00:00Colombia has a major cocaine hippo problem, but an Indian billionaire says he can help.
00:05Conservationists recently warned that the hippo numbers could reach more than a thousand in the
00:10next decade. Colombia has announced that about half the herd has to be captured and killed,
00:15but they may have found an unlikely stay of execution. Anant Ambani, the son of India's
00:20richest man, telecoms tycoon Mukesh Ambani, has appealed to the Colombian government to reverse
00:26its decision. He wants to take about half the herd into his private wildlife sanctuary called
00:32Vantara. Colombia hasn't commented on the offer, but Vantara, which is one of the world's largest
00:37wildlife rescue centres, has been the subject of repeated controversy. It's home to about 150,000
00:44animals of 2,000 species, including elephants, tigers, bears, but no hippos. Conservationists
00:51say the zoo isn't suitable for some species because of the climate. Temperatures in the
00:55region can hit above 40 degrees Celsius. Vantara has also been accused of illegally acquiring
01:01and mistreating animals. Last year, India's Supreme Court ordered an investigation into the
01:06allegations and claims that the sanctuary was being used as a private vanity project.
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