Vantara, founded by Reliance Industries Limited Director Anant Ambani, marked World Elephant Day on Wednesday (August 12) by highlighting its ongoing work across elephant welfare, conservation education and international collaboration.
Vantara is one of the world’s leading centres for elephant welfare, housing more than 260 Asian elephants. Since Gauri, the first elephant rescued by Vantara, the initiative has grown into a broader mission to support elephant caregivers, foster knowledge exchange and advance elephant conservation efforts in India.
On the occasion of World Elephant Day, Sharma, Minister for Forest, Environment and Climate Change, Government of Rajasthan, announced a collaboration with Vantara to strengthen the care and quality of life
of elephants at Hathi Gaon, Jaipur, according to a press release.
The initiative will include a state-of-the-art Elephant Treatment & Care Facility, comprising an advanced hospital, nutrition centre and hydrotherapy facility, along with a dedicated Retirement and Care Centre for elderly elephants. It will combine the experiences of the Rajasthan Forest Department and Vantara to support elephants.
“Elephants have always held a very special place in my heart and in Vantara’s journey. Every elephant we care for has a unique story, and every rescue reminds us of the responsibility we have towards their welfare. What began with the rescue of Gauri has grown into a wider commitment to improving elephant welfare, supporting the people who care for them, sharing knowledge and learning with partners, and contributing to elephant conservation in India and around the world. On World Elephant Day, we celebrate these magnificent animals and reaffirm our commitment to working together to secure a better future for them,” said Anant Ambani, Founder of Vantara.
Vantara’s Elephant Welfare Outreach Programme
Furthermore, Vantara recently completed a large-scale Elephant Welfare Outreach Programme in partnership with State Forest Departments across eight locations in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, helping more than 182 elephants.
Vantara is also providing a grant to the Elephant Protection Initiative (EPI) Foundation to support the participation of experts, practitioners and youth representatives from Asian and African elephant range states at the 1st Global Human-Elephant Conflict Summit and the 2nd International Conference on Human-Wildlife Conflict and Coexistence, to be held in Bangkok in March 2027.
The grant will support delegates from all 13 Asian elephant range states, five African elephant range states and youth representatives from both regions. It will help create opportunities for practitioners and conservationists to strengthen collaboration on human-elephant conflict mitigation and coexistence.
Additionally, Vantara has launched a social media campaign for children called My Friend Leelavati, which promotes empathy and compassion through the story of Leelavati, one of Vantara’s most beloved elephants, who was separated from her mother as a calf, spent years in a circus, and later suffered extensive burn injuries when a circus tent caught fire.
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