Thailand returns trafficked lemurs and tortoises to Madagascar

A lemur of the Lemur Catta or Maki type, a species of lemur endemic to Madagascar, is locked in a wooden crate in Antananarivo on Dec 1, 2024, having just been repatriated from Thailand. - AFP

ANTANANARIVO: Several dozen lemurs and more than 900 tortoises endemic to Madagascar that were trafficked to Thailand will be returned home this week, the Indian Ocean island-nation's environment ministry said on Sunday (Dec 1).

Sixteen ring-tailed lemurs -- which are the most recognisable lemur species due to their distinctive black and white tails -- arrived back in the capital Antananarivo on Sunday, AFP journalists saw.