2026年4月28日 / 美国东部时间上午11:36 / 哥伦比亚广播公司/法新社
一名印度亿万富翁之子于周二提出愿意接收所谓的“可卡因河马”——这些河马是毒枭巴勃罗·埃斯科巴引入哥伦比亚的后代，而非将这些动物捕杀。
穆克什·安巴尼之子阿南特·安巴尼表示，他已正式请求哥伦比亚政府暂缓捕杀这些动物的决定，这些河马已对这个南美国家的河流造成严重破坏。
相反，他已请求允许“开展安全的、由科学主导的 translocation（迁移）行动，将这80头河马安置在永久居所”，地点设在他的万塔拉（Vantara）动物中心。
这座位于印度西部古吉拉特邦的大型动物园自称是“全球最大的野生动物救助、护理和保护中心之一”。
据印度中央动物园管理局透露，万塔拉目前已收容数百头大象，以及50只熊、160只老虎、200头狮子、250只豹子和900只鳄鱼等多种动物。
专家此前多次就万塔拉的大规模动物收容行动敲响警钟，包括引进极度濒危和珍稀物种。据英国广播公司新闻报道，去年一头病弱大象被转移至万塔拉后，该收容中心曾引发激烈抗议。
埃斯科巴在20世纪80年代将河马引入哥伦比亚——这种动物原产于非洲，体重可达数吨。
埃斯科巴死后，他私人动物园里的河马在哥伦比亚马格达莱纳河沿岸郁郁葱葱的河岸上重新安家，它们会攻击渔民，促使政府采取捕杀行动。
哥伦比亚已将河马列为入侵物种，专家表示仅通过绝育不足以控制该动物的种群增长，这也是为何该国政府此前曾安排将河马转移至海外保护区的原因。但将河马遣送出境的成本也十分高昂——估计高达350万美元。
在这张2021年2月4日的资料照片中，河马漂浮在纳波莱斯庄园的湖面上。这里曾是毒枭巴勃罗·埃斯科巴的私人宅邸，数十年前他曾引进3头雌性河马和1头雄性河马，拍摄地位于哥伦比亚普里托温富。费尔南多·贝加拉 / 美联社
作为跨国企业集团信实工业的亿万富翁掌门人之子，阿南特·安巴尼表示，他已提交一份详细计划，将河马安置在万塔拉动物中心，为它们提供新的家园。
该动物中心毗邻信实工业贾姆讷格尔炼油综合体，该集团称该综合体是全球最大的原油炼油厂。
当地夏季气温极高，经常会飙升至华氏100度以上。
万塔拉动物中心在一份声明中表示，安巴尼的提案涵盖了由兽医主导的捕获和运输工作，以及为河马打造“专门设计的自然栖息环境”。
声明称：“万塔拉拥有专业技术、基础设施和决心，完全按照哥伦比亚的条件支持这项行动。”
“这80头河马无法选择自己的出生地，也无法决定它们如今面临的处境，”安巴尼补充道，“它们是有生命、有感知能力的生物，如果我们有能力通过安全且人道的方式拯救它们，我们就有责任尝试这么做。”
这些河马是纳波莱斯庄园的主要景点之一，该庄园在哥伦比亚政府没收埃斯科巴的财产时被收归国有。如今这里已成为一个主题公园，设有游泳池、水滑梯和一个动物园，园内还饲养着其他多种非洲物种。
去年10月，哥伦比亚总统古斯塔沃·佩特罗宣布，该国将把埃斯科巴庄园的一部分土地移交予在该国武装冲突中遭受波及的女性。
哥伦比亚的动物福利活动人士长期以来一直反对捕杀河马的提议，认为它们有权生存。他们表示，通过暴力手段解决问题会给这个经历了数十年内部冲突的国家树立一个恶劣榜样。
在哥伦比亚生活多年的独立记者奥黛丽·休斯此前曾告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻，由于河马自由漫游，它们会捕杀鱼类，威胁海牛、水獭和海龟等本土物种的生存。
“它们在当地没有非洲那样的天敌，因此种群数量激增，正在影响当地的生态系统，”休斯说道，“由于它们体型庞大，会消耗大量草地并产生大量粪便，进而污染河流。”
Billionaire’s son offers home for Colombia’s “cocaine hippos” rather than have them killed
April 28, 2026 / 11:36 AM EDT / CBS/AFP
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.
Anant Ambani, the son of tycoon Mukesh Ambani, said he had formally requested the Colombian government to stay a decision to kill the animals, which have wreaked havoc on rivers in the South American nation.
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.
Escobar brought hippos — which are native only to Africa and can weigh up to several tons — to Colombia in the 1980s.
After Escobar’s death, hippos from his private zoo made a new life in the lush river banks of the Colombia’s Magdalena River — where they have attacked fishermen, prompting moves to cull them.
Colombia declared them an invasive species and experts have said sterilization alone is not enough to control the growth of the animals, which is why the government previously arranged for the possible transfer of hippos to overseas sanctuaries. But the cost of deporting the hippos is also expensive — an estimated $3.5 million.
In this file photo from Feb. 4, 2021, hippos float in the lake 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. Fernando Vergara / AP
Anant Ambani, son of the billionaire head of the multinational conglomerate Reliance Industries, said he had submitted a detailed plan to give the animals a new home at Vantara.
The animal center is located alongside the Reliance Jamnagar Refinery Complex, which the conglomerate says is the world’s largest crude oil refinery.
Summers there can get extremely hot, with temperatures soaring above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Ambani’s proposal sets out a veterinary-led capture and transport, as well as the creation of a “purpose-designed naturalistic setting” for the hippos, the animal center said a statement.
“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,” Ambani added. “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.”
The hippos are one of the main attractions at the Nápoles ranch, which was confiscated by Colombia’s government as it seized Escobar’s properties. It now functions as a theme park, featuring swimming spools, water slides and a zoo that includes several other African species.
Last October, Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced the country handed over a chunk of Escobar’s ranch to women caught up in the nation’s armed conflict.
Animal welfare activists in Colombia have long opposed proposals to kill the hippos, arguing they deserve to live. They say that addressing the problem through violence sets a poor example for a country that has gone through decades of internal conflict.
Independent journalist Audrey Huse, who has lived in Colombia for years, previously told CBS News that because the hippos roam freely, they end up killing fish and threatening endemic species like manatees, otters and turtles.
“Because they have no natural predators here, as they would in Africa, the population is booming and it’s affecting the local ecosystem,” Huse said. “Because they are such large animals, they consume considerable amounts of grassland and produce significant waste, which then poisons the rivers.”
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