{"id":2191044,"date":"2026-05-13T18:00:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T17:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/?p=2191044"},"modified":"2026-05-09T11:52:55","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T10:52:55","slug":"brazil-police-seize-devices-from-bird-expert-in-trafficking-probe-linked-to-vantara-zoo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/brazil-police-seize-devices-from-bird-expert-in-trafficking-probe-linked-to-vantara-zoo\/","title":{"rendered":"Brazil police seize devices from bird expert in trafficking probe linked to Vantara zoo"},"content":{"rendered":"

A U.S. citizen suspected of international wildlife trafficking had three cell phones and a computer seized on May 1 as he arrived at Guarulhos International Airport in S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil. According to a\u00a0statement\u00a0released by the Federal Police, the action is a development in an investigation \u201cprobing the international trafficking of golden lion tamarins and other endangered species of Brazilian fauna.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statement doesn\u2019t mention the target\u2019s name, but a source familiar with the investigations involving golden lion tamarins who asked to remain anonymous identified the man as Tony Silva, a renowned bird expert who was convicted of smuggling exotic birds into the U.S. from South America in 1996.<\/p>\n

According to the source, Silva is suspected of coordinating the purchase of illegally traded animals for\u00a0Vantara, a private mega zoo in the state of Gujarat, India, run by billionaire Anant Ambani, son of India\u2019s richest man.<\/p>\n

In an email to Mongabay, a Vantara spokesperson stated that the zoo \u201chas no connection with the buying of illegal animals\u201d and that \u201cany attempt to link Mr. Silva\u2019s personal affairs to Vantara, directly or by implication, would be factually incorrect and legally untenable.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the organization, Silva is not and has never been its employee. \u201cVantara understands that he [Tony Silva] has been engaged by an independent contractor for limited consultancy relating to enclosure curation, husbandry and nutrition, considering his published work and experience in that field. He does not speak for, act for, or represent Vantara,\u201d the spokesperson wrote. (See Vantara\u2019s full response below.)<\/p>\n

There is no official information linking Silva to Vantara. In 2025, however, the International Aviculture Industries Conference in Thailand described Silva\u2019s role as \u201cleading conservation\u201d at the zoo. A bird specialist who also participated in that event, Beto Polezel, associated Silva with Vantara in a\u00a0post\u00a0on Instagram. And in March 2026, Silva\u00a0shared\u00a0information on his Instagram account about a conference that will be held at Vantara.<\/p>\n

The connection between Silva and Vantara was also confirmed by an investigator from an international NGO that fights wildlife trafficking, who asked to remain anonymous.<\/p>\n

The animals that were allegedly acquired illegally by Silva originated from different continents. In Brazil, the primary targets were the threatened golden lion tamarin (Leontopithecus rosalia<\/i>) and Lear\u2019s macaw (Anodorhynchus leari<\/i>), species that were at the center of two recent wildlife trafficking cases.<\/p>\n

In 2023, seven golden lion tamarins and 29 Lear\u2019s macaws were\u00a0rescued\u00a0from Suriname and repatriated to Brazil. A year later, in February 2024, authorities in Togo\u00a0rescued\u00a0animals of the same species \u2014 20 tamarins and 12 macaws \u2014 found aboard a sailboat that broke down off the African coast.<\/p>\n

It is not clear whether Silva was involved in these cases.<\/p>\n

According to Mongabay\u2019s source, Silva allegedly has facilitated shipment of the black bearded saki monkey (Chiropotes satanas<\/i>) to Vantara, another\u00a0endangered\u00a0species that\u00a0only exists<\/a>\u00a0in the Brazilian Amazon.<\/p>\n

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\"Golden<\/a>
Golden lion tamarins are among the main targets of an illegal trade ring allegedly linked to Tony Silva in Brazil, according to an anonymous source obtained by Mongabay. Image courtesy of Andreia Martins\/AMLD.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n

Silva is a Cuban-born U.S. citizen and an international authority for exotic bird collectors. As an expert in tropical birds, he\u2019s worked with organizations dedicated to protecting endangered parrot species. Silva also served as a curator at Loro Parque, a large zoo in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands.<\/p>\n

However, Silva has a history of wildlife trafficking. In 1996, he was a target of\u00a0Operation Renegade, a three-year undercover operation by U.S. Fish and Wildlife agents. He was\u00a0sentenced\u00a0to nearly\u00a0seven years in prison\u00a0and fined $100,000 for international wildlife trafficking.<\/p>\n

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Silva \u201cwas convicted of conspiring to smuggle into the country some of the world\u2019s most endangered, beautiful and protected wild birds.\u201d He confessed to\u00a0trafficking\u00a0more than 185 hyacinth macaws and other rare South American birds from 1985 to 1994.<\/p>\n

Silva was in Brazil to participate in\u00a0Avicon, the largest congress for bird breeders in Latin America, held April 25-26 in the city of Itatiba, S\u00e3o Paulo. Before the alleged seizure of his equipment at Guarulhos Airport, he traveled through the interior of Bahia state, where he recorded\u00a0videos\u00a0for Instagram in locations inhabited by the endangered Lear\u2019s macaw.<\/p>\n

