"Only then can we say whether it was brought illegally."
Tamil film star Vikram is facing an investigation by wildlife officials after a video showed him cuddling an endangered lar gibbon.
In a now-deleted video, the actor was seen hugging and playing with the animal, leading to some social media reports describing the gibbon as Vikram’s new pet.
The footage quickly spread online, with some media reports describing the animal as the actor’s new pet. It was deleted from his account within hours.
The Tamil Nadu Forest Department is investigating how the gibbon came to be at a home in Chennai and whether rules governing its possession and transfer were followed.
However, officials have not concluded that the animal was trafficked. They have also not established that Vikram owned the gibbon or was involved in bringing it into India.
Vikram has not commented on the controversy.
Lar gibbons are small apes native to south-east Asia, where they live in tropical forests in small family groups.
They are found across parts of south-east Asia, including Thailand, Myanmar and Malaysia.
The species is classified as endangered, with habitat loss, hunting and the illegal pet trade threatening its numbers.
Lar gibbons are also protected under CITES, an international agreement that tightly restricts the trade in endangered species.
India has incorporated protections for CITES-listed species into its wildlife laws. People who keep such animals must register them with wildlife authorities and follow rules governing their possession and transfer.
Tamil Nadu’s Chief Wildlife Warden Rakesh Kumar Dogra said individuals could keep a lar gibbon if they had the required permits and documentation.
He said: “An investigation is under way into where the lar gibbon came from. Only then can we say whether it was brought illegally.”
Dogra also explained what is required to legally import exotic animals into India:
“To import exotic animals, it is necessary to submit a DGFT [Directorate General of Foreign Trade] permit and a no-objection certificate, and then a wildlife conservator’s certificate.”
Wildlife officials have since been led more than 1,240 miles away to Manipur.
A senior Tamil Nadu forest official said the animal was among eight lar gibbons declared by a Manipur-based man on the government’s PARIVESH portal in 2020.
PARIVESH is the official platform used to register exotic animals and obtain environment, forest and wildlife-related permissions in India.
According to records on the portal, Malaysia was listed as the animals’ country of origin.
Records cited by the official show that on June 5, 2025, one male and two female lar gibbons were transferred from Manipur to a person in Perundurai in Tamil Nadu’s Erode district.
The stated purpose of the transfer was adoption.
However, investigators have not yet found documentation showing that permission from Tamil Nadu’s Chief Wildlife Warden had been obtained for the animals to be brought into the state.
Two months later, on August 5, one male and one female gibbon were transferred from Perundurai to Vikram’s relative in Chennai, according to the Forest Department’s investigation.
Investigators are now trying to establish the precise origins of the gibbons and whether the necessary documentation was in place at each stage of their journey.
Wildlife activists have also raised questions about how the animals originally entered India.
Manipur borders Myanmar, while India’s north-east has been flagged as a route for the illegal trade in exotic wildlife.
Authorities have not concluded that the gibbons in this case were trafficked.
The Tamil Nadu Forest Department is examining their documentation, including whether rules governing the international movement and possession of CITES-listed animals were followed.
India’s Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), a federal agency that investigates organised wildlife crime, has also become involved.
Thenmozhi, the bureau’s Southern Zone Deputy Director, said it had written to wildlife officials in Chennai asking them to verify documents and take appropriate action.
The WCCB said further action would depend on what officials found during their investigation.
The case comes amid wider concern about the illegal trade of exotic animals in India.
In recent years, customs officials have repeatedly intercepted passengers arriving from south-east Asia with live reptiles, birds and primates concealed in their luggage.
Gibbons have also been found among animals seized from passengers arriving from Bangkok.
In November, customs officials in Bengaluru found a gibbon among exotic animals being brought into the country by passengers arriving from Bangkok.
For now, the investigation into the lar gibbon seen with Vikram remains focused on tracing its origins and establishing whether the required documentation was in place.
Officials have not accused Vikram of any wrongdoing, with the wider investigation continuing into the animal’s movement and possession.
