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Ambani’s Offer to Relocate
Anant Ambani, the son of Indian tycoon Mukesh Ambani, has offered to relocate around 80 of Pablo Escobar’s “cocaine hippos” from Colombia to his Vantara animal sanctuary in India, as Colombian authorities consider killing the invasive animals.
“An Indian billionaire's son offered on Tuesday to take the so-called descended from those introduced to Colombia by drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, rather than have the animals killed”
The Guardian reports that Ambani revived an earlier offer to bring the 80 hippos to his Vantara animal sanctuary in the state of Gujarat, saying the animals are “living, sentient beings … if we have the ability to save them through a safe and humane solution, we have a responsibility to try”.
CNN similarly says Ambani “has offered to relocate 80 of Pablo Escobar’s so-called ‘cocaine hippos’ from Colombia to his wildlife sanctuary” as officials consider culling the invasive animals.
VnExpress International describes Ambani as having formally requested Colombia to allow the “safe, scientifically-led translocation that would bring the 80 animals to a permanent home” at Vantara.
CBS News adds that Ambani “said he had formally requested the Colombian government to stay” a cull and instead asked to allow the “safe, scientifically-led translocation that would bring the 80 animals to a permanent home” at his Vantara animal center.
Multiple outlets tie the proposal to the hippos’ origin in the 1980s, when Escobar imported them into Colombia for his private zoo at Hacienda Nápoles, after which the animals were left to roam free following his death in 1993.
Colombia’s Culling Plan
Colombia’s move toward euthanizing the hippos is framed by outlets as a response to the animals’ rapid growth and their impact on local ecosystems and livelihoods.
The Guardian says the “expanding population of feral hippopotamuses have become such an environmental blight, they are facing a mass extermination by the authorities,” and it notes that authorities announced this month that the hippos would begin to be formally hunted and culled to bring their numbers under control.
WWNY (Gray News) reports that Colombia’s Environment Ministry said that if left unchecked, the hippo population will exceed 500 by 2030, and that officials announced a few weeks earlier that they planned to euthanize 80 hippos.
Mint similarly describes the Environment Ministry warning that the hippo population will exceed 500 by 2030 without intervention, and says the government decided to euthanise nearly 80 of these later this year.
In addition to ecological concerns, WWNY says locals fear removing the animals will destroy tourism in Puerto Triunfo, while others argue the hippos are endangering the local fishing industry.
Mint quotes fisherman Wilinton Sanchez describing the hippos as “a true nightmare,” and it ties the debate to fishermen along the Magdalena River who fear the animals’ sudden surfacing.
Vantara’s Capacity and Criticism
Vantara is presented across outlets as a large-scale facility in Gujarat that Ambani says can provide a permanent home and “lifelong care” for the hippos, but it is also described as controversial.
“Anant Ambani Offers to Relocate Pablo Escobar’s ‘Cocaine Hippos’ to India Amid Colombia Cull Plan Indian industrialist Anant Ambani has offered to relocate around 80 of the so-called “cocaine hippos” from Colombia to India, as the South American country considers culling the invasive species”
The Guardian says Vantara is “Home to more than 150,000 animals, including many endangered species,” and it reports that the international watchdog CITES has flagged alleged noncompliance with wildlife trade rules.
It also says critics have accused the sanctuary of indirect complicity in wildlife trafficking and condemned Vantara as an Ambani family “vanity zoo” because “the public do not have access.”
WWNY similarly notes that the decision has sparked debate and that some scientists and animal advocates have taken opposing positions, with animal advocates calling the plan “murder.”
LatestLY says Vantara’s offer is to provide “lifelong care” and describes the facility as a 3,500-acre center in Gujarat that seeks to save the animals from a government cull of 80 individuals.
VnExpress International adds that Vantara is “already home to hundreds of elephants” and lists numbers for other animals, including “50 bears, 160 tigers, 200 lions, 250 leopards and 900 crocodiles,” citing India’s Central Zoo Authority.
Logistics, Permits, and the Debate
Several outlets emphasize that moving the hippos would require complex logistics, permits, and coordination, even as Ambani argues for a humane alternative to culling.
The Guardian says a similar plan to bring 60 of the Colombian hippos to the sanctuary, when it was formerly known as Green’s rescue and rehabilitation, was first proposed in 2023, but “the logistical problems of capturing and moving the hippos, which live in the wild and weigh roughly two tonnes each, as well as matters concerning permits and the inter-governmental organisation involved, appear to have prevented the animals from making the journey to India.”
It also says the project would likely come with a “hefty price tag, possibly more than $4m (£3m).”
WWNY reports that the hippo population has grown to around 160 and that Colombia introduced other options for controlling the population, with euthanasia described as a last resort, including confining the hippos and moving them to international sanctuaries or zoos.
Mint adds that the government tried methods to keep the population under check, including castration, but “none of these methods helped,” before deciding to euthanise nearly 80 later this year.
Across the coverage, the debate is also shaped by threats and protests: WWNY says some scientists in favor of euthanasia reported receiving death threats, while animal advocates call the plan “murder,” and Mint similarly describes activists decrying the measure as “murder.”
What Happens Next
The next step in the story, as described by the outlets, is whether Colombia will accept Ambani’s proposal and pause or reverse its cull plans.
“Published April 29, 2026 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”
The Guardian says Ambani said he had directly appealed to the Colombian government to allow the “safe, scientifically led translocation that would bring the 80 animals to a permanent home,” and it notes that the Ambani family and Vantara deny allegations while an investigation by India’s supreme court found no evidence of wrongdoing.
VnExpress International says Ambani “had formally requested the Colombian government to stay a decision to kill the animals” and that he asked to allow the “safe, scientifically-led translocation that would bring the 80 animals to a permanent home” at Vantara, while also stating that Colombia’s officials have yet to respond to the offer.
LatestLY similarly says Colombian officials have “yet to respond” to Ambani’s offer, as they weigh logistics of international relocation against their current management plan.
WWNY reports that Colombia’s Environment Ministry said that no country has committed to a transfer of the hippos, citing “high costs and legal matters” as deterrents for potential partners.
The Guardian closes its account by stressing that the hippos’ fate is now entangled with questions about whether Vantara can house them, since “Hippos are not native to India” and the sanctuary “do not publicly have any record of homing a hippo – let alone 80 of them.”
