Vikram’s Lar Gibbon Reel Sparks Tamil Nadu Forest Dept Probe Into CK Ranganathan Over Suspected Exotic Wildlife Trafficking

Chennai: An Instagram reel posted on Sunday by popular Tamil actor Vikram (Kennedy John Victor), cuddling a young monkey native to the forests of Malaysia and Indonesia, has landed his daughter’s fatherin-law, prominent businessman CK Ranganathan, in a soup with the Tamil Nadu Forest Department over its purported links to the exotic species trafficking trade.

The monkey is a lar gibbon, an endangered species protected under the international treaty Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and India’s Wildlife (Protection) Act. Official documents show it was brought from Manipur to Erode in June and then transferred to Ranganathan last week, along with three other exotic monkeys. Activists say this is a giveaway that it was trafficked from Southeast Asia through the land route to India, though officials have not yet confirmed it. Erode dealer SK Keshavanathan confirmed the monkeys were meant for “CKR”, whom he called a close associate.

Ranganathan’s manager said he would respond but did not answer calls later. Sources said the monkey has been sent back to Erode.

While Vikram deleted the reel on Monday, representatives of Ranganathan met Chennai Wildlife Warden Yogesh Kulal a few hours later.

Kulal told The Free Press Journal (FPJ) that the department would initiate an inquiry into the matter.

As per rules, lar gibbons are protected under Schedule IV, Appendix I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act. Individuals owning them need to provide complete documents showing when they were purchased, the necessary permissions and import documents, and clearance from wildlife officials on the Parivesh portal.

“They don’t have this clearance as of now,” Kulal said. An internal document shows that the transfer proposal on the Parivesh portal is still pending with the Chief Wildlife Warden.

An analysis by wildlife trade monitoring body TRAFFIC in October found that India has emerged as an important node in the global gibbon trafficking trade. Multiple seizures have been made by Customs authorities in Chennai, Mumbai and Bengaluru from smugglers who bring the animals from Thailand and Malaysia.

TRAFFIC’s analysis said at least 336 gibbons were seized across South and Southeast Asia between January 2016 and August 2025, 20% of which were reported in 2025. While Indonesia and Vietnam accounted for the maximum seizures, the recent trend indicated a growing shift towards India and Malaysia, driven primarily by trafficking to India through the air route.

Gibbons are immensely popular as pets among the rich in India as they resemble human babies. But activists say the baby monkeys are likely to have been brought from the wild after their parents were killed. In September last year, a siamang gibbon was found dangling from overhead cables in Chennai’s northern suburb and was later rescued by forest officers.

The wildlife activist quoted earlier said celebrities posting such videos on social media fuel the trade. “These animals belong in the wild, irrespective of which country’s forests they are from,” he said.