Anant Ambani's Elephant Rescue Claim And Its Ethical Debate (Photo screengrab on X THE SKIN DOCTOR @theskindoctor13)
Amid Anant Ambani’s wedding bash all across media and the internet, a debate regarding his Jamnagar Zoo, Radhe Krishna Temple Elephant Welfare Trust (RKTEWT) popped up in the discussion. The billionaire’s son had recently claimed that their trust in Jamnagar, Gujarat, houses over 200 rescued elephants. However, the ethical aspect of the claim began to emerge as wildlife activist Mubina Akhtar”s questioning over the characterisation of the elephants as rescued gained attention.
The wildlife activist cited the veterinarian’s “fit to travel certificate” for not counting these animals in the rescued category. “How can these be rescued elephants if they were deemed fit to travel by veterinarians? Such certificates wouldn’t be issued to animals in poor health, typically associated with rescue situations,” the activist wrote. In an essay in Northeast Now, the wildlife activist wrote that several elephants were sent from Arunachal Pradesh to the Radhe Krishna Temple Welfare Trust in Jamnagar, Gujarat. She citing reports wrote that most of these transferred animals have rainforest and grassland origins and are not accustomed to surviving the harsh climate in Gujarat.
The Northeast Now in 2023 reported that all the transported elephants from Assam to the Anant Ambani-backed RKTEWT were healthy and not in dire need of care. “There have been serious allegations that sometimes elephants have been illegally captured from the wild and reclassified as a captive to send to Jamnagar,” the report said. The report further noted that many elephants are being transferred to the RKTEWT from the northeastern states, according to the report.
However, Ambani’s zoo had gained approval from the Delhi High Court to transfer around 286 animals to its rehabilitation centre, which included tigers, lions, cheetahs, jaguars and other wild animals. Many criticised the private zoo initiatives citing the denial of the natural habitations to the wild animal and the captivation of the animal.
