A victim of hunting, nine-year-old leopard Deva sustained grievous wounds and infection on his neck after being trapped in the metal wire snare for two days. Following information from the forest department, a team of vets and experts from Vantara rushed to the spot and treated the leopard over the next few days, till its complete recovery.
Now treated, Deva is one of the 2,000-plus animals, which have been rehabilitated as a part of the Vantara animal ecosystem, announced by the Reliance Foundation on Sunday.
A comprehensive Animal Rescue, Care, Conservation and Rehabilitation programme, the Vantara is a pet project of Anant Ambani, director on the boards of RIL and Reliance Foundation. “We are focused on protecting critically endangered species native to India. We also want to restore vital habitats and address urgent threats to species and establish Vantara as a leading-edge conservation programme,” Anant Ambani told reporters on Sunday
What started as a passion for Anant, while he was still knee-high to a grasshopper, has become a mission now with Vantara.
Sprawled within the green belt of Reliance’s Jamnagar Refinery Complex in Gujarat, the Vantara ecosystem comprises of a 3,000 acres Elephant Centre, which is home to over rescued 200 elephants, as well as ‘Green Zoological Rescue & Rehabilitation Centre’, which is home to over 2,000 animals across 43 species
It was only after procuring the 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 zoo rules, 2009, that the animal exchange programmes were carried out.
A non-profit initiative, the elephant centre is closed to the public while the rescue and rehabilitation centre is slated to open its doors for educational institutions in a bid to increase awareness of conservation issues among people