New Delhi: A U.N. wildlife trade body decided on Sunday not to restrict India from importing endangered animals, after many countries supported reversing an earlier stringent recommendation that had embroiled the private zoo run by Asia’s richest family.

Vantara, a 3,500-acre zoo in Gujarat run by the philanthropic arm of the Reliance conglomerate led by Mukesh Ambani and his family, had faced allegations from non-profit and wildlife groups of improper imports of some animals, triggering higher scrutiny by Germany and the EU.

After visiting the facility in September, the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) issued a report this month asking India to “not issue any further import permits” as discrepancies had been foun

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