UK ministers advised against formal contact with Vantara after lobbying

British ministers were advised to avoid formal engagement with Vantara, the private animal sanctuary established by Indian billionaire Anant Ambani, following lobbying ahead of an international wildlife trade meeting. Records obtained by the Guardian and Mongabay through freedom of information requests detail approaches to UK officials and ministers on the sanctuary’s behalf.

The UK is chairing a 32-country committee meeting in Geneva this week under Cites, the United Nations body overseeing trade in endangered species. Delegates will consider India’s response to concerns about its compliance with rules governing imports of endangered animals. Britain’s role as chair was cited when officials declined an invitation to visit Vantara.

Ambani, 31, is the heir to the oil and gas fortune of Mukesh Ambani, one of India’s wealthiest men. His 1,400-hectare private zoo stands near the family’s oil-refining facilities in Gujarat and has reportedly accumulated more than 150,000 animals since 2022. Vantara promotes its animal welfare standards, with facilities including an elephant hydrotherapy pool, oil treatments and Ayurvedic massage for its more than 260 elephants.

Conservation organisations have questioned the speed at which the sanctuary assembled so many species, including endangered animals. India’s supreme court cleared its operators of wrongdoing last year. A subsequent Cites fact-finding mission nevertheless identified concerns about India’s compliance with international animal import rules in 2025. Its recommendation for temporary restrictions was later withdrawn. The mission’s November 2025 report warned that large-scale imports could unintentionally generate demand for animals obtained illegally.

In May, officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs met representatives of Vantara and Checkmate Government Relations. The US lobbying firm was founded by Ches McDowell, a hunting friend of Donald Trump Jr. An internal briefing said Checkmate wanted Britain to view India’s handling of Vantara imports more favourably and accept its argument that responsibility for checking legality rested mainly with exporting or re-exporting parties.

After that meeting, a representative of Atlas Strategy, another lobbying firm acting for Vantara, contacted then environment secretary Emma Reynolds and then nature minister Mary Creagh. Those approaches also raised a possible sanctuary visit. Reynolds requested advice, prompting a recommendation that ministers should not engage formally with Vantara.

The records also show concerns over Vantara’s application to import falcons and falcon hybrids following a £50,000 donation from an unnamed organisation to an unidentified British breeder. UK Cites officials treated the transaction as commercial, and the birds were not exported to India. Vantara said it had imported no falcons from Britain and had neither hired nor paid a lobbying firm. The two firms are understood to have worked without payment and were not required to register with the consultant lobbyists registrar.

Following scrutiny, Vantara voluntarily halted animal imports for a year and appointed former Cites chief John Scanlon to oversee operations. In a Sunday Times interview this year, Ambani said he acquired animals legally for their welfare, citing hippos rescued from a South African hunting lodge and penguins from a shopping centre in Qatar.

Defra said Britain applies strict protections for endangered species and assesses each wildlife trade application individually against international and domestic requirements to ensure trade is legal and sustainable.