Reliance Industries and Reliance Foundation launched the ‘Vantara’ (Star of the Forest) program on Monday. The program’s objective is to rescue, treat, care for, and rehabilitate injured, abused, and threatened animals, both in India and abroad. Anant Ambani, who is a Director on the boards of RIL and Reliance Foundation, is the leader of the Vantara initiative.
Located within the ‘Green Belt’ of Reliance’s Jamnagar Refinery Complex, the animal shelter is spread over 3,000 acres having a “jungle-like environment that mimics the natural, enriching, lush and verdant habitat for the rescued species to thrive in”. It has over 2,000 “rescued animals”, which are said to have been brought to the facility from across the country as well as many other parts of the globe.
Anant Ambani stated in an exclusive interview with CNN-News18 that his mother, Nita Ambani, has been a major inspiration for this project.
“So my mother has always been a great inspiration to me. My mother, when I was a young boy and we were going, I was, I think, 12 years old, we were travelling from Jaipur to Ranthambore. In the middle, on the road, we saw a young elephant with a ‘mahavat’ in the peak heat, and the elephant was walking a little weirdly,” CNN-News18 quoted Ambani as saying.
“So I told my mom, we want to rescue it. So that was the first elephant. And we had no idea how to take care of elephants. So we got the elephant, we kept it. And then we said, we’ll build slowly, slowly. Boond, boond se sagar banta hai. At that time we did not even know what to feed the elephant. We would do what the ‘mahavat’ says. We had no scientific knowledge. We built scientific knowledge over a period of, I think, a decade and more. Today we have a highly professional team, more than 300-400 professionals, taking care of the elephants,” Anant Ambani added.
The company said the shelter has over 200 elephants, over 300 large felines such as leopards, tigers, lions, and jaguars, among others and over 3,000 herbivores such as deer and over 1,200 reptiles, including crocodiles, snakes and turtles.
The animals were brought after obtaining prior approval of the chief wildlife wardens of the respective states and the Central Zoo Authority as per provisions laid under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and the recognition Zoo rules, 2009, the statement read.
Vantara is aiming to “partner with the Zoo Authority of India and other relevant government organisations in improving all the 150-plus zoos in India in terms of training, capacity building and animal care infrastructure,” Anant Ambani said.
All you need to know about the Vantara programme
Vantara’s aim is to develop best-in-class animal conservation and care practices, which include state-of-the-art healthcare, hospitals, research, and academic centers. According to ANI, the initiative involves working with reputable international universities and organizations like the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF).
In the last few years, the program has rescued more than 200 elephants and thousands of other animals, reptiles, and birds from hazardous situations. It has undertaken initiatives for the rehabilitation of key animal species, including rhinos, leopards, and crocodiles.
Vantara has also helped in rescue missions in countries like Mexico, Venezuela, etc.
The Vantara programme has worked together with international organisations like Venezuelan National Foundation of Zoos and by associating with reputed organisations worldwide like 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 Zoo, and others.
