Vantara founder and Reliance Industries executive director Anant Ambani has written to the Colombian government asking it to halt the planned culling of 80 hippopotamuses from the Magdalena River basin and offered to pay for their relocation to his wildlife facility in Jamnagar, Gujarat.
The letter, dated April 28, was addressed to Colombia’s Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development Irene Vélez Torres. In it, Ambani proposed a “safe, scientifically led translocation” as a privately funded alternative to lethal removal, and said Vantara would manage the entire operation.
Why Colombia ordered the cull
The Colombian government recently authorised the killing of 80 hippos to control a population that has grown to around 200. The animals are descendants of a small group brought to the country by drug lord Pablo Escobar in the 1980s. Classified as an invasive species, they have been blamed for damaging local ecosystems and posing safety risks to communities living along the river.
The authorisation drew widespread public opposition, after which Ambani submitted his proposal.
What Vantara is offering
The proposal submitted to Colombian authorities covers veterinary oversight and specialised capture and transport teams, protocols for safe cross-border movement, a naturalistic habitat in Gujarat designed to replicate key ecological features of the Magdalena River basin, and permanent sanctuary for all 80 animals.
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Ambani said the operation would be conducted entirely on Colombia’s terms and under the direction of its authorities. “Compassion and public safety are not opposing forces,” he wrote, adding that sound science can protect both ecosystems and animal life.
“These eighty 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,” his letter said. Vantara, based in Jamnagar, is recognised as one of the world’s largest wildlife rescue and conservation facilities.