By Abdullahi Lukman
A coalition of 27 international wildlife conservation and animal welfare organisations has called on Vantara, a private animal facility in Gujarat, India, to permanently stop importing wild animals, saying its recently announced one-year moratorium does not go far enough.
In an open letter dated September 22, 2026, and addressed to Vantara’s president of regulatory affairs, Amit Aggarwal, the organisations welcomed the facility’s new measures but urged it to adopt a permanent ban on wild-animal imports, improve transparency and strengthen independent oversight of its animal acquisitions.
The appeal followed Vantara’s August 19 announcement of voluntary reforms, including a 12-month moratorium on animal imports, retroactive to June 5.
The facility said it had withdrawn pending import applications and would not submit new ones during the moratorium.
Vantara also said that after the moratorium, any imports would be limited to animals from recognised and accredited zoological facilities, CITES-registered facilities or conservation-breeding programmes carried out in cooperation with countries where the species naturally occurs.
The facility announced the creation of an independent governing council chaired by former CITES Secretary General John Scanlon AO, as well as a mandatory three-stage review process for future animal acquisitions.
The conservation groups, however, argued that the proposed exemptions could still create opportunities for illegal wildlife trade. They warned that animals described as captive-bred could in some cases have originated in the wild or descended from illegally captured animals.
They also cautioned that allowing the moratorium to expire after one year could encourage traders to stockpile animals in anticipation of renewed demand. The organisations therefore called for a permanent end to wild-animal imports, with only narrowly defined exceptions for independently verified conservation or animal-welfare emergencies.
The coalition further demanded a publicly accessible inventory of animals held at Vantara, including records of births, deaths and transfers to other facilities. It also called for greater disclosure of the financial, professional, political and family relationships of members of Vantara’s oversight bodies to identify potential conflicts of interest.
Vantara has previously said the animals brought to its facilities were acquired for rescue and rehabilitation. The organisations urged the facility to place greater emphasis on supporting conservation and rescue programmes in the countries where the animals originate.
The groups also called for stricter rules governing what qualifies as a rescue, including a prohibition on arrangements in which animals are purchased directly or indirectly through donors.
They argued that such transactions could create financial incentives for commercial breeders and facilitate the laundering of illegally sourced wildlife.
Vantara has faced scrutiny over its acquisition of large numbers of animals from several countries. Pro Wildlife, one of the signatories, described the reported acquisition of about 60,000 live animals representing more than 2,000 species as unprecedented.
The animals reportedly include Spix’s macaws, Tapanuli orangutans and Galápagos iguanas. Critics have questioned the origins and legality of some acquisitions, while Vantara has denied illegally obtaining any of its animals.
The CITES Secretariat previously identified irregularities in some of Vantara’s acquisitions following an inspection, while an investigation by India’s Supreme Court found no evidence of wrongdoing.
The 3,500-acre Vantara facility, located in Jamnagar, Gujarat, was inaugurated in 2025 by Anant Ambani, the youngest son of Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani. Funded through the Reliance Foundation, the facility is not open to the general public and operates primarily as a private animal collection and rescue centre.
The coalition also urged Vantara to ensure that journalists, conservation groups and whistleblowers can raise concerns without facing legal or institutional pressure.
The latest demands come ahead of the 81st meeting of the CITES Standing Committee, scheduled for early November, where India is expected to respond to concerns raised by the CITES Secretariat regarding Vantara’s animal imports.
