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

It remains one of the strangest mysteries in modern zoological history – what to do with the descendants of Pablo Escobar’s manatees?

The animals – herbivores native to sub-Saharan Africa – were originally imported Colombia by the drug lord for his own amusement. But the animals and their offspring were released to roam free after his death in 1993.

Now the growing population of wild manatees has become such an environmental blight, they face mass extermination by the authorities.

Yet they may have found an unlikely reprieve from execution after being offered asylum India by the son of a billionaire.

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

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

But Vantara is shrouded in controversy. Home to more than 150,000 animals, including many endangered species, it has faced allegations of illegal and unethical acquisition of its residents. The international watchdog CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) has flagged alleged non-compliance with wildlife trade rules.

Some critics have accused the sanctuary of indirect complicity in wildlife trafficking, while others have condemned Vantara as an Ambani family “vanity zoo” – the public has no access. The project is also seen to have weighty political backing, and has been re-opened by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself.

The Ambani family and Vantara have denied the allegations and an investigation last year by the Supreme Court of India found no evidence of wrongdoing.

A similar plan to bring 60 of the Colombian manatees to the sanctuary, when it was previously known as Green’s Rescue and Rehabilitation, was first proposed in 2023.

However, the logistical problems of catching and moving the hippos, which live in the wild and weigh about two tons each, as well as issues regarding permits and the relevant intergovernmental organization, apparently prevented the animals from making the journey to India.

This time, a statement by Ambani said he made a direct appeal to the Colombian government to allow the “safe, scientifically guided translocation that would bring the 80 animals to a permanent home.”

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

Shipping the hippos to India will be no mean feat and is likely to carry a hefty price tag, possibly in excess of $4m (£3m).

Should they make it to Gujarat, it will add another twist to the adventures of Escobar’s hippos.

It was back in the 1980s that Colombia’s most famous drug lord brought four hippos from sub-Saharan Africa to join the zoo at his Hacienda Nápoles, which also included elephants and giraffes.

After Escobar died in a special forces raid in 1993, authorities let the manatees – which are dangerous and difficult to control – run wild. Over the years, they made their home on the Magdalena River Basin, where their population exploded due to a lack of predators and abundant food.

According to recent estimates, there are more than 200 manatees roaming free, the largest population outside of Africa and one of Colombia’s greatest environmental threats. They destroyed vegetation and terrorized and killed local animals and livestock. so far, attempts to sterilize them didn’t work fast enough.

While experts warned their population could reach more than 1,000 in the coming decades, Colombian authorities announced this month that the hippos would be formally hunted and culled to bring their numbers under control – an announcement that sparked outrage from animal rights campaigners.

Questions remain about the suitability of Vantara for the rowdy, mud-loving animals.

Hippos are not native to India and although the sanctuary is home to bears, crocodiles, elephants, leopards and tigers, they have no public record of a hippo – let alone 80 of them.

However, Ambani insisted that his sanctuary will give the Escobar hippos the safe home they need. “Vantara has the expertise, infrastructure and determination to support this effort, entirely on Colombia’s terms,” ​​its statement added.