Vikram, an actor from Tamil Nadu, posted a clip of him playing with the endangered animal<\/p>\n
A video posted by a Tamil film star showing him cuddling an endangered gibbon has triggered an investigation by Indian wildlife officials over how he came into contact with the animal.<\/p>\n
Vikram, an award-winning actor from the southern state of Tamil Nadu, was seen hugging and playing with a lar gibbon in a now-deleted video posted on Instagram on Monday.<\/p>\n
The state's forest department has since begun investigating how the gibbon came to be at a private home and whether rules governing its possession and transfer were followed.<\/p>\n
They have not concluded that the animal was trafficked, or that Vikram owned it or was involved in bringing it into India.<\/p>\n
Vikram has not commented on the controversy yet. His public relations officer, Yuvaraj, told BBC Tamil that the media would be informed if the actor issued a statement.<\/p>\n
Lar gibbons are small apes native to south-east Asia whose international trade is tightly controlled.<\/p>\n
Officials said the animal was being kept at the home of a relative of Vikram in Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu state.<\/p>\n
The state's Chief Wildlife Warden Rakesh Kumar Dogra told BBC Tamil that individuals could keep a lar gibbon if they had the permits and documentation required by law.<\/p>\n
"An investigation is under way into where the lar gibbon came from. Only then can we say whether it was brought illegally," he said.<\/p>\n
The case has made national headlines. Vikram, whose real name is Kennedy John Victor, is one of the biggest names in Tamil cinema, India's popular Tamil-language film industry. His career spans more than three decades and he is known for taking on unconventional and physically demanding roles.<\