New Delhi: A coalition of South African animal rights groups has asked the country’s environment ministry to investigate the export of wild animals to the Reliance-owned Vantara animal rehabilitation centre.The 3,000-acre ‘conservation and rescue centre’ in Gujarat’s Jamnagar was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this month.The Wildlife Animal Protection Forum of South Africa (WAPFSA) – a coalition of 30 South African organisations – has written to South African environment minister Dion George saying that it was “aware that legitimate concerns have been raised within CITES regarding the large amount of different live species of wild animals that are being imported to [Vantara]”.CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) is a multilateral treaty that dictates international trade of endangered flora and fauna.“India’s potential non-compliance” was discussed at a CITES standing committee meeting in November 2023, the coalition told the South African ministry.The Ambani-owned facility has also drawn the ire of animal rights groups for being located in a hot and arid region which may be unsuitable for many of the species housed in the facility.The letter specifically questioned the export of leopards, cheetahs, tigers and lions from South Africa to Vantara. In July 2023, Vantara officials had informed the CITES secretariat that the centre had “rescued animals in difficult conditions outside India and imported them to India from various countries”. However, this explanation has not been accepted by WAPFSA.“Despite this explanation concerns have been expressed about the legality of those transactions and the methods used to obtain CITES documents,” the coalition said.A “significant number of captive-bred specimens in facilities in South Africa could have been and are being traded for commercial purposes”, the WAPFSA added.The letter also said that lions and tigers may have been purchased and exported from breeding facilities in South Africa. While their living conditions may have improved at the Gujarat-based centre, “this does not justify the reality that they will now be transformed into breeding machines, exploited within the numerous animal breeding facilities (nurseries) located outside the main zoo,” the coalition said.