{"id":947137,"date":"2026-10-31T03:36:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T03:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/947137\/"},"modified":"2026-10-31T03:36:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T03:36:15","slug":"lions-tigers-and-a-billionaires-private-noahs-ark-inside-indias-controversial-vantara-sanctuary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/947137\/","title":{"rendered":"Lions, tigers and a billionaire\u2019s private Noah\u2019s Ark: Inside India\u2019s controversial Vantara sanctuary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

JAMNAGAR, Oct 31 \u2014 Behind guarded gates resembling an Indian maharajah\u2019s palace are hundreds of elephants and big cats, giraffes grazing in a mock savannah, and chimpanzees and orangutans swinging from ropes.<\/p>\n

This is Vantara: billed as the world\u2019s biggest animal rescue centre, but also the target of persistent criticism over how it amassed an unprecedented collection, including critically endangered animals.<\/p>\n

After years of scrutiny, including a Supreme Court-ordered probe in its favour, the Indian centre has pledged a reset, saying it has halted imports, hired global experts, and shifted towards helping wildlife in its natural habitat.<\/p>\n

\u201cVantara has pivoted,\u201d CEO Vivaan Karani told AFP. \u201cWherever animals can be effectively supported in their own countries, we increasingly believe our resources should travel, rather than the animals.\u201d<\/p>\n

The centre in Jamnagar, in India\u2019s western Gujarat state, is closed to the public.<\/p>\n

AFP was granted rare access for a two-day tour, passing expansive glass-fronted enclosures housing some of the 200 lions, 200 cheetahs and 150 tigers.<\/p>\n

\"Veterinary <\/p>\n

Veterinary staff carry a cheetah on a stretcher after completing a routine medical check up inside a hospital at the Vantara Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Centre in Jamnagar September 25, 2026. \u2014 AFP pic<\/p>\n

Meaning \u201cStar of the Forest\u201d, Vantara in August pledged to \u201crespond to criticism through dialogue, transparency and evidence \u2014 not litigation\u201d.<\/p>\n

The centre is the vision of 31-year-old Anant Ambani, youngest son of one of Asia\u2019s richest men Mukesh Ambani, chairman of retail-to-refining giant Reliance Industries.<\/p>\n

It spans 3,500 acres (1,416 hectares) across multiple sites \u2014 around 2,000 football pitches \u2014 alongside a Reliance oil refinery, the world\u2019s biggest.<\/p>\n

Over 260 former working elephants wander through teak plantations, trumpeting as they bathe in lakes.<\/p>\n

Hippos swim in giant glass-fronted tanks, while other vast sections house reptiles and birds \u2014 including penguins.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see God in my animals, and Vantara is my temple,\u201d Anant, a devout Hindu, has said, adding: \u201cEvery being, no matter how big or how small, deserves dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n

A giant statue of Anant\u2019s late dog, Happy the Golden Retriever, stands at its headquarters.<\/p>\n

\"Vantara <\/p>\n

Vantara Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Centre\u2019s chief executive officer Vivaan Karani speaks during an interview with AFP in Jamnagar September 25, 2026. \u2014 AFP pic<\/p>\n

\u2018Transparency\u2019<\/p>\n

Vantara says it houses more than 150,000 animals from over 2,000 species, brought from at least 30 countries. But annual reports record far lower totals, among the opaque details activists wanted clarified.<\/p>\n

Its acquisitions have drawn the attention of the secretariat overseeing CITES, the international treaty regulating wildlife trade.<\/p>\n

Last year, CITES said it \u201cconsiders that a number of specimens traded as \u2018captive-bred\u2019… may not be.\u201d<\/p>\n

It urged reforms to ensure Vantara did \u201cnot inadvertently become a driver of illegal harvest of wild animals\u201d.<\/p>\n

Dozens of critically endangered tortoises were sent by a German commercial breeder to a defunct zoo in Togo, then to Belgium before arriving in India.<\/p>\n

Spix\u2019s macaws, a Brazilian blue parrot extinct in the wild \u2014 as featured in the 2011 Disney film Rio\u00a0\u2014 were transferred from Germany without Brazil\u2019s required consent.<\/p>\n

\"An <\/p>\n

An orangutan rests inside an enclosure at the Vantara Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Centre in Jamnagar September 25, 2026. \u2014 AFP pic<\/p>\n

Critics call it a \u201cprivate megazoo\u201d.<\/p>\n

Last month, 27 international conservation organisations welcomed Vantara\u2019s promised shift but demanded measurable reforms, including \u201cfull public transparency\u201d over the origins of every animal.<\/p>\n

