A coalition of South African animal rights groups has called on their government to investigate the alleged exports of wild animals to a private Indian zoo owned by the influential Ambani family.
The Wildlife Animal Protection Forum of South Africa, a coalition of 30 groups, has written to federal environment minister Dion George, urging him to investigate “legitimate concerns” over wildlife exports to India.
The Greens Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre, popularly known as Vantara, is a 3,000-acre facility in the western Gujarat state run by Anant Ambani, son of Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani who claims it to be a private “wildlife rescue and rehabilitation facility”.
The zoo dismissed the complaint by the South African coalition as “entirely false and baseless” and said they had served them a legal notice over the report.
The zoo was inaugurated by prime minister Narendra Modi on World Wildlife Day, 3 March, and his photos with the animals went viral on social media.
The sprawling establishment at the Reliance Jamnagar Refinery Complex claims to house 150,000 rescued endangered and threatened animals from over 200 species.
The zoo has faced scrutiny from wildlife activists since before it was unveiled last summer during Anant Ambani’s extended wedding ceremony.
In a 6 March letter to South African ministries and agencies, the Wildlife Animal Protection Forum said that concerns had been raised by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species “regarding the large amount of different live species of wild animals that are being imported” to Vantara.
CITES is an international agreement between governments aimed at ensuring that international trade in wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. India has been a signatory to CITES since 1976.
The coalition said the issue of India’s “potential non-compliance” regarding concerns about Vantara was raised in a November 2023 meeting after CITES received information about live animal imports to India, including of critically endangered species.
“We are of the opinion that a significant number of captive-bred specimens in facilities in South Africa could have been and are being traded for commercial purposes,” it said.
In a statement to The Independent, the zoo said the allegation of noncompliance was a complete fabrication and based on outdated information. The Wildlife Animal Protection Forum was “deliberately omitting the fact that the matter was fully reviewed” in a February 2025 meeting of the CITES standing committee and closed.
“The compliance concerns initially raised at SC77 were thoroughly addressed,” the statement said, referring to the 77th meeting of the CITES standing committee, “and there are no ongoing investigations or pending compliance actions against Vantara.”
Along with the letter, the South African coalition shared a document detailing their investigation and concerns about the facility in India.
The zoo received 56 cheetahs, 52 caracals, six jaguars, 19 leopards, 90 lions, 20 African wild dogs and many other animals from South Africa, according to the 2023-24 annual report by Vantara.
“The lions and tigers exported from South Africa appear to have been purchased and exported from breeding facilities in South Africa and therefore perhaps the current living conditions offered at Vantara have improved,” the letter said. “This does not justify the reality that they will now be transformed into breeding machines, exploited within the numerous animal breeding facilities located outside the main zoo.”
The coalition said it would need to be convinced, with independent, verifiable evidence, that the additional list of wildlife species exported from South Africa were saved or rescued from adverse conditions.
Vantara said all animal transfers from South Africa were conducted in full compliance with the country’s federal and provincial rules.
The animal rights coalition’s complaint, “seemingly driven by vested interests”, was “an attempt to revive stale matters that have been thoroughly investigated and conclusively closed by CITES, the world’s highest authority on wildlife transfer compliance”, the Indian facility said in its statement.
The Independent has reached out to the Wildlife Animal Protection Forum of South Africa for comment.
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