Tamil actor Vikram posted, then deleted, an Instagram video of himself playing with an endangered lar gibbon, prompting Tamil Nadu's forest department to investigate how the animal ended up at a relative's home in Chennai. Officials have not concluded the gibbon was trafficked or that Vikram was involved in bringing it into India, but records show it traces back to eight gibbons a Manipur-based man declared on a government portal in 2020, listing Malaysia as country of origin.
Three of those gibbons were transferred to Erode district in June for 'adoption,' then two moved on to Vikram's relative in Chennai in August, though investigators say they haven't found documentation showing Tamil Nadu's Chief Wildlife Warden approved the animals entering the state. India's Wildlife Crime Control Bureau has now written to local officials demanding verification of the paperwork.
Lar gibbons are endangered and protected under the CITES international trade agreement, with India's north-east flagged as a known route for illegal wildlife trafficking, though authorities stress no trafficking conclusion has been reached in this case.
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