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Prime minister Narendra Modi have been seen who feed lion cubs while inaugurated India‘s largest private zoo managed by the country’s Most prominent industry family.
The zoo in the western state of Gujarat, inaugurated by the Prime Minister for the Mark World Wildlife Day, is a pet project by Anant Ambani, 28, the son of the richest man of Asia, Mukesh Ambani.
He refers to it as a private rescue and rehabilitation facility with 43 species “rescued from India and the world”.
However, it is a controversial project with experts in wildlife that question the acquisition of the animals.
Mr. Modi was welcomed in the vast sanctuary, spread over 3000 hectares, by Mukesh Ambani, his wife Nita Ambani, son Anant Ambani and daughter -in -law Radhika Merchant Ambani.
The zoo is officially called Greens Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Center (GZRRC), but is commonly known as Vandera, which means ‘star of the forest’.
Mr. Modi interacted with various cubs of Asian lions, including a white lion, a rare, cloudy leopard and a Karakal, and fed their milk and food, “said a release by Vantara.
In a post on X, Mr. Modi Vantara got for his work and shared pictures of his visit.
“An attempt like Vantara is truly commendable, a lively example of our centuries -old ethos to protect those with whom we share our planet,” he said.
Photos and a seven -minute video show that Mr. Modi with orangutans play, feed white lion cubs, bang an okapi and pose with adult lions and tigers.
The zoo has looked at experts and groups in wildlife since it was unveiled during Anant Ambani’s extensive wedding ceremony last summer.
Vandera is not yet open to the public and Anant Ambani has personally led high -profile tours for guests such as Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, journalists and influencers over the past few months.
Critics raised questions about the legality and ethics to relocate the wildlife of different parts of India to the facility in Jamnagar, with investigators claiming that many of these animals traded and were not legally saved.
In 2021, the Assam State Zoo transferred two Black Panthers to the private facility under an exchange program approved by Central Zoo Authority. The Assam Animal Garden would receive in exchange four zebras from Israel, according to a report in The Times of India.
The transfer has provoked controversy and protests from wildlife activists and politicians in the northeastern state, which by the party of Mr. Modi is ruled.
Bobbeeta Sharma, spokesperson for the opposition congregation in Assam, condemned the ‘Hush-Hush’ transfer, saying that wild animals in captivity should not be subject to the interests of large corporate homes.
A similar transmission of 21 elephants in Assam State ambulances caused outrage among conservationists, with many people asking why the animals would travel more than 3.500 km. Animal welfare activist Apurba Ballav Goswami asked: “If Reliance Group is really concerned about the well -being of such elephants, they should open such care centers in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, instead of taking them so far from their homes,” according to a Deccan Herald report.
An investigation report by Himal Southasian The magazine by M Rajsheekhar in March 2024 claimed that some of the animals smuggled to India by porous borders in the northeast in Vantara, while many were intercepted by the authorities.
A report for the Washington DC-based Pulitzer Center, ‘The Cost of the Wild Ambitions of Reliance’, said the Al Bustan Zoo Center in the UAE, from which Vartara unveiled, is that it was obtained in its annual report, is also a private breeding center, with an interest in a ‘live, exotic a lively, exotic and endemic.
The report questioned the transfer from wildlife to Vanca and noted that the Sakkarbaug animal garden from Gujarat from March 2021 to March 2023 sent 101 leopards to Jamnagar without making the reasons for such a great transfer.
Mr. Rajshekhar wrote: “I asked Greens how it ensured that these animals were not caught wildly, and how it ensured that the entities from which it no longer wanted to supplement the animals they send”.
He said they replied that “our organization is strongly opposed to any disturbance of wildlife, whether the illegal trade, poaching or targeted habitat destruction”.
Daniel Stiles, an independent illegal investigator for wildlife, questions the demands of rescue and rehabilitation claims in his article “Greenwashing on an industrial scale with the billionaire’s private zoo in India”. He claimed that the animals were purchased from UAE and Mexico.
“I think what happened is that Anant Ambani is obsessed with being known as the greatest Savior of Animals in Need that the world has ever known, and also as the Creator of the largest rare and endangered exotic animal collection that the world has ever seen, a wonderful place to entertain and impress the richest, best -known and powerful people in the world. People like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ”he said The independent.
Mr Stiles implied that these factors reduced the positive image of Vandera, and drafted it as a more prestige project than a real rehabilitation effort in wildlife.
In a statement, Vandera previously denied the allegation, saying: “Animals are accepted at our facilities exclusively from recognized zoos, rescue centers, conservation centers, statutory government departments and elephant owners registered according to the provisions of the Wildlife Life Protection Act.”
Despite the concerns, Vandera received the prestigious “Prani Mitra” National Award – India’s highest honor in animal welfare – in the ‘corporate’ category, which was awarded by the Government of India last week. The award acknowledges the work of Radha Krishna Temple Elephant Welfare Trust (RKTEWT), a charity dedicated to the rescue, treatment and lifelong care of elephants, which works with Vantara for elephantrhabilitation.
The independent reached out to Vandera and Radhe Krishna Temple Elephant Welfare Trust for comment.
