Reports about Vantara – the animal rehabilitation centre of Reliance’s Anant Ambani in Gujarat’s Jamnagar – are curiously unavailable, hours after they were published by Deccan Herald, The Telegraph India and The Tribune.
These reports had highlighted concerns of a South African animal protection organisation over the large-scale import of animals to Vantara, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 3.
Telegraph & Deccan Herald yesterday published news quoting sources that say what #AnantAmbani #Vantara neither does rehabilitation nor conservation of species. And a probe was required. Both these news titles published went offline & are no longer available on the internet. https://t.co/1binfBAMI0 pic.twitter.com/GUL7nm2Z4F
— Mr. K (@GodsOwnLadla) March 11, 2025
The Wildlife Animal Protection Forum of South Africa (WAPFSA) – a coalition of 30 organisations from across the African country that works to protect wild animals and conserve their natural environments – had urged the country’s environment minister to investigate alleged export of several wild animals from South Africa to Vantara in India. In a letter written to South African environment minister Dion George on March 6, the WAPFSA claimed it was “aware that legitimate concerns have been raised within CITES regarding the large number of different live species of wild animals that are being imported to [Vantara]”.
CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) is a multilateral treaty between governments to regulate the international trade of threatened species.
In its letter, WAPFSA raised concerns about the high numbers of leopards, cheetahs, tigers and lions that were allegedly imported to Vantara. It also raised concerns about the suitability of Vantara’s location because Gujarat, where the 3,000 acre facility is located, is hotter than many parts of India, making it unsuitable for many species. The group told the ministry that a case for “India’s potential non-compliance” had been discussed at a meeting of the CITES standing committee in November 2023.
Following this, several Indian news organisations, including Deccan Herald and The Telegraph India reported the incident on their websites. However, at the time of writing this report, the links to the online articles of Deccan Herald, The Telegraph India and The Tribune returned a ‘404 - Page not found’ error.
On March 10, the Financial Express posted the link of their report on X with the quote “South African organisation raises alarm over export of wild animals from South Africa to Ambani’s Vanatara” The link now takes the reader to an updated article that is a listicle on Vantara’s various “unique” features. Curiously, the url of Financial Express report still contains the keywords of the original article: south-african-organisation-raises-alarm-over-export-of-wild-animals-from-south-africa-to-ambanis-vantaran
Newslaundry reached out to the chief editors of Deccan Herald and The Telegraph India. This report will be updated if they respond.
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