Reliance executive Anant Ambani wants to fly 80 invasive hippopotamuses from the Magdalena River to Gujarat before the Colombian government executes them. 

The Colombian government approved the lethal removal of 80 invasive hippopotamuses last month to save its rapidly deteriorating river ecosystems. Now, Reliance Industries executive Anant Ambani has formally requested Bogotá to halt the executions, offering to transport the entire targeted herd to his Vantara wildlife facility in Gujarat. He isn’t asking the South American nation to fund the rescue.  

These animals represent the bizarre, living legacy of notorious drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. At the height of his cartel’s power in the 1980s, Escobar illegally smuggled four hippos from Africa to his sprawling Hacienda Nápoles estate. He built a massive private zoo featuring rhinos, giraffes, and zebras. After police shot and killed the drug lord in 1993, authorities confiscated the property and relocated most of his exotic animals. They left the hippos behind because they couldn’t easily transport the massive, aggressive creatures.  

And they didn’t anticipate the ecological disaster that would follow.

Left unchecked in the lush Magdalena River basin, the original four hippos bred rapidly. Colombia’s environment ministry estimates the population now exceeds 200. Without natural predators like lions or crocodiles to hunt them, they’ve thrived in the South American wetlands. Government ecologists project the herd could surpass 500 by 2030, permanently altering the region’s biodiversity.  

The environmental impact extends far beyond simple overpopulation. Hippos consume massive quantities of vegetation daily and excrete waste directly into the waterways. This waste alters the chemical composition of the Magdalena River, triggering toxic algae blooms that suffocate native fish populations. They don’t just destroy the water quality; they threaten the livelihoods of the people who rely on it.  

Fishermen navigating the river now face constant physical danger. Hippos are fiercely territorial and capable of charging at speeds reaching 30 kilometers per hour on land. Local fishermen report terrified encounters with the beasts surfacing near their small boats. Yet, you won’t find universal agreement on how to handle the crisis in Colombia.  

Bogotá tried sterilization campaigns for years. The effort failed miserably. Capturing, sedating, and operating on two-ton semi-aquatic mammals in the wild proved too dangerous and expensive for local authorities. So, Minister of Environment Irene Vélez Torres announced a strict euthanasia protocol last month. She called it a necessary technical measure because they simply couldn’t control the explosive population growth any other way.  

The decision to cull the herd ignited a fierce domestic conflict. Scientists who publicly advocated for euthanasia faced organized death threats from animal rights groups. Meanwhile, residents in Puerto Triunfo, a town near the old Escobar estate, heavily rely on the tourism economy the “cocaine hippos” generate. They don’t want the animals killed or removed.  

Ambani sees a different path out of the deadlock. In a formal letter to Vélez Torres, Vantara CEO Vivaan Karani detailed a comprehensive rescue proposal on Ambani’s behalf. The Indian sanctuary offered to fund and execute a veterinary-led capture, manage the strict biosecurity protocols, and handle the complex international transport. Ambani stated publicly that the 80 hippos didn’t choose their birthplace or create the circumstances they currently face.  

The Jamnagar-based facility spans 3,500 acres near the world’s largest crude oil refinery. The Central Zoo Authority reports Vantara already houses hundreds of elephants, lions, tigers, and crocodiles. Ambani promised the Colombian authorities a purpose-designed naturalistic habitat mirroring the Magdalena River environment. He insisted Vantara won’t compromise on lifelong care for the massive mammals.  

Relocating 80 hippos across the globe requires staggering logistical coordination. A similar proposal surfaced in 2023 to move 60 hippos to the Gujarat facility, but bureaucratic hurdles and the sheer physical difficulty of moving the animals collapsed the plan. The operation demands specialized reinforced transport crates, heavy-lift cargo aircraft, and extensive quarantine periods. Vantara hasn’t released a specific budget for the operation, but wildlife experts estimate the move will cost several million dollars.  

The proposal has sparked intense debate among international conservationists. Some animal welfare advocates applaud the humane alternative, calling the planned cull a government-sanctioned massacre. But other wildlife experts remain skeptical about moving a massive herd of non-native species to western India. Temperatures in Jamnagar routinely soar above 40 degrees Celsius in the summer, and critics argue the arid region doesn’t provide a natural climate for the African mammals.  

Vantara also faces its own intense scrutiny. International watchdogs have questioned the sanctuary’s rapid intake of rare and endangered species from across the globe. Some critics describe the massive facility as an opaque vanity project for the Ambani family, largely inaccessible to the general public. Vantara executives strongly deny any wrongdoing. They frequently point out that inquiries by the Supreme Court of India haven’t found any evidence of illegal wildlife trafficking at the facility.  

Can a private Indian corporate sanctuary actually manage an invasive Colombian herd? You don’t usually look to a petrochemical billionaire to solve an ecological crisis engineered by a dead cartel boss. Yet, the Colombian government now faces a narrow choice between public outrage over a mass culling and an unprecedented international airlift.

Wildlife transport regulations mandate rigorous approvals from both the Indian and Colombian governments, plus clearance from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Bureaucrats won’t finalize those permits overnight. Bogotá has confirmed receipt of Ambani’s proposal but hasn’t issued a formal operational reply. Escobar’s living legacy won’t disappear quietly.