killed local wildlife and livestock. Sterilization efforts have so far not been quickly effective.

With experts warning the population could exceed 1,000 in coming decades, Colombian authorities this month announced they would begin hunting and culling hippos to control numbers—a statement that provoked outrage from animal rights activists.

Doubts remain about Vantara's suitability for these mud-loving, aggressive animals.

Hippos are not native to India. Although the sanctuary houses bears, crocodiles, elephants, leopards, and tigers, there is no public record of it keeping hippos, let alone 80.

However, Ambani insists his sanctuary will provide Escobar's hippos with a safe home. "Vantara has the expertise, infrastructure, and determination to support this effort, entirely on Colombia's terms," his statement added.