- In a letter, 27 leading global wildlife conservation and animal welfare organizations have urged Vantara, a private zoo in India funded by Reliance Industries’ nonprofit, to permanently end all wild animal imports into its facilities.
- The letter comes after Vantara announced a self-imposed one-year moratorium, which runs through June 2027, on all animal imports to its facilities as it improves its “due diligence” by appointing a governing council and stricter oversight.
- The announcement came amid allegations of illegal wildlife trade linked to Vantara — and a CITES Secretariat investigation into its 60,000 live animal imports over the past two years.
- The coalition of NGOs call for Vantara to address compliance concerns of animals already under its care, be transparent about future acquisitions and prioritize conservation of wildlife in their native habitats.
A coalition of 27 global wildlife conservation and animal welfare organizations urged Vantara to permanently end all wild animal imports. The billionaire-run zoo in India, funded by the philanthropic arm of Reliance Industries, the country’s largest corporation, has been under for fire for questionable acquisitions of its animals.
In an open letter dated Sep. 22, 2026, and addressed to Mr. Amit Aggarwal, president of regulatory affairs at Vantara, the NGOs offer Vantara “suggestions for strengthening your practices and improving outcomes.”
The letter came in response to a press statement from Vantara on Aug. 19, 2026, where it announced “voluntary commitments” including a 12-month moratorium on all animal imports, backdated to June 5, 2026. It said it has withdrawn all pending import applications and will not make any fresh applications. The statement also included a letter addressed to India’s CITES Management Authority, which oversees international commerce in endangered plants and animals listed under CITES, a global wildlife trade treaty.
After the one-year moratorium expires, Vantara said it would import animals only from “a recognised and accredited zoological facility,” a “CITES registered facility” or for “a conservation breeding programme undertaken in cooperation with a range State.”
It also announced an “independent” governing council headed by John Scanlon AO, the former CITES Secretary General, and a “mandatory three-stage review” will oversee any future animal acquisition.
Vantara’s announcement came after investigations accused the facility of acquiring animals illegally and allegedly smuggling endemic wildlife from nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America. An inspection by the CITES Secretariat flagged irregularities in acquisitions, including possible illegal wildlife trade.
Vantara was also investigated by India’s top court, which found no evidence of wrongdoing. The zoo has denied any of its animals were illegally acquired.
In a press release announcing the letter, the German NGO Pro Wildlife, one of the letter’s signatories, called Vantara’s import of some 60,000 live wild animals — from more than 2,000 species — “unprecedented.” They include some of the world’s most endangered and iconic species: Spix’s macaws (Cyanopsitta spixii), which are extinct in the wild; critically endangered Tapanuli orangutans (Pongo tapanuliensis); and Galapagos iguanas that have never been legally exported from the archipelago.
Moratorium welcome, but make it permanent, NGOs say
In their letter, the NGOs say they “welcome” Vantara’s announced changes in its process, but note it isn’t enough. The zoo needs “a clearer, stronger approach to future acquisitions” and a “long-term commitment” to end capture of wild animals for zoo and display purposes, they say.
“After years of criticism over its practices, Vantara has promised a change of course — we’ll be watching closely to see whether words are followed by action,” Daniela Freyer from Pro Wildlife said in an email statement to Mongabay. “A pause with an expiry date isn’t enough: Vantara must commit to a permanent end to imports, full transparency, and independent oversight.”
“The acquisition of tens of thousands of live wild animals by Vantara from all over the world in recent years, many under questionable circumstances, has been a cause for international concern. So while we broadly welcome the significant change of approach detailed in Vantara’s letter of 19th August, and Vantara’s decision to engage experienced and reputable advisors to provide oversight and governance, rebuilding trust will require them to make good on their promises, and indeed to go further, in order to demonstrate their commitment to deliver high quality rescue and care of wild animals in desperate need, by supporting true sanctuaries in the animals’ countries of origin, effective suppression of the ravages of the wildlife trade, and wildlife law enforcement,” said Will Travers OBE, executive president of U.K.-based NGO Born Free, which is also a signatory.
The NGOs say that Vantara’s “exemptions” in its moratorium, which includes future imports of animals from captive-bred facilities, could still enable illegal wildlife trade. These animals could be presented as “captive-bred” but come from the wild or could include animals bred from parents that were illegally captured, a “laundering” practice prevalent in wildlife trade.
