Vantara —a privately owned wildlife rehabilitation and conservation center in Motikhavdi, Jamnagar district, Gujarat – is again in the headlines after twenty seven NGOs wrote an open letter asking Vantara to stop importing exotic wildlife on September 26th, 2026 - after the facility announced a self-imposed moratorium on all animal imports.
Founded by the youngest son of billionaire Mukesh Ambani, Anant Ambani, the organization is funded through the Reliance Industries’s foundation. Vantara houses around 150,000 animals representing over 2,000 species across an area spanning approximately 3,500 acres of land inside the Reliance Jamnagar Refinery Complex.
On August 19, Vantara released a press statement announcing a series of “voluntary commitments” including a 12 month moratorium — running through June 2027 — on all animal imports, backdated to June 5, 2026.
The statement also noted that the organization had withdrawn all pending import applications and would not submit any new ones.
The press release also included a letter addressed to India’s Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wildlife Fauna and Flora (CITES) Management Authority, which oversees international trade of endangered plants and animals listed under CITES, a global wildlife trade treaty.
The facility’s acquisitions include some of the world’s most endangered and classic species, such as:
Spix’s macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii) — extinct in the wild.
The critically endangered Tapanuli orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis)
Galapagos iguanas, which have allegedly never been legally exported from the archipelago.
The press release came after investigations accusing the facility of illegally acquiring animals and allegedly smuggling indigenous species from countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
The CITES Secretariat’s inspection revealed inconsistencies in acquisition, raising concerns over potential illegal wildlife trafficking.
27 Non-profit organizations including prominent global bodies such as Pro Wildlife, the Jane Goodall institute Global (JGIG), and the Species Survival Network (SSN), wrote an open letter to the President of Regulatory Affairs at Vantara, Mr. Amit Aggarwal on September 26th, 2026.
All the organizations involved have welcomed Vantara’s recent announcement, but noted that it is not enough. They added that Vantara requires “a clearer, stronger approach for future acquisitions” and a long term commitment to end acquisition of wild animals for zoo and display purposes.
The German NGO Pro Wildlife, stated that Vantara’s import of some 60,000 live animals is unprecedented in an email statement to Mongabay.
“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.”
What are the major demands of the NGOs?
Replace the temporary moratorium with a permanent end to the import of wild animals, subject only to extremely limited and exceptional exemptions based on clearly defined criteria.
Work with relevant authorities in India, exporting and re-exporting countries, the CITES Secretariat and other stakeholders to address the concerns expressed regarding compliance with CITES and national regulations.
Define clear criteria for what constitutes a legitimate “rescue”.
Provide a public inventory of the animals held at Vantara’s facilities.
Adopt stringent criteria and due diligence procedures for the transfer of any animals to other facilities, including exports.
Implement a ‘no breeding’ policy with very limited exceptions.
Give priority to repatriating animals to range States for rehabilitation and release, where possible and in accordance with IUCN and CITES guidelines, or to the provision of resources to support their lifetime care in sanctuaries.
Provide transparent clarification as to what kind of “international accreditation and benchmarking” Vantara is aiming to pursue.
Guarantee high-quality lifetime care for individual animals held by Vantara.
While Vantara is a closed facility that follows biosecurity protocols, importing animals from foreign land has resulted in zoonoses — an infectious disease that is transmitted naturally from vertebrates to humans.
The pathogens may be parasitic, viral or bacterial, and can spread to human populations through direct contact or via food, water or just by sharing the same environment. Researchers have estimated that over 6 out of every 10 known infectious diseases in people can be spread from animals, and 3 out of every 4 new or emerging infectious diseases in humans come from animals.
While there are more than 200 known types of zoonoses and are 100% preventable through vaccinations, biosecurity controls, and strict quarantine measures, among other methods.
“Behind the exotic pet trade is a pipeline of extraction, stress, and risk. These animals are not suited for life in private homes and the consequences of treating them as such are far-reaching and often irreversible. What we’re seeing is a largely unregulated market that turns wild animals into commodities. The risks don’t stop with the animals. They extend to ecosystems, institutions and human health,” said Sumanth Bindumadhav, director, wildlife protection at Humane World for Animals India, in an article in Humane World for Animals. (2)
How Can Wildlife Imports Increase Zoonotic Disease Risks?
The cross species contamination and amplification of unknown pathogens often increases during the pre-import housing and importation process that involves keeping the animals at high density and in unnatural groupings of species. (1)
Traded animals are found to be 1.5 times more likely to harbor pathogens that jump to humans, revealed an analysis of 2079 traded species and 40 years of global wildlife-trade data. (3) Further, a systematic review of 82 studies on illegal wildlife trade recognized around 240 pathogen cases, more than 60% of which involved pathogens with known zoonotic potential. (2)
Thus, suggesting that import of wildlife, especially through unregulated or illicit channels, is not only an ethical concern but can pose a major public health threat.
What Do Documented Wildlife-Trade Disease Events Show?
Ebola virus by importing primates from the Philippines.
Monkeypox from African Rodents.
HIV from Chimpanzees in Central Africa.
Outbreak of opisthorchiasis, liver fluke infection, contracted by a family from illegally importing raw fish from a highly endemic region.
Outbreak of Salmonella Oranienburg in 14 states of the USA affecting 26 people infected with small pet turtles illegally purchased from transient street or roadside vendors.
Chlamydiosis outbreak affecting 7/15 Belgian custom officers revealed to smuggled parakeets.
How do Zoonotic infections spread from animals to humans?
Direct Contact with saliva, blood, urine, mucous, feces or other body fluids of an infected animal.
Indirect contact with the surfaces where the infected individual roams and lives.
Vector-borne : bitten by a tick or an insect
Consuming contaminated food.
Ingesting or coming into contact with water that has been contaminated with feces from an infected animal.
The allegations against Vantara remain serious and the organization is doing everything it can to clear its name.
The Supreme Court of India also looked into the acquisitions but found no proof of wrongdoing. The organization has consistently denied illegally acquiring any animals.
Although many people remain skeptical regarding how the facility acquires wildlife, the organization maintains that it continues to follow all statutory guidelines and regulations.
Pavlin, Boris I., Lisa M. Schloegel, Peter Daszak, and others. “Risk of Importing Zoonotic Diseases through Wildlife Trade, United States.” Emerging Infectious Diseases 15, no. 11 (2009): 1721–1726. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1511.090467.
Mignon, Vanessa. “New Report Demands Urgent Policy Reform to Curb India’s Booming Exotic Pet Trade.” Humane World for Animals, June 30, 2026.
Menon, Arathi. “‘Exotic’ Pets Are a Growing Health Risk for Humans and Wildlife.” Scroll.in, September 21, 2026.
(Rh/APC)
