CHENNAI: The forest department is set to seize the Lar Gibbons from an exotic-animal breeding facility in Erode, with officials issuing a show-cause notice to the breeder amid questions over the source and documentation of the primates.
Erode wildlife officials and the Tamil Nadu Wildlife Crime Control Bureau are separately investigating the source of the Gibbons. Officials told TNIE S K Keshavanathan, owner of the facility, had claimed that Lar Gibbons acquired from Manipur in June this year were part of the declared stock but failed to submit papers supporting his claim. "We gave him a day's time to submit possession and transfer certificates of the Manipur seller. Prima facie it looks like they are trafficked animals. We will seize the Gibbons in a day or two," a senior forest official said.
A prolonged inspection of the facility was carried out on Wednesday, during which officials scrutinised not just the Gibbons but also tens of exotic birds, mammals and reptiles kept at the premises. The inspection assumes significance as records available with the department reveal a sprawling collection of exotic wildlife and a trail of subsequent births and transfers.
Keshavanathan had declared his exotic live-animal stock on the Parivesh portal on March 14, 2021, shortly before the deadline under the Centre's voluntary disclosure scheme. However, several of the applications continue to show the status “proposal is pending at wildlife warden” in the records reviewed.
The declarations cover macaws, cockatoos, pheasants, conures, parrots, toucans and turacos, besides primates including marmosets, tamarins, bush babies and squirrel monkeys. One stock declaration contains 114 numbered animal entries.
The possession records include 40 sun conures, 40 pineapple conures and 40 blue-and-gold macaws, besides 20 Nanday conures, 20 parrotlets and 12 Eclectus parrots. The inventory also includes African grey parrots, Galah cockatoos, Victoria crowned pigeons, Amazon parrots and several macaw species.
Among the mammals are common and black-tufted marmosets, red-hand tamarins, cotton-top tamarins, squirrel monkeys, greater and Mohol bush babies and fennec foxes. Iguanas and red-footed tortoises are among the reptiles.
The records also document subsequent movement of animals. Four black-tufted marmosets and two red-hand tamarins were transferred to a Kerala resident in November 2024, while two common marmosets and a greater bush baby were subsequently transferred to another individual in Anamalai through inheritance.
The declared stock includes species of international conservation concern. The records give the country of origin of the golden conure as Brazil, Moluccan cockatoo as Indonesia, Goffin's cockatoo as Papua New Guinea, blue-and-gold macaw as Brazil and cotton-top tamarin as Colombia.
Several species are also covered by CITES, including Appendix-I species. The inspection now raises crucial questions like why were the 2021 declarations left pending for years? Were the animals physically verified? Was a certificate of possession issued? How were subsequent births and transfers permitted if the original applications remained pending?
While the documents alone do not establish that every transaction was illegal, the prolonged pendency and subsequent movement of animals warrant close scrutiny by the authorities, conservationists said.
