India asks UN wildlife physique to not curb its animal imports amid Ambani zoo furore

NEW DELHI, Nov 12 (Reuters) – India has urged a U.N. wildlife commerce physique to not curb its imports of endangered species, saying it has tightened oversight amid rising allegations of irregular animal shipments to a big non-public zoo run by Asia’s richest household.

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However, after visiting the power in September, the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) issued a report final week asking India to evaluation its procedures.

The report cited discrepancies between exporter and importer commerce information and flagged inadequate checks on the origin of some animals.

In a submission to CITES dated November 10, India stated any restrictive or punitive measure at this stage would lack authorized basis and threat unsettling the CITES framework, calling the measure “premature and disproportionate”.

The wildlife physique’s request “would constitute a de facto suspension or moratorium on lawful” imports, the federal government stated.

The Indian submission, posted on the CITES web site forward of its conference assembly this month, is first being reported by Reuters. It alerts new wrangling over Vantara’s imports.

TIGHTER SCRUTINY IN PLACE, INDIA SAYS

CITES is a worldwide treaty that regulates commerce in endangered crops and animals, or merchandise derived from them, with the goal of guaranteeing their survival.

While CITES acknowledged final week that Vantara operates amenities of “exceptionally high standards,” it really helpful that India halt new import permits for endangered species till safeguards are tightened. The physique warned that with out stricter checks, animals sourced from the wild might be misrepresented as captive-bred.

India countered that it “has strengthened inspection and reporting mechanisms for all recognized zoos and rescue facilities” together with Vantara. The authorities additionally instructed the Central Zoo Authority to make sure enhanced due diligence for all future acquisitions.

CITES and Vantara didn’t reply to a Reuters request for touch upon the Indian authorities’s submission on Wednesday.

ANIMALS FROM THE WORLD OVER

Vantara says it’s residence to some 2,000 species. That contains imported unique species from South Africa, Venezuela, and Democratic Republic of Congo, together with snakes, tortoises, tigers, cheetahs, giraffes and chimpanzees.

The shipments have been recorded with a declared worth of $9 million, which Vantara has stated mirrored freight and insurance coverage costs, not any funds for wildlife.

The CITES report final week famous that “a number of animals come from established commercial breeding facilities, which would normally sell the animals they breed”.

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