Leading wildlife protection experts have urged India to suspend all imports of the world’s most endangered species, endorsing long-running concerns by conservationists about mass acquisitions by mega-zoo Vantara.

The facility in western Gujarat state, officially known as the Green Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre, is run by the son of Asia’s richest man.

It has scooped up tens of thousands of animals in recent years, and was subject to an Indian Supreme Court review that cleared it of any wrongdoing.

But experts from the world’s top wildlife watchdog — the secretariat overseeing the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) — have warned Vantara may have imported highly endangered species in violation of international rules.

In a report published ahead of CITES talks this month, they found a “large number of imports… appear to be inconsistent” with rules protecting so-called Appendix I species, the world’s most threatened animals.

They recommended serious reforms to ensure Vantara does “not inadvertently become a driver of illegal harvest of wild animals”.

Vantara and India’s environment ministry did not respond to AFP requests for comment.

Experts have repeatedly sounded the alarm on Vantara’s massive animal intake. The facility claims to have 150,000 animals, though CITES officials said closer to 47,000 were reported during a September visit.

“This report raises more questions than it answers,” said Mark Jones, head of policy at wildlife group Born Free.

“Why the discrepancies in numbers? Why import so many animals from so many species across the world… Who is supplying these animals, and how can we be sure they’re not being traded for profit?”

‘Really, really shocking’

CITES examined a laundry list of allegations involving endangered animals, including the world’s most endangered great ape — the Tapanuli orangutan.

AFP earlier this year reported that Vantara had acquired a Tapanuli orangutan from the United Arab Emirates that originated in Indonesia.

CITES prohibits trade in the world’s most endangered species, but there are exceptions, including for “captive-bred” animals.

The Tapanuli orangutan, like many of Vantara’s rarest acquisitions, was given this designation.

But multiple experts told AFP there are no captive breeding programmes for the species in Indonesia, home to all the estimated 800 Tapanuli orangutans left in the world.

Similar cases involving cheetahs from Syria, a gorilla from Haiti, and bonobos from Iraq are among those questioned by CITES.

The report “is evidence of Vantara’s problematic acquisitions,” said Panut Hadisiswoyo, founder and chairman of the Orangutan Information Centre in Indonesia.

He has been lobbying, so far unsuccessfully, for the return of several orangutans in Vantara, including a smuggled animal intercepted in India and handed to the facility.

The CITES report says Vantara has acquired more than 2,000 Appendix I animals and nearly 9,000 from less endangered species.

“It’s really, really shocking, the number is huge,” Panut said.

“Vantara is exploiting legal loopholes and undermining Appendix I.”

‘Exemplary action’

The CITES report acknowledges Vantara’s world-class facilities, but urges India to review its import procedures, bolster capacity, and more closely scrutinise permits.

Independent wildlife trade expert Daniel Stiles said the report was “a true examination” of Vantara.

“We’ll see if anything changes for the better.”

CITES has asked India to report back on its progress, and it could face measures, including trade suspension, if it does not fully address the concerns.

The findings are “deeply concerning and damaging to India’s conservation credibility”, warned K Yoganand, a longtime conservation expert in India and Southeast Asia.

“Restoring India’s global standing, damaged by the irregularities surrounding these imports, will require exemplary action.”

• First Syrian presidential US visit since 1946.
• Trump–Sharaa White House meeting set for Monday.
• US hopes Syria joins coalition against Daesh.

WASHINGTON: Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrived in the United States on Saturday for a landmark official visit, his country’s state news agency reported, a day after Washington removed him from a terrorism blacklist.

Sharaa, whose rebel forces ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad late last year, is due to meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday.

It’s the first such visit by a Syrian president since the country’s independence in 1946, according to analysts.

The interim leader met Trump for the first time in Riyadh during the US president’s regional tour in May.

US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said earlier this month that Sharaa would “hopefully” sign an agreement to join the international US-led alliance against Daesh.

The United States plans to establish a military base near Damascus “to coordinate humanitarian aid and observe developments between Syria and Israel”, a diplomatic source in Syria told AFP.

The State Department’s decision Friday to remove Sharaa from the blacklist was widely expected.

State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said Sharaa’s government had been meeting US demands, including on working to find missing Americans and on eliminating any remaining chemical weapons.

“These actions are being taken in recognition of the progress demonstrated by the Syrian leadership after the departure of Bashar al-Assad and more than 50 years of repression under the Assad regime,” Pigott said.

The spokesman added that the US delisting would promote “regional security and stability as well as an inclusive, Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process.”

Transformation

Sharaa’s Washington trip comes after his landmark visit to the United Nations in September — his first time on US soil — where he became the first Syrian president in decades to address the UN General Assembly in New York.

On Thursday, Washington led a vote by the Security Council to remove UN sanctions against him.

Formerly affiliated with Al-Qaeda, Sharaa’s group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), was delisted as a terrorist group by Washington as recently as July.

Since taking power, Syria’s new leaders have sought to break from their violent past and present a moderate image more tolerable to ordinary Syrians and foreign powers.

The White House visit “is further testament to the US commitment to the new Syria and a hugely symbolic moment for the country’s new leader, who thus marks another step in his astonishing transformation from militant leader to global statesman,” International Crisis Group US program director Michael Hanna said.

Sharaa is expected to seek funds for Syria, which faces significant challenges in rebuilding after 13 years of brutal civil war.

In October, the World Bank put a “conservative best estimate” of the cost of rebuilding Syria at $216 billion.

Russia carried out one of its largest overnight attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, killing at least six people and leaving vast areas without electricity, water, and heating.

According to reports, the strikes targeted both residential and industrial areas, hitting 25 sites across Kyiv and other cities.

Ukrainian authorities said Moscow deployed over 450 drones and 45 missiles in the assault. Several major power facilities were damaged, causing emergency blackouts in multiple regions.

Energy company DTEK confirmed that electricity was cut to parts of Kyiv and the northern city of Kharkiv.

President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that in Dnipro, a Russian drone hit a residential building, killing three people, while one person died in Kharkiv.

“Russian strikes once again targeted civilian life,” said Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga. “Communities were left without power, water, and heating. Critical infrastructure and railway networks were damaged.”

In Kharkiv, the mayor reported severe electricity shortages, while local authorities said water supplies were also disrupted.

Kremenchuk, in the Poltava region, experienced interruptions to electricity, water, and partial heating following the attacks.

Restoration Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said train services nationwide were disrupted due to damage at locomotive depots.

“We are working to eliminate the consequences across the country, focusing on restoring heat, electricity, and water as quickly as possible,” stated Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko.

State-owned energy company Naftogaz said this assault marks the ninth major attack on gas infrastructure since early October.

Experts warned that sustained strikes could lead to heating shortages as winter approaches.

The Kyiv School of Economics estimated that half of Ukraine’s natural gas production has already been shut down.

Energy analyst Oleksandr Kharchenko warned that if Kyiv’s two main power and heating plants remain offline for more than three days in temperatures below minus ten degrees Celsius, the capital could face a “technological disaster.”

Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed responsibility, stating that its forces targeted “enterprises of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex and gas and energy facilities that support their operation.”

Meanwhile, Ukraine has intensified its own drone strikes on Russian oil depots and refineries in recent months in an effort to cut off Moscow’s vital energy exports.

On Friday evening, drone attacks on energy infrastructure in Russia’s southern Volgograd region caused temporary power outages there, according to regional governor Andrei Botcharov.