Karani pointed to a 2025 Supreme Court-ordered probe that found no evidence of any \u201cbreach or offence\u201d and called Vantara a \u201cmodern-day Noah\u2019s Ark\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cVantara has never broken the law,\u201d Karani said. \u201cThere is nothing other than welfare at the core of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

One animal raising questions is a Tapanuli orangutan, seen by AFP, alone in an enclosure clutching a coconut.<\/p>\n

Listed as \u201ccaptive-bred\u201d, it belongs to the world\u2019s rarest great ape species, with around 800 individuals remaining.<\/p>\n

Experts say they know of no captive-breeding programme for the Indonesian species, while Vantara believes the orangutan was wrongly identified as a Tapanuli.<\/p>\n

\"Security <\/p>\n

Security staff watch monitors inside the central operation centre at the Vantara Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Centre in Jamnagar September 25, 2026. \u2014 AFP pic<\/p>\n

\u2018Concerns\u2019<\/p>\n

Vantara\u2019s animal care is undeniably impressive.<\/p>\n

Veterinarian Kushal Konwar Sarma showed AFP an elephant hospital with hydraulic operating tables and hydrotherapy pools, where retired working elephants recover from injuries.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe facilities are unmatched not only in India, but I would say, the world,\u201d said Sarma.<\/p>\n

Sarma is among over 4,000 staff, including teams running vast kitchens preparing animal feed.<\/p>\n

Vantara\u2019s first animal, in 2009, was Gauri, an Asian elephant used for begging in Rajasthan whose condition was \u201cvery bad\u201d, keeper Kailash Nayak said. He joined Vantara when it took her in.<\/p>\n

\u201cLife here is much better \u2014 for both of us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Vantara\u2019s intake accelerated in 2019, and during the Covid-19 pandemic, when tourism stalled and zoos struggled.<\/p>\n

It drew the spotlight in 2024, when Anant\u2019s lavish pre-wedding celebrations there brought Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and Ivanka Trump as guests, with Rihanna performing.<\/p>\n

India\u2019s Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Vantara in March 2025.<\/p>\n

\"Elephants <\/p>\n

Elephants take a dip inside a pond at the Vantara Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Centre in Jamnagar September 24, 2026. \u2014 AFP pic<\/p>\n

In August, Vantara appointed former CITES chief John Scanlon to chair its new governing council, overseeing animal acquisitions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to make sure we put all the infrastructure in place so that the concerns that have been raised are never raised again,\u201d Scanlon told AFP.<\/p>\n

This month, the CITES Secretariat said India had suspended imports of the most endangered species pending new due-diligence procedures, but that questions remained over animals including elephants, chimpanzees and the Tapanuli orangutan.<\/p>\n

CITES officials, who meet on November 2, urged India to continue investigations and take action against \u201cinstances of illegal trade\u201d.<\/p>\n

Scanlon said India\u2019s Supreme Court had settled the legal questions over imports.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the end of the road there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Lab <\/p>\n

Lab assistants work inside the animal research laboratory at the Vantara Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Centre in Jamnagar September 25, 2026. \u2014 AFP pic<\/p>\n

\u2018Potential\u2019<\/p>\n

In October, Vantara returned an orangutan it said it had rescued from traffickers in 2024 to Indonesia and offered to open 10 mobile veterinary centres nationwide.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the energy is best spent going forward,\u201d Scanlon said, calling resources to support conservation \u201cenormous\u201d.<\/p>\n

Vantara collects genetic data to help prevent inbreeding among Asiatic lions, is building a university, and pledges to fund overseas conservation projects.<\/p>\n

Activists said they were \u201cwatching closely\u201d to ensure promises are kept.<\/p>\n

\u201cVantara has imported tens of thousands of animals in a very short time, including some of the rarest species,\u201d said Daniela Freyer of Pro Wildlife, who helped draft the conservation groups\u2019 letter demanding a permanent end to imports.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere rules were broken, there must be consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Karani invited her, and other critics, to visit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not enemies,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to be one of you. We all have the same mission.\u201d \u2014 AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JAMNAGAR, Oct 31 \u2014 Behind guarded gates resembling an Indian maharajah\u2019s palace are hundreds of elephants and big…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":947138,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[99765,98758,514483,64,63,2929,7882,11587,43838,514482,128,514481,338],"class_list":["post-947137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-anant-ambani","tag-animal-sanctuary","tag-asia039s-richest","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-conservation","tag-controversy","tag-ethics","tag-mukesh-ambani","tag-private-zoo","tag-science","tag-vantara","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=947137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947137\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/947138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=947137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=947137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=947137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}