Drug Lord's Pet Hippos Face Culling... Tycoon's Youngest Son Says "I'll Take Care of Them"

As the Colombian government has announced plans to cull the hippos left behind by drug lord Pablo Escobar, the youngest son of an Indian business tycoon has offered to provide a sanctuary for the animals.

Hippo. Pixabay

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According to the British daily The Telegraph and Colombian daily El Tiempo on the 28th (local time), Anant Ambani, the youngest son of Mukesh Ambani, India's richest business magnate, has informed the Colombian government of his intention to transfer Escobar's hippos to a protective facility and care for them.

Ambani has requested that the culling decision be reversed, stating, "The 80 hippos did not choose where they would be born, nor are they responsible for the situation they now face."

Earlier this month, the Colombian government decided to cull some of the hippos in the second half of this year, as the rapid increase in their population has led to a series of problems for local communities. These hippos are an invasive species that originated from four animals Escobar imported from Africa in the 1980s. Through natural reproduction, their numbers are now estimated to have grown to about 200. With no natural predators and abundant food, their population has increased by approximately 9% each year, continuously raising concerns about ecological disruption.

In particular, as damage from water pollution caused by large amounts of excrement and competition for habitats has intensified, the government is considering culling around 80 hippos. In response, Ambani has proposed transferring them to "Vantara," the animal protection facility he operates, instead of euthanizing them.

Located in Gujarat, India, "Vantara" is an animal center four times the size of Yeouido, housing over 150,000 animals, including hundreds of elephants, 50 bears, 160 tigers, 200 lions, 250 leopards, and 900 crocodiles. It is known that in 2024 alone, about 40,000 animals were brought in from overseas.

However, investigations were conducted last year regarding allegations that the Vantara Center illegally imported animals and mistreated endangered species. Animal rights organizations have criticized the Vantara Center for operating more as a private zoo than as an animal protection facility.

Meanwhile, Ambani is the youngest son of Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, who is known as Asia's richest person. Mukesh Ambani, who leads Reliance Group-India's largest conglomerate spanning chemicals, distribution, information technology, and other businesses-has an estimated net worth of about 164 trillion won, making him the wealthiest individual in Asia.

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