The letter also notes that a one-year temporary moratorium (which ends in 10 months, as it’s retrospective) “risks creating further demand, leading to the stockpiling of animals by wildlife traders and traffickers in anticipation of its expiration.”
Instead, they say Vantara must extend its temporary ban into “a permanent end to the import of wild animals, subject only to extremely limited and exceptional exemptions based on clearly defined criteria.” Any exception, they say, must be limited to independently verified conservation or welfare emergencies.
The NGOs also call for a stricter definition of what constitutes a “rescue,” which includes not paying for animals directly or “indirectly through donors.”
Vantara said in its letter that it has accepted some animals “bought by donors and then gifted or donated to Vantara” for these animals “to have a better life,” removing them “from crowded private facilities.”
The NGOs say such practice “creates financial incentives for commercial breeders to mislabel their exports to justify such transactions” and enables illegal wildlife trade.
Call for transparency and focus on in-situ conservation
In its letter, Vantara announced it would “establish an independent international CITES Due Diligence Committee” and “introduce a mandatory three-stage review” for future animal acquisitions. The zoo says that every animal acquisition will be vetted by its due diligence committee, advisory body and the governing council.
The NGOs say Vantara must also “provide a public inventory of the animals held at Vantara’s facilities,” including “records of transfers to other facilities, births and deaths.”
They also called for transparency on the mandate on Vantara’s governing council, advisory board and due diligence committee, saying members “should disclose financial, familial, professional, and political relationships that could create actual or perceived conflicts of interest.”
There are concerns about conflict of interest. On Aug. 13, 2026, the Elephant Protection Initiative Foundation (EPI), an Africa-focused NGO that deals with human-elephant conflicts, said in an email obtained by Mongabay that it “has received a generous grant from Vantara” to support its work. Scanlon, who heads Vantara’s governing council, is the CEO of that organization. His appointment to that position was made public after the email, although Vantara first approached him in April, according to a press release by the zoo.
So far, Vantara says it has brought animals to its facilities as part of rescue and rehabilitation. But the NGOs call for Vantara to instead prioritize supporting animals in their range states, and rescue organizations in the countries of origin because “wildlife is part of a country’s natural heritage.”
They also say Vantara must address “concerns expressed regarding compliance with CITES and national regulations.”
Vantara is a 3,500-acre facility in Jamnagar, Gujarat in west India, a nonprofit which was inaugurated in 2025 by Anant Ambani. He’s the youngest son of billionaire Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries; the zoo is funded through the company’s foundation.
This zoo is not open to the public and is essentially a private collection. There are questions about why hundreds of thousands of animals, some rare and endangered, have been collected there.
“It has been deeply concerning over the past two years to see dozens of great apes and thousands of monkeys sent to Vantara under the guise of rescue, with dubious origins and legality. Vantara’s stated commitments are a welcome shift, but they must be strengthened and translated into meaningful action,” said Iris Ho, head of campaigns and policy at the NGO Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA), also a signatory to the letter.
“A genuine reset should be demonstrated by Vantara dedicating significant resources—with the same rigor it once applied to animal acquisitions—to supporting frontline conservation organizations and range-state based rescue centers, most of which are chronically underfunded and stretched thin, yet never give up protecting and caring for animals, both in their centers and in the wild,” Ho said.
The NGO letter also calls for full protection for civil society, including journalists, NGOs and whistleblowers, so they can “raise issues and provide recommendations in good faith, without facing legal or institutional pressure.”
In the past, journalists and media outlets from India, Brazil, Germany, Africa and the Czech Republic reportedly received fake legal notices and copyright claims for publishing stories critical of Vantara, seemingly to suppress coverage.
“At a time when wildlife trade interests are often well-financed and well-connected, and when legal and regulatory measures are underfunded and can be too slow to adequately enforce measures to protect species from the impact of escalating trade pressure, institutions with substantial resources and influence should support efforts to protect wildlife in its natural habitats, rather than incentivise further exploitation,” the letter says.
The letter comes ahead of the 81st CITES Standing Committee meeting, set to take place in early November, where the Indian government is expected to respond to the CITES Secretariat’s report that raised concerns about Vantara’s imports after its representatives visited Vantara in September 2025.
Banner image: Vantara was founded by Anant Ambani, the son of one of India’s richest men, Mukesh Ambani. Image by Bohoindian via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0).
Spoorthy Raman is a staff writer at Mongabay, covering all things wild with a special focus on lesser-known wildlife, the wildlife trade, and environmental crime.
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