Reliance foundation launches animal rehabilitation programme ‘Vantara’

Mumbai: Reliance Foundation on Monday announced the launch of ‘Vantara’ first of its kind for a comprehensive rescue, care, conservation and rehabilitation programme for animals.

The Programme was launched by the Foundation Director Anant Ambani which will focus on the rescue, treatment, care and rehabilitation of injured animals, both from India and abroad.

For its true size and scale the foundation decided 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.

The entire Vantara programme is spread across 3,000 acres within the Green Belt of Reliance’s Jamnagar Refinery Complex in Gujarat, with over 2000+ animals across 43 species under its care.

Speaking to the media after the launch, Anant Ambani said, “The initiative has huge plans to take the wellness initiatives beyond Jamnagar”.
“We started the wildlife rescue centre building in the peak of COVID…We’ve created a jungle of 600 acres. We created an entire habitat for the elephants and in 2008, we rescued our first elephant. The Greens Zoological Rescue Center started in 2020”.

Anant said, “We have a total of about 3,000 people working for Green’s Zoological Research and Rescue Center. Out of that, we have approximately 20-30 expats”.

In the last few years, the programme has rescued more than 200 elephants, and thousands of other animals, reptiles and birds from unsafe situations.

Vantara also collaborates with esteemed organisations like the IUCN and WWF to ensure that the efforts align with global conservation standards.

Extending beyond borders, it has also been involved in recent rescue missions in countries like Mexico and Venezuela, demonstrating unwavering dedication to animal welfare worldwide