JAMNAGAR(National Times)- Behind guarded gates resembling a 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\n\n\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\n\n\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\n\n\n
\u201cVantara has pivoted,\u201d CEO Vivaan Karani said. \u201cWherever animals can be effectively supported in their own countries, we increasingly believe our resources should travel, rather than the animals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The centre at Jamnagar, in Gujarat state, is closed to the public. Its expansive glass-fronted enclosures house some 200 lions, 200 cheetahs and 150 tigers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meaning \u201cStar of the Forest\u201d, Vantara pledged in August to \u201crespond to criticism through dialogue, transparency and evidence \u2014 not litigation\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The centre is the vision of 31-year-old Anant Ambani, youngest son of one of Asia\u2019s richest men Mukesh Amb\u00adani, chairman of retail-to-refining giant Reliance Industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\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. Vantara says it houses more than 150,000 animals from over 2,000 species, brought from 30 countries. But annual reports record far lower totals, among the opaque details activists wanted clarified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Its acquisitions have drawn the attention of CITES, the international treaty regulating wildlife trade. Last year, CITES said it \u201cconsiders that a number of specimens traded as \u2018captive-bred\u2019\u2026 may not be\u201d. It urged reforms to ensure Vantara did \u201cnot inadvertently become a driver of illegal harvest of wild animals\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
JAMNAGAR(National Times)- Behind guarded gates resembling a maharajah\u2019s palace are hundreds of elephants and big cats, giraffes grazing in a mock savannah, and chimpanzees and orangutans swinging from ropes. 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":135676,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-135674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n