Linie Praha – Vantara: Critically endangered species and hundreds of kangaroos are heading to an Indian facility. What is their fate?
Thousands of reptiles, 441 kangaroos, 217 primates, 138 llamas or 68 deer. Such animals traveled from the Czech Republic to the private Indian facility Vantara. Radiožurnál found out that in just a few months, the Czech breeder and businessman became the most active exporter to this park in all of Europe.
But Vantara is not an ordinary zoo, as we know it from the Western world. It is owned by the son of the richest Asian. The company stated on its website that 150 thousand specimens have already passed through its gates, although the facility is not open to the public. Foreign media are drawing attention to suspicions that the facility illegally trades wild animals.
Czech authorities, which oversee animal exports abroad, allow all exports, but they have several unanswered questions about the Indian facility. For example, they are not clear why so many species travel to Asia from the Czech Republic and how they subsequently thrive there.
The Czech Republic has historically been considered a breeding power. It is not surprising that tens of thousands of animals travel from here to the whole world every year, for example successfully bred falcons, various types of parrots or chameleons and other reptiles.
Last year, however, a new location was added to the list of export destinations, namely the Indian rescue and breeding facility Vantara. In the past, the German daily Süddeutschche Zeitung has already pointed out that an “incredible” number of animals are being imported there, and it is unclear whether some of them come from the wild, and it has found out that some traders who supply animals to Vantara may have set up fictitious zoos in order to legalize the exports.
The mega-project, which is not accessible to the public and has no parallel in the history of mankind, has begun to acquire animals of all kinds from all over the world.
The Czech Republic was immediately added to the list of countries cooperating with this project. As Radiožurnál has discovered, everything is done through Jindřich Blahož, a breeder and trader from South Bohemia. While he used to provide Czech zoos with rats and greens for feeding, he has started a much bigger business in the last year. Under his leadership, thousands of animals began to flow to India through the Ruzyně airport.
Everything is done completely legally, but Czech authorities point out that there are many uncertainties surrounding the fate of the animals exported in this way. "The question of whether the animals actually end up in that Indian facility and how they are treated is relevant given the huge numbers of specimens exported," said Miriam Loužecká, a spokeswoman for the Czech Environmental Inspectorate.
A huge number of different species began to be exported from the country. In addition to the less protected ones, such as monitor lizards, pythons or turkeys, animals that are among the most strictly protected specimens in the world, i.e. critically endangered, also began to appear in export documents.
Over two dozen radiated tortoises, 13 iguanas and 22 blue geckos traveled to India. Primates were also headed there, with a dozen cotton-top tamarins, 10 ruffed lemurs, 21 golden-headed lion tamarins and 20 pygmy marmosets travelling in transport boxes.
According to statistics from the Ministry of the Environment, which Radiožurnál has at its disposal, over 850 internationally protected animals have so far been transported to this facility, according to the recognised annexes to the international convention on trade in endangered species (CITES).
But the list does not end there. The ministry only registers endangered species. The complete data is kept by the regional veterinary administration, which has an overview of all exported specimens.
And as several independent sources confirmed to Radiožurnál, the aforementioned Czech trader was responsible for the vast majority of these exports. Over 440 kangaroos, almost six thousand reptiles, 68 deer and 28 bison made their way to the Indian live collection.
According to the veterinary administration, one breeder exported a total of more than 6,700 animals. And more exports are planned. For comparison, the Prague Zoo has roughly the same number of animals, but of different species.
table:
reptiles 5,848
kangaroos 441
primates 217
llamas 138
deer 68
donkeys 34
bisons 28
sloths 21
predators 5
Czech businessman Jindřich Blahož is the most active in the entire European Union in terms of the number of animals exported to this organization. This is according to the list of the EU database Traces NT for the years 2023 to 2025, which must be reported to all official animal exports to third countries. The Czech Republic shines in it with thousands of animals as the most active, second in order is Denmark, from which 51 parrots left, and Belgium follows with 22 parrots and other birds.
