Indian billionaire's son offers to save Escobar's hippos

Key Points:

• Anant Ambani, son of India's richest man Mukesh Ambani, has offered to relocate and care for Colombia's invasive hippo herd—descendants of Pablo Escobar's illegally imported animals—at his private Vantara zoo in Gujarat, India.
• Colombia has struggled for years to control the hippo population, which has grown to about 80 animals and become an environmental threat, prompting plans to cull some of the herd.
• The hippos, originally kept at Escobar's Hacienda Nápoles estate, have thrived in Colombia's Magdalena River basin due to favorable conditions and lack of natural predators, displacing native wildlife and causing conflicts with local fishing communities.
• Vantara zoo, home to 2,000 species and located near Mukesh Ambani's oil refinery, has pledged lifelong care for the hippos, emphasizing a commitment to protecting life, though Colombia has yet to respond to the offer.
• The hippos are considered the largest invasive population outside Africa, and efforts to control them—including castration—have been unsuccessful, while the private zoo itself has faced criticism over animal welfare concerns related to the local climate.