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Bengaluru: Vantara, the Reliance-owned zoo-cum-rescue and rehabilitation centre in Jamnagar, Gujarat, announced on August 20 that it will not import any live animals for at least a year. This, along with several other “voluntary commitments” listed in its letter dated August 19 to the Union environment ministry (the Management Authority for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora or CITES in India), has been taken to ‘strengthen its governance, transparency and due diligence in wildlife conservation’, it said.

Among the other “voluntary commitments” that Vantara has proposed is that it will not import great apes, big cats or any species listed in Appendix I of CITES, and that it will not import any animal sourced from the wild. Instead, it will choose to assist such animals in India, and their native ranges and countries.

Vantara’s activities so far have involved “rescuing” animals by importing them from different sources across the world, including from private collections such as the Kangaroo Animals Shelter in Dubai, United Arab Emirates – an entity that is alleged to have sourced animals from the wild and is under investigation by UAE authorities. Investigative news reports such as this one in March last year had alleged that Vantara’s demand for ‘rescued’ wildlife had fuelled illegal wildlife trade worldwide.

However, Vantara told The Wire that these allegations were “baseless” and “misleading”. In September, the Supreme Court dismissed all allegations about........

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