A person from Avicon\u2019s organization team, who prefers to remain anonymous, confirmed that Tony Silva had his equipment seized in Guarulhos airport.<\/p>\n

Mongabay reached out to Silva for comments, but he hadn\u2019t responded by the time of publication.<\/p>\n

Covering 1,400 hectares (3,500 acres) \u2014 an area the size of four Central Parks \u2014\u00a0Vantara is run\u00a0by the philanthropic arm of\u00a0Reliance Industries. The conglomerate, led by the Ambani family, includes petrochemical, oil and gas, telecom, retail, media and financial services industries. Chairman Mukesh Ambani is India\u2019s richest individual; Vantara was launched by his youngest son, Anant.<\/p>\n

Since its opening in March 2025, Vantara has drawn international attention for both its lavish facilities, such as an\u00a0elephant jacuzzi, and\u00a0suspicions\u00a0that some of its animals may have illegal origins.<\/p>\n

Self-described as the world\u2019s largest animal rehabilitation center, the Vantara complex\u00a0houses\u00a0more than\u00a0150,000 animals\u00a0across 2,000 species. Of these, at least\u00a040,000 were brought from other countries,\u00a0including endangered cheetahs, chimpanzees and orangutans.<\/p>\n

The complex was also the venue for Anant Ambani\u2019s 2024\u00a0pre-wedding reception. The event guest list included Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai and Ivanka Trump, who were among the 1,200 invitees.<\/p>\n

In September 2025, an Indian Supreme Court investigation\u00a0found no irregularities\u00a0in Vantara\u2019s animal acquisitions. The zoo has also been the subject of\u00a0inspections\u00a0by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), an international treaty signed by 184 nations and the European Union.<\/p>\n

After visiting Vantara in September 2025, the CITES Secretariat requested that India \u201cnot issue any further import permits\u201d for endangered species because of discrepancies between export and import trade data and questions regarding the origins of some animals. The recommendation\u00a0was reversed\u00a0at the CITES meeting in Uzbekistan in November, with decisive votes from Brazil, Japan the United States.<\/p>\n

In March 2025, a\u00a0joint investigation\u00a0from the Venezuelan website Armando.info and the German magazine S\u00fcddeutsche Zeitung revealed that 5,359 animals left Venezuelan commercial breeders headed to Vantara facilities in 2024, based on a binational agreement on the exchange of animals for species conservation purposes. A golden lion tamarin was among those animals.<\/p>\n

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\"The<\/a>
The golden lion tamarin, an endangered species native to Brazil\u2019s Atlantic Forest, is targeted by poachers. Because of their small size, they\u2019re in demand as pets. Image courtesy The EAGLE Network.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n

Vantara received another Brazilian endemic species, the blue Spix\u2019s macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii<\/i>), in a controversial transaction. Reuters reported that the\u00a0Association for the Conservation of Threatened Parrots\u00a0(ACTP), a German-based nonprofit,\u00a0sent\u00a023 of these birds to the Indian zoo in 2023, without Brazilian consent. The Spix\u2019s macaw was declared extinct in the wild in 2019, and the birds sent to Vantara were part of a breeding program established to reintroduce them into the wild in their Brazilian habitat.<\/p>\n

In a\u00a0response\u00a0to Reuters in November 2025, a Vantara spokesperson said the macaws\u2019 transfer was \u201centirely lawful, non-commercial, and undertaken as a conservation breeding arrangement with ACTP.\u201d<\/p>\n

The current investigation is ongoing.\u00a0According\u00a0to the Brazilian Federal Police, the equipment seized in the Guarulhos airport \u201cwill be submitted for forensic examination to extract data and analyze the transnational criminal network.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vantara\u2019s full response:<\/b><\/h2>\n

Vantara has no connection with the buying of illegal animals, and any suggestion to the contrary is incorrect. Similar allegations have already been examined by investigative, administrative, regulatory and judicial authorities in India and have not been sustained.<\/i><\/p>\n

Mr. Tony Silva is not, and has never been, an employee of Vantara. Vantara understands that he has been engaged by an independent contractor for limited consultancy relating to enclosure curation, husbandry and nutrition, considering his published work and experience in that field. He does not speak for, act for, or represent Vantara.<\/i><\/p>\n

His personal travel and affairs are entirely his own. Vantara had no knowledge of his travel to Brazil, no communication with him in that regard, and has not assigned any contractor, much less a contractor\u2019s consultant, to any matter in Brazil.<\/i><\/p>\n

Accordingly, any attempt to link Mr. Silva\u2019s personal affairs to Vantara, directly or by implication, would be factually incorrect and legally untenable.<\/i><\/p>\n

Vantara is a closed-to-public rescue, preservation and rehabilitation facility focused on lawful rescue, medical care and improved housing for captive animals. It remains available to assist lawful holders and authorities dealing with animals in suboptimal conditions, in accordance with applicable law.<\/i><\/p>\n

This article<\/a> <\/em>by Fernanda Wenzel was first published by Mongabay on 7 May 2026. Lead Image: The Lear\u2019s macaw had been at the center of two recent wildlife trafficking cases. Image courtesy of Fernanda Fontoura.<\/em><\/p>\n

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