Since 2023, Blahož has owned a zoo corner in Mikulov on the border with Austria. There are also several cages with smaller species of monkeys in the South Bohemian village where he lives. But he also finds such a huge number of animals abroad – from Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Italy to Peru. He acquired 21 sloths and two anteaters from a South American country.
"I ask more or less through people I know. All the breeders work together and know each other, so it's possible to find out who breeds which species. The Czechs are a breeding powerhouse, what is bred here is not bred anywhere else in the world," Blahož describes how everything goes.
In the Czech Republic, he fulfills all the requirements, proves the origin of the animals, that they do not come from the wild, obtains the necessary permits and sends them to India by cargo plane. He then receives inquiries about specific animals directly from the facility.
According to Blahož, the Indian owner of the park would like all the animals in the world. "They ask about different species and they either get them or they don't. They complete, supplement their collection and want it to be complete. They want to have basically all the species of animals that exist," the businessman explains, explaining why so many specimens are flowing to India.
But even such an intention raises doubts among Czech authorities and animal export experts, with whom Radiožurnál had the opportunity to discuss the situation.
They are not clear why, in addition to rare animals, common but rare animals, such as fur color or farm animals, are also traveling halfway around the world. At the same time, they are wondering whether animals that are commonly kept in Europe should travel to a rescue center in India.
Luxury in Indian style As is probably already clear, the Indian facility Vantara is not an ordinary zoo, as we know from the Czech Republic and Central Europe, it is a huge complex of enclosures and pavilions, which was built by Amant Ambani, the son of the richest man in Asia, Mukesh Ambani. He officially named it the Greens Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre (GZRRC). The size of the entire project, which, according to available information, reaches an area of approximately 12 square kilometers, is also reflected in the number of animals kept.
The private facility located next to the largest refinery complex in the world has not yet been made accessible to the public, which is one of the conditions that zoos must meet in the Czech Republic. The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) also thinks so. According to its statutes, the mission of zoos is education and awareness-raising activities, and they should also present the species they keep to the public. However, the Vantara facility has not yet become a member of this association.
According to Blahož, he (Ambani) does not plan to open it to the public in the future. "The zoo is open to the public, but only to experts in the given industry. He does not let ordinary people in there who throw food at the animals, as is happening here. He does not deal with such things and never will, because it is so huge that he would probably go crazy. So the facility serves experts in the given field," he says, adding that he knows the owner of the facility.
But at the very beginning in 2013, there was a project to save elephants, which people used to harvest timber or force them to perform in circuses. In an interview, the architect of the project, Ambani, said that he was influenced by his mother when they bought a sick elephant while traveling together as a child and began to take care of it.
And with such a mission, the Radhe Krishna Temple Elephant Welfare Trust (RKTEWT) rescue center was also established years ago. The owners created a paradise on earth for the largest land mammals, in which, in addition to huge pastures, there are pools with water jets, operating theaters and first-class breeding care.
Later, the center began to grow, for example, with rescued leopards that had been hit by a car, for example; there should be up to 256 such wild cats in the facility. This is according to the annual report between 2023 and 2024.
The rescued animals are said to include crocodiles imported from farms in Africa, where they are commercially bred for their skin. It is in Vantara that they are then given a "weight loss treatment" to get back to their standard weight, unlike their previous stay, where they tried to achieve the largest possible skin surface area, according to a promotional video.
The aforementioned annual report also outlines the mission that is defining Vantara. “The GZRRC strives to save species by combining our expertise in animal care and conservation science with our commitment to inspiring conservation through best practices and educating people,” reads one of the first paragraphs.
The report claims that the center is home to over ten thousand animals, but this information is outdated. Joint investigative work by journalists from the German daily Süddeutscher Zeitung and the Venezuelan media outlet Armando Info revealed that, especially in the second half of 2024, there were huge shipments of animals from all over the world.
During this period alone, 39 thousand animals from more than thirty countries traveled to the Indian facility. Based on an analysis, the Süddeutscher Zeitung concluded that the largest number of animals left from the United Arab Emirates. The facility now even lists the number on its website as 150 thousand.
These numbers mean one thing: Vantara is the largest breeding project in the history of the world. According to the company, the animals are cared for by over two hundred veterinarians and two thousand breeders.
