Actor Vikram’s Instagram video, showing him cuddling a small lar gibbon, went viral before the clip was deleted. The footage sparked a wave of online speculation that the actor owned the primate, and the Tamil Nadu Forest Department began an investigation into how the endangered ape appeared on private property in Chennai.
Lar gibbons are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and Indian wildlife law. Permit and documentation are required for both possession and transfer, and officials have asked whether these procedures were followed in the gibbon’s journey from Manipur, a state bordering Myanmar, to Tamil Nadu.
Records indicate the gibbons were declared on the government’s PARIVESH portal as “imported from Malaysia” and were transferred to a relative of Vikram in Chennai. However, the forest department says it has not found evidence of the necessary permits at each transfer point.
The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) has joined the probe, demanding verification of documents and assessment of whether the animals were trafficked. The bureau’s deputy director in the Southern zone noted that the gibbons are classified as protected species under CITES and should only be handled with proper authorisation.
The case has wider implications for India’s intensifying crackdown on the illegal trade of exotic pets. Recent cargo seizures at Mumbai, Pune, and Bengaluru airports have included reptiles, birds, and primates, with gibbons among the species found smuggled from Southeast Asia.
Vikram remains silent, and his public relations officer said no statements would be released until the actor announced one himself. The investigation continues as officials sift through documentation to determine the legality of the gibbon’s presence in India.
