CHENNAI: The Lar Gibbon controversy, after actor Vikram shared a video of him playing with one of the animals, has deepened with the Forest Department finding that one of the three gibbons acquired by an Erode breeder had died without the department being informed.
The development has also raised questions over the chain of possession and transfer of the animals from Manipur to Erode and subsequently to Chennai.
Erode District Forest Officer Venkata Appala Naidu told TNIE that a Forest Department team visited the breeder’s farm in Erode on Tuesday and found two Lar Gibbons. “On inquiry, the team was informed that one female gibbon had died,” he said.
The breeder had not informed the department about the death. The age and cause of death of the animal were also not immediately known.
This is a significant lapse because the Living Animal Species (Reporting and Registration) Rules, 2024, specifically require the death of a registered animal to be reported along with a post mortem report issued by a veterinary practitioner.
The case also raises questions over whether the animals could have been legally transferred in the first place.
Documents show that three Lar Gibbons, one male and two females, were transferred from Manipur to Erode based S K Keshavanathan in the first week of June. But the underlying Manipur record throws up another concern.
Laikhuram Singh had declared eight Lar Gibbons in 2020 under the exotic live species stock declaration through Parivesh 1, recording their origin as Malaysia.
Crucially, the document says the proposal was pending before the Chief Wildlife Warden, which means he did not have possession and transfer certificates.
The subsequent Erode to Chennai transfer is also recorded as a purchase. A Form I dated August 5 names C K Ranganathan of Injambakkam as the transferee.
After the controversy surrounding actor Vikram’s video, Ranganathan quietly moved the surviving gibbons back to Erode, raising a further question on what basis the animals were allowed to be transported out of Chennai when their documentation and chain of legal possession were themselves under question.
Under Section 49M of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, every transfer of a Schedule IV living animal must be reported and registered, and no person can possess, transfer or breed such an animal except in conformity with the Act and the prescribed rules. The law also specifically requires deaths to be reported.
The 2024 Rules require a transfer to be reported within 15 days, while the prescribed Form I specifically asks for the transferor’s registration certificate and details of the transferee. There is, therefore, a larger enforcement question beyond the celebrity video.
Wildlife conservationists are questioning why the Chennai wildlife authorities did not seize the gibbons from the Injambakkam residence and why the case has not been booked so far.
Erode officials said they are waiting for instructions from the headquarters before they go ahead and seize the animals or assist the Chennai team in taking action.