The park received political support from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself, who had himself immortalized with several animals at Vantara in the spring of this year. The facility had previously received an award from the Indian government recognizing the living conditions of the rescued elephants.
Radiožurnál contacted Vantara and sent her a series of questions, but no one from the facility responded by the time the article was published.
But buying animals all over the world carries great risks, as experts and world organizations warn in the media. The huge demand for live animals can disrupt the global market, which is emptying, which creates a good breeding ground for poachers and smugglers. Where will traders get animals from when the only available animals are found in the wild?
German journalists have concluded that many of Vantara's traders are based in countries such as Venezuela, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia. According to them, these countries are considered hotbeds of illegal trade in animals that are captured directly from the wild. However, Vantara's management has repeatedly denied such accusations.
For example, the South African Wildlife Forum, which brings together 30 organizations, asked the environment minister in March this year for the government to investigate the export of wild animals to Vantara. The Independent reported this, saying that they are concerned that the species imported in this way will become the subject of trade. However, the Indian rescue center denied all suspicions and said that it has always acted according to the law.
Vantara has not yet become a member of the internationally recognized organization World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), which brings together gardens around the world. And as the association confirmed to Radiožurnál, it has not even applied for membership yet.
However, it has recently expanded the list of the Eurasian Association, which has its headquarters in Moscow. It brings together gardens from Russia, Kazakhstan and China. From the Czech Republic, the gardens of Hluboká, Chleby and Olomouc are on the list.
Unanswered questions from authorities
Several state institutions supervise the export of animals from the Czech Republic. Animals are conceptually divided into those protected under the CITES global convention and common species. For protected species, the breeder must prove their origin, and the authorities then examine the purpose of their departure or assess whether the export will not endanger the conservation of the species.
All animals have so far traveled with the "Z" designation, i.e. for zoological purposes. But Vantara is not a regular zoo, and it is not even clear whether the exported species from Central Europe need to be rescued in an Indian rescue center. The Nature and Landscape Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic and the Ministry of the Environment are now also seeking an answer to this question.
"We are of course dealing with the situation regarding the circumstances of further breeding and its overall concept and other issues related to this, and we are carefully examining these circumstances," said the spokeswoman for the ministry, Veronika Krejčí.
Through the agency, the ministry is trying to obtain binding answers from the Indian counterpart of CITES. Even if the authorities have doubts about the position from India, they must take it as a relevant basis for deciding on export applications.
“Simply put, if all the details about the origin of the species, its level of threat and the place where the specimen is to be placed are in order, there is no reason for the Ministry of the Environment not to issue the requested permit,” said Krejčí.
At the same time, she said that at the moment they do not have information that would indicate that the animals being kept could become the subject of illegal activities.
Inspectors from the Czech Environmental Inspection also have doubts. Although they do not comment on the export permit, they do check all export crates at Prague airport before departure to India.
However, they do not like the idea of the Indian businessman that he would like to return the animals to the wild. "Given the genetic dispositions, which are mainly determined by the fact that animals are raised for many generations under human care, this is completely unrealistic for most species, and is also risky for wild populations of the species in question (possible introduction of non-native diseases, genetic defects into the gene pool, etc.)," said spokesperson Miriam Loužecká.
But Czech officials are most surprised by the unprecedented number of animals exported to one facility. They also do not know the conditions in which the animals continue to live.
“The numbers of individuals and species entering the facility are astonishing, and we must remain vigilant against any activities that may be linked to the facility. In this case, concerns are warranted, as the facility often contains rare species that are difficult to breed and require demanding conditions, and breeding them can be complicated even in modern European zoos that benefit from many years of experience,” Loužecká explained.
The Indian Vantara facility was also discussed at the February meeting of the CITES Standing Committee. The latter subsequently obliged the secretariat to maintain communication with the center and cooperate more closely with it regarding imported animals. A mission by the secretariat to Vantara should also take place this year, which should verify the information provided earlier.
Well the collection, their method of acquiring new animals, and exhibition style of these animals says otherwise. Others have pointed it out, this is Ambani doing some major greenwashing but social media is quick to consume this without needing to thinking about it.
