The world is abuzz with the news of the new animal conservation and hospital facility established by the Ambani family and rightly so. Named ‘Vantara’, it is an initiative conceptualized by Mr. Anant Ambani for the rescue, preservation and treatment of animals. It also overseas the care, accommodation and rehabilitation of abused, injured and endangered animals in and outside of India. It claims to be the leading contributor in animal care and welfare provision with one of a kind hospital in India for everything wildlife.
Animal care is something the Ambanis have always been passionate about. For instance, Ms. Nita Ambani had about 30 dogs growing up and all of them were rescued. Apart from that, Mr. Dhirubhai Ambani himself used to take Anant to slaughterhouses when he was younger to rescue goats, chickens and cows in the late 90s. As a direct result of these experiences, all the animals at the facility are rescues from different parts of India as well as the world. The animals have been transferred or rehabilitated from circuses or congested zoos, to this rescue and rehabilitation center that spans over 650 acres of land in Jamnagar.
The 2100+ professionals working at the center include experts who are there to train the younger vets for various programmes, including conservation breeding that seeds the repopulation of endangered species in their natural habitats to save them from extinction.
But this is not all. There is an entirely separate Elephant hospital serving as the world’s biggest hospital with 30 vets concentrating on scientifically designed day and night enclosures along with medical and ayurvedic facilities for the gentle giants. The hospital stretches across 25,000 square feet, fully equipped with portable x-ray machines, equipped pharmacy, pathology labs, laser machines, hydraulics for easy movement, imported restraining devices for diagnosis and more such machinery all for assistance in surgeries. Adding to that, for the added nutrition and care of the elephants, the centre has a special kitchen solely dedicated to preparing a nurturing diet for their betterment.
This facility has something for everyone, so the programme employs young freshly graduated vets and doctors who study and train at the site for a year to two. This reinforces the plan to establish it as a fully fledged university for wildlife where they will be training wildlife veterinarians, captive management in zoos for the greater good of the animals. The vets and doctors are trained by the team of onsite experts and expats who are pioneers in the field.
Speaking about the initiative, Mr. Anant Ambani said:
“Vantara is a combination of the age-old ethical value of compassion with the excellence of modern scientific and technological professionalism. I see Jeev Seva (animal care) as a seva towards the almighty as well as humanity.”
The facility will be open for public as a completely no-profit venture, completely for education, conservation and pro-rescue work of endangered species, and honestly, we can’t wait to pay a visit to our furry friends.
