Tycoon's son offers home for "cocaine hippos" slated to be killed
Anant Ambani, the son of tycoon Mukesh Ambani, said he formally requested the Colombian government to stay a decision to kill the animals.
An Indian billionaire's son offered on Tuesday to take the so-called "cocaine hippos" descended from those introduced to Colombia by drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, rather than have the animals killed.
Instead, he has asked to allow the "safe, scientifically-led translocation that would bring the 80 animals to a permanent home" at his Vantara animal center.
The vast zoo in India's western state of Gujarat bills itself as "one of the world's largest wildlife rescue, care and conservation centers."
Vantara is already home to hundreds of elephants, as well as 50 bears, 160 tigers, 200 lions, 250 leopards and 900 crocodiles, among other animals, according to India's Central Zoo Authority.
Experts have repeatedly sounded the alarm on Vantara's massive animal intake, including the import of critically endangered and rare species. The shelter was at the center of angry protests after an ailing elephant was relocated to Vantara last year, BBC News reported .