Feathers fly in dispute over Ambani zoo's pursuit of rare parrot

This is a story about a bird and a family but this is no ordinary bird, and this is no ordinary family.

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The Spix's macaw, a vivid blue parrot with elaborate mating rituals, was declared extinct in the wild in 2019. A captive breeding programme has since seen some of the birds reintroduced to their native habitat in Brazil.

For more than two years, officials on three continents have been agitating over why 26 of the creatures ended up in a private zoo in India run by the philanthropic arm of a conglomerate controlled by Asia's richest family, the Ambanis.

Indian investigators cleared the sanctuary of any wrongdoing this week.

But European officials say they are keeping a close watch on any exports to Vantara, a 1,400ha animal rescue and rehabilitation centre in Gujarat state, while Brazil, Germany and India are working towards a possible resolution at a UN-administered body that monitors wildlife trade.

Vantara says it is home to some 2,000 species.

The venue featured in pre-wedding celebrations in 2024 for the centre's leader Anant Ambani, the youngest son of billionaire Mukesh Ambani, whose guests included Ms Ivanka Trump, daughter of US President Donald Trump, and Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg.

Vantara, adjacent to an oil refinery operated by the Ambanis' Reliance Industries, was inaugurated in March by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A Reuters analysis of 2,500 commercially available Customs records shows that since 2022, the wildlife centre has imported an extraordinary range of exotic species from countries including South Africa, Venezuela, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the United Arab Emirates.

The haul resembles a modern-day Noah's Ark: 2,896 snakes, 1,431 tortoises, 219 tigers, 149 cheetahs, 105 giraffes, 62 chimpanzees, 20 rhinoceroses and scores of reptiles, including spiny-tailed lizards and veiled chameleons.