Son of Indian billionaire wants Pablo Escobar’s hippos

Anant Ambani wants to relocate hippos marked for death to wildlife preserve in India.

Published Apr 28, 2026  •  1 minute read

Hippos float in the lagoon at Hacienda Napoles Park, once the private estate of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar who imported three female hippos and one male decades ago in Puerto Triunfo, Colombia. Photo by Fernando Vergara /The Associated Press

The son of an Indian billionaire has offered to take in hippos descended from the ones brought to Colombia by drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, to save them from death.

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Anant Ambani, son of tycoon Mukesh Ambani, the head of multinational conglomerate Reliance Industries, said he formally asked the Colombian government to stay a decision to kill the animals, which have wreaked havoc on rivers there, and has asked it to allow him to relocate them to his Vantara animal centre, a vast zoo that calls itself “one of the world’s largest wildlife rescue, care and conservation centres.”

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The centre houses hundreds of elephants, 50 bears, 160 tigers, 200 lions, 250 leopards and 900 crocodiles, among other animals, according to India’s Central Zoo Authority — so many that it has raised experts’ hackles of its ability to manage the massive animal intake, including critical endangered species.

The animal centre is sited alongside the Reliance Jamnagar Refinery Complex, which the conglomerate calls the world’s largest crude oil refinery. Temperatures there can exceed 40 C.

Anant Ambani, son of billionaire Mukesh Ambani, (left). Photo by Getty Images

Ambani’s plan

Ambani says he has a proposal for a veterinary-led capture and transport, as well as a “purpose designed naturalistic setting for the hippos,” according to a statement.

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“Vantara has the expertise, infrastructure and resolve to support this effort, entirely on Colombia’s terms,” the statement said. “These 80 hippos did not choose where they were born, nor did they create the circumstances they now face. They are living, sentient beings, and if we have the ability to save them through a safe and humane solution, we have a responsibility to try.”

Escobar’s hippos

Hippos are native to Africa and can weigh up to several tonnes. Escobar brought them to Colombia in the 1980s. After the drug kingpin was hunted down and killed by authorities in 1993, the animals went into the wild, living along Colombia’s Magdalena River, where they have been known to attack fishermen.

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