The Indian billionaire Anant Ambani, son of Asia’s richest man, proposed this Tuesday to host 80 of the Colombian hippos that are destined to die due to the recent decision of Gustavo Petro’s Government to sacrifice them as part of its strategy to control the proliferation of this invasive species. In a statement, the Indian magnate expressed: “They are living and sentient beings and, if we have the possibility of saving them through a safe and humane solution, we have the responsibility to try.” He also said that the hippos did not choose the place where they were born nor created the circumstances in which they currently live.
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Ambani, 31, is the son of Mukesh Ambani, the main shareholder of the Reliance Industries business empire, dedicated to businesses in sectors such as textiles, energy, and telecommunications. His proposal is to host 80 of the nearly 200 hippos currently in Colombia, which are descendants of those introduced to the South American country by drug lord Pablo Escobar in the early eighties. The idea is to take them to his Vantara conservation center in western India, where primates, felines, elephants, and other rescued animals already live.
The magnate states in his communication that compassion and public safety “are not opposing forces” and adds that it is possible to preserve ecosystems and save the lives of many animals “with sound science and careful planning,” Efe quotes. He later adds: “Vantara has the necessary experience, infrastructure, and determination to support this effort, on the terms that Colombia requires.” For now, the Colombian Government has not responded to Ambani’s request. The culling of the hippos, although announced, has not yet begun.
Ambani’s proposal comes a few days after the Colombian Government announced the plan to apply what it called “euthanasia” to 80 of the hippos that roam freely in the Magdalena Medio region, on the banks of the Magdalena River, the area where Escobar built his opulent Hacienda Nápoles, which he adapted to fulfill the fantasy of having an African safari experience at his own resting place. Over the years, this fantasy has become an environmental problem, due to the danger of hippos as predators and the serious pollution they cause, which affects species native to Colombia.
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The Colombian Government explained, just a couple of weeks ago, that its decision to humanely cull the hippos was made after no country agreed to host them. The acting Minister of Environment, Irene Vélez, said: “The administrative silence indicates to us that there is no interest in receiving them.” She added that without lethal control of these animals, by 2030 the population will have increased to at least 500 specimens, with consequent damage to ecosystems and to species such as the manatee and the river turtle. The aggressiveness of these animals, which are frequently seen in urban areas of nearby towns such as Puerto Triunfo and Doradal, also represents a risk to communities.
The Indian magnate’s capacity to bear the enormous cost of transporting the hippos — an individual of this species can weigh up to three tons — is beyond dispute: Ambani, along with his partner, Radhika Merchant, starred in what was dubbed at the time as “the wedding of the year,” in 2024. The pre-wedding celebration in March included a concert by Barbadian singer Rihanna, and was attended by more than 1,000 guests, including magnates Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, and Ivanka Trump, daughter of US President Donald Trump. In a second pre-wedding event in May, they flew from Mumbai to Barcelona to embark on a luxurious Mediterranean cruise with more than 800 guests. And in July was the final wedding, whose luxuries and eccentricities were of such magnitude that they even opened a debate about the enormous economic disparities in India.
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