An Indian billionaire’s son has offered to take hippos descended from those introduced to Colombia by drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, rather than have the animals killed.
Anant Ambani, the son of tycoon Mukesh Ambani, said he had formally requested for the Colombian government to stay a decision to kill the animals, which have wreaked havoc on rivers in the South American nation.
Instead, he has asked to allow the “safe, scientifically-led translocation that would bring the 80 animals to a permanent home” at his Vantara animal centre.
The vast zoo in India’s western state of Gujarat bills itself as “one of the world’s largest wildlife rescue, care and conservation centres”.
Vantara is already home to hundreds of elephants as well as 50 bears, 160 tigers, 200 lions, 250 leopards and 900 crocodiles, among other animals, according to India’s Central Zoo Authority.
Experts have repeatedly sounded the alarm on Vantara’s massive animal intake, including importing critically-endangered and rare species.
Escobar brought hippos – which are native only to Africa and can weigh up to several tonnes – to Colombia in the 1980s.
After his death, hippos from his private zoo made a new life in the lush river banks of the Colombia’s Magdalena River, where they have attacked fishermen, prompting moves to cull them.
Ambani’s proposal sets out a veterinary-led capture and transport to his animal centre, and the creation of a “purpose-designed naturalistic setting” for the hippos, according to a statement. — AFP
