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India probe clears Anant Ambani's giant animal centre
Vantara, which bills itself as the "world's biggest wild animal rescue centre", is run by Anant Ambani, son of Mukesh Ambani, the billionaire head of the multinational conglomerate Reliance Industries.
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AFP - Mon, 15, Sep 2025
- 16:21 EDT
- 13
Anant Ambani / Reliance Industries Limited
An Indian Supreme Court-ordered investigation has given a clean chit to a sprawling private animal facility run by the son of Asia's richest man, dismissing allegations of wildlife violations.
Vantara, which bills itself as the "world's biggest wild animal rescue centre", is run by Anant Ambani, son of Mukesh Ambani, the billionaire head of the multinational conglomerate Reliance Industries.
Also Read: India to probe giant zoo run by Anant Ambani
The site in the western state of Gujarat is home to hundreds of elephants, as well as 50 bears, 160 tigers, 200 lions, 250 leopards and 900 crocodiles, among other animals, according to India's Central Zoo Authority.
The court last month ordered a panel led by retired judges to investigate alleged unlawful acquisition of animals -- particularly elephants -- as well as other violations of wildlife regulations and money laundering.
Wildlife activists had criticised the facility, saying it is housing endangered species on baking flatlands next to a giant oil refinery complex without any plan to return them to the wild.
The court said it issued the order after petitions based on media reports and complaints by wildlife organisations.
But the probe unveiled in the court on Sept. 15 said it had found the "allegations rest wholly on conjecture and surmises on secondary reporting, and activist commentary".
"The complaints are, therefore, devoid of merit," according to the panel's report.
In March, the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung reported that Vantara imported roughly 39,000 animals in 2024, including from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.
Dozens of the facility's elephants were transported there in specially adapted trucks thousands of kilometres from across India, according to the centre.
The probe report said "each of the imports has undergone multi-layered and multi-jurisdictional verification".
The court said it had "no hesitation in accepting the conclusion so drawn in the report".
"We are more than satisfied that the facilities at Vantara in certain respects exceeds the prescribed standards," the court said in its order.
Vantara said it welcomed the committee's findings.
"The validation of the truth...is not just a relief for everyone at Vantara but also a blessing, because it allows our work to speak for itself," it said in a statement.
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