(BSS/AFP) - Behind guarded gates resembling an Indian maharajah`s palace are hundreds of elephants and big cats, giraffes grazing in a mock savannah, and chimpanzees and orangutans swinging from ropes.

This is Vantara: billed as the world`s biggest animal rescue centre, but also the target of persistent criticism over how it amassed an unprecedented collection, including critically endangered animals.

After years of scrutiny, including a Supreme Court-ordered probe in its favour, the Indian centre has pledged a reset, saying it has halted imports, hired global experts, and shifted towards helping wildlife in its natural habitat.

"Vantara has pivoted," CEO Vivaan Karani told AFP. "Wherever animals can be effectively supported in their own countries, we increasingly believe our resources should travel, rather than the animals."

The centre in Jamnagar, in India`s western Gujarat state, is closed to the public.

AFP was granted rare access for a two-day tour, passing expansive glass-fronted enclosures housing some of the 200 lions, 200 cheetahs and 150 tigers.

Meaning "Star of the Forest", Vantara in August pledged to "respond to criticism through dialogue, transparency and evidence -- not litigation".

The centre is the vision of 31-year-old Anant Ambani, youngest son of one of Asia`s richest men Mukesh Ambani, chairman of retail-to-refining giant Reliance Industries.

It spans 3,500 acres (1,416 hectares) across multiple sites -- around 2,000 football pitches -- alongside a Reliance oil refinery, the world`s biggest.

Over 260 former working elephants wander through teak plantations, trumpeting as they bathe in lakes.

Hippos swim in giant glass-fronted tanks, while other vast sections house reptiles and birds -- including penguins.

"I see God in my animals, and Vantara is my temple," Anant, a devout Hindu, has said, adding: "Every being, no matter how big or how small, deserves dignity."

A giant statue of Anant`s late dog, Happy the Golden Retriever, stands at its headquarters.

- `Transparency` -

Vantara says it houses more than 150,000 animals from over 2,000 species, brought from at least 30 countries. But annual reports record far lower totals, among the opaque details activists wanted clarified.

Its acquisitions have drawn the attention of the secretariat overseeing CITES, the international treaty regulating wildlife trade.

Last year, CITES said it "considers that a number of specimens traded as `captive-bred`... may not be."

It urged reforms to ensure Vantara did "not inadvertently become a driver of illegal harvest of wild animals".

Dozens of critically endangered tortoises were sent by a German commercial breeder to a defunct zoo in Togo, then to Belgium before arriving in India.

Spix`s macaws, a Brazilian blue parrot extinct in the wild -- as featured in the 2011 Disney film "Rio" -- were transferred from Germany without Brazil`s required consent.

Critics call it a "private megazoo".

Last month, 27 international conservation organisations welcomed Vantara`s promised shift but demanded measurable reforms, including "full public transparency" over the origins of every animal.

Karani pointed to a 2025 Supreme Court-ordered probe that found no evidence of any "breach or offence" and called Vantara a "modern-day Noah`s Ark".

"Vantara has never broken the law," Karani said. "There is nothing other than welfare at the core of this."

One animal raising questions is a Tapanuli orangutan, seen by AFP, alone in an enclosure clutching a coconut.

Listed as "captive-bred", it belongs to the world`s rarest great ape species, with around 800 individuals remaining.

Experts say they know of no captive-breeding programme for the Indonesian species, while Vantara believes the orangutan was wrongly identified as a Tapanuli.

- `Concerns` -

Vantara`s animal care is undeniably impressive.

Veterinarian Kushal Konwar Sarma showed AFP an elephant hospital with hydraulic operating tables and hydrotherapy pools, where retired working elephants recover from injuries.

"The facilities are unmatched not only in India, but I would say, the world," said Sarma.

Sarma is among over 4,000 staff, including teams running vast kitchens preparing animal feed.

Vantara`s first animal, in 2009, was Gauri, an Asian elephant used for begging in Rajasthan whose condition was "very bad", keeper Kailash Nayak said. He joined Vantara when it took her in.

"Life here is much better -- for both of us," he said.

Vantara`s intake accelerated in 2019, and during the Covid-19 pandemic, when tourism stalled and zoos struggled.

It drew the spotlight in 2024, when Anant`s lavish pre-wedding celebrations there brought Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and Ivanka Trump as guests, with Rihanna performing.

India`s Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Vantara in March 2025.

In August, Vantara appointed former CITES chief John Scanlon to chair its new governing council, overseeing animal acquisitions.

"I want to make sure we put all the infrastructure in place so that the concerns that have been raised are never raised again," Scanlon told AFP.

This month, the CITES Secretariat said India had suspended imports of the most endangered species pending new due-diligence procedures, but that questions remained over animals including elephants, chimpanzees and the Tapanuli orangutan.

CITES officials, who meet on November 2, urged India to continue investigations and take action against "instances of illegal trade".

Scanlon said India`s Supreme Court had settled the legal questions over imports.

"It`s the end of the road there," he said.

- `Potential` -

In October, Vantara returned an orangutan it said it had rescued from traffickers in 2024 to Indonesia and offered to open 10 mobile veterinary centres nationwide.

"I think the energy is best spent going forward," Scanlon said, calling resources to support conservation "enormous".

Vantara collects genetic data to help prevent inbreeding among Asiatic lions, is building a university, and pledges to fund overseas conservation projects.

Activists said they were "watching closely" to ensure promises are kept.

"Vantara has imported tens of thousands of animals in a very short time, including some of the rarest species," said Daniela Freyer of Pro Wildlife, who helped draft the conservation groups` letter demanding a permanent end to imports.

"Where rules were broken, there must be consequences."

Karani invited her, and other critics, to visit.

"We`re not enemies," he said. "We`re trying to be one of you. We all have the same mission."