Activists claim Anant Ambani’s Vantara facility has no plan to return its endangered species to the wild

India’s supreme court has ordered an investigation into allegations of illegal animal imports and financial misconduct at a vast private zoo set up by the son of Asia’s richest person.

Vantara, which describes itself as the “world’s biggest wild animal rescue centre”, is run by Anant Ambani, a son of Mukesh Ambani, the billionaire head of the conglomerate Reliance Industries.

The site in the western state of Gujarat is home to more than 200 elephants, as well as 50 bears, 160 tigers, 200 lions, 250 leopards and 900 crocodiles, among other animals, according to India’s Central Zoo Authority.