Pablo Escobar's "cocaine hippos" — some of the most notable and debated creatures in Colombia's wetlands — have found a potential new home in India.
Escobar, the infamous drug lord who passed away in the early 1990s, brought four hippos to his estate from their native Africa, and his former pets escaped into the wild and thrived after his death. Known for this reason as the "cocaine hippos," these animals reproduce at impressive rates, and their population is now close to 200.
As they are not native to the area, concerns about their impact on local ecosystems and wildlife led Colombia's environment minister, Irene Vélez Torres, to recently announce a divisive plan to cull 80 of the hippos as a last resort, The New York Times reported.
Her decision came after failed attempts to sterilize and relocate the hippos.
However, Anant Ambani, a member of Asia's wealthiest family with a fortune exceeding $100 billion, has offered a new sanctuary for some of these hippos at his private wildlife park in India. The park — Vantara, situated in Gujarat — has extended an invitation as part of its conservation initiatives. Vantara is run in conjunction with the Greens Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre.
The Times reported that the offer reflects Ambani's "belief that every life matters and that we share a responsibility to protect life wherever possible." It proposed a "scientifically led translocation" of the animals to the park.
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India's government would have to be involved in Ambani's plan if it is to go through, and there are concerns about the legitimacy of his reserve as a conservation project, with many seeing it as just another private zoo akin to Escobar's.
Regardless of the fate of these hippos, it's important to note that their destruction is not their fault and highlights the importance of keeping species in their proper environments. When non-native species are introduced, such as these hippos or Burmese pythons wreaking havoc in the Everglades, they often take over and cause irreparable harm to native ecosystems, wildlife, and surrounding communities.
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