PETALING JAYA: Indian actor Chiyaan Vikram's video with a lar gibbon has triggered an investigation into the source of the protected animal, which came from Malaysia.
The video of Vikram playing with the gibbon and hugging it had gone viral, The Hindu reported. Since the lar gibbon is listed as a Schedule IV protected species under India's Wildlife Protection Act, officials will send a forest ranger to verify the primate's origin.
The Tamil Nadu Forest Department has also sought documents from individuals for possession of the lar gibbon.
The Lar Gibbon (Hylobates lar) is listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Its import requires CITES import and export permissions, Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) documentation and permission from the Chief Wildlife Warden of the State to which it is being imported.
According to The Hindu, Yogesh Kulal, Wildlife Warden, Chennai, said the animal has since been moved to Erode from businessman C. K. Ranganathan’s residence in Injambakkam.
Sources told The Hindu the trail of the lar gibbon could be traced to Erode and, before that, to Manipur. A Manipur-based stockholder, Laikhuram Singh, had declared eight lar gibbons — four males and four females — in 2020 under the declaration of stock of exotic live species through PARIVESH 1. The records identified Malaysia as their country of origin.
A subsequent Form I under the Living Animal Species (Reporting and Registration) Rules, 2024, recorded the transfer of three lar gibbons - one male and two females - from Laikhuram in Manipur to S. K. Keshavanathan in Perundurai, Erode for adoption.
Chief Wildlife Warden Rakesh Kumar Dogra said the department was examining the circumstances under which the animals reached Tamil Nadu and whether all statutory requirements governing their possession and transfer had been complied with.
