This is a story about a bird and a family. But this is no ordinary bird, and this is no ordinary family.

Spix's macaw, a vivid-blue parrot with elaborate mating rituals, was declared extinct in the wild in 2019. A captive-breeding program has since seen some of the birds reintroduced to their native habitat in Brazil.

For more than two years, officials on three continents have been agitating over why 26 of the creatures ended up at a private zoo in India run by the philanthropic arm of a conglomerate controlled by Asia's richest family, the Ambanis.

Indian investigators cleared the sanctuary of any wrongdoing this week. But European officials say they are keeping a close watch on any exports to Vantara, while Brazil, Germany and India are working toward a possible resolution at a United Nations-administered body that monitors wildlife trade.

The 3,500-acre Vantara animal rescue and rehabilitation centre in Gujarat state says it is home to some 2,000 species. The venue featured in pre-wedding celebrations last year for the centre's leader Anant Ambani, the youngest son of billionaire Mukesh Ambani, whose guests included Ivanka Trump and Mark Zuckerberg.

The zoo, adjacent to an oil refinery operated by the Ambanis' Reliance Industries, was inaugurated in March by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A Reuters analysis of 2,500 commercially available customs records shows that since 2022, the wildlife centre has imported an extraordinary range of exotic species from countries including South Africa, Venezuela, Democratic Republic of Congo and the United Arab Emirates.

The haul resembles a modern-day Noah's Ark: 2,896 snakes, 1,431 tortoises, 219 tigers, 149 cheetahs, 105 giraffes, 62 chimpanzees, 20 rhinoceroses and scores of reptiles, including spiny-tailed lizards and veiled chameleons.

The shipments were recorded with a declared value of $9 million, which a Vantara spokesperson said reflected freight and insurance charges, not payments for wildlife.

"They are not commercial transactions in animals," the spokesperson said. "There has never been any commercial consideration paid for any animal transferred to Vantara."