The youngest son of Asia's wealthiest man has proposed taking in 80 feral hippos originating from Pablo Escobar, facing extermination in Colombia, offering to transport them to his wildlife facility in India.
Anant Ambani, whose father Mukesh Ambani leads the Reliance Industries conglomerate, is calling on Colombian authorities to abandon their recently approved culling programme.
"These 80 hippos did not choose where they were born, nor did they create the circumstances they now face," Mr Ambani stated.
The Colombian government sanctioned the killing of dozens of the invasive animals earlier this month, claiming all alternative population control measures had been exhausted.
Mr Ambani has instead requested permission for a "safe, scientifically led translocation" to his Vantara centre.
The hippos trace their origins to the notorious drug trafficker Pablo Escobar, who brought four of the mammals to stock a private menagerie at his Colombian estate.
Following Escobar's death in 1993 at the age of 44, the animals escaped and established themselves along riverbanks, breeding rapidly in the absence of natural predators.
Colombia now holds the distinction of being the sole nation beyond Africa where hippos roam freely in the wild.
Anant Ambani has offered to move 80 feral hippos from Columbia to India
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Their population has swelled to approximately 200, with sightings reported up to 60 miles from the former MedellÃn cartel boss's ranch in the Magdalena River valley.
The creatures have posed dangers to local fishermen and driven out indigenous wildlife species.
Mr Ambani oversees Vantara, a sprawling 3,000-acre wildlife sanctuary situated in the western Indian state of Gujarat.
The facility describes itself as among the largest rescue and conservation centres for animals anywhere in the world.
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The hippos trace their origins back to Pablo Escobar
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Its grounds currently accommodate more than 150,000 rescued creatures, with an extraordinary collection that includes several hundred elephants, 160 tigers, 200 lions, 250 leopards, 50 bears and 900 crocodiles.
The centre sits adjacent to the Reliance Jamnagar refinery complex, which the company claims is the globe's biggest crude oil processing facility.
Summer temperatures at the location can exceed 40C across the arid Gujarat plains.
"Vantara has the expertise, infrastructure and resolve to support this effort, entirely on Colombia's terms," Mr Ambani stated.
Vantara has faced scrutiny over its operations in the past.
An investigation was opened last year into claims the facility had illegally brought animals into the country and mistreated endangered species under its care.
Animal welfare organisations have repeatedly raised concerns about the centre's mass acquisition of wildlife, contending it functions more as a private zoo than a genuine sanctuary with plans to return animals to their natural habitats.
The Ambani family firmly rejected these accusations. India's Supreme Court subsequently ruled that Vantara had breached neither legal requirements nor ethical standards.
German publication Süddeutsche Zeitung reported the centre imported nearly 40,000 animals during 2024 from countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.