A Look at Anant Ambani’s Vantara in Jamnagar: A Unique Animal Rescue & Rehabilitation Programme

Reliance Industries and Reliance Foundation’s Vantara, a unique programme to focus on rescue, treatment, care and rehabilitation of injured, abused and threatened animals, both in India and abroad, was launched on Monday.

The brainchild of Anant Ambani, Director on the boards of RIL and Reliance Foundation, Vantara is spread over 3,000 acres within the Green Belt of Reliance’s Jamnagar Refinery Complex in Gujarat.

Over the last few years, the programme has rescued more than 200 elephants, and thousands of other animals, reptiles and birds from unsafe situations. It has undertaken initiatives in key species, including rhino, leopard and crocodile rehabilitation.

It houses a Centre for Elephants with state-of-the-art shelters, scientifically designed day-and-night enclosures, hydrotherapy pools, water bodies and a large elephant jacuzzi for treating arthritis in elephants.

For other wild animals that have been deployed in circuses or congested zoos, a 650-acre Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre has been created, where animals from distressed and dangerous environments from India and all over the world are rescued and housed in state-of-the-art large enclosures and shelters.

With a staff strength of about 2,100+, the rescue and rehabilitation centre has rescued about 200 leopards from all over India, which have suffered injuries in road accidents or man-wild conflicts. It has rescued over 1,000 crocodiles from a severely overcrowded and congested facility in Tamil Nadu. It has rescued animals from hunting lodges in Africa, animals under threat of euthanasia in Slovakia, severely distressed animals from facilities in Mexico.

The Vantara programme has gained tremendously by working together with international organisations such as the Venezuelan National Foundation of Zoos and associating with reputable organisations worldwide such as the Smithsonian and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums. In India, it collaborates with the National Zoological Park, Assam State Zoo, Nagaland Zoological Park, Sardar Patel Zoological Park etc.

In order to increase awareness of conservation issues among people, particularly the youth and children, the Vantara initiative envisages close collaboration with educational institutions, including knowledge and resource exchange. It also envisages creation of a display area for some of the animals in modern and futuristic, climate controlled enclosures setting new standards in compassion and care.

Vantara is focused on creating best-in-class animal conservation and care practices, including state-of-the-art healthcare, hospitals, research and academic centres.

Within its programmes, Vantara also focuses on integrating advanced research and collaboration with reputed international universities and organisations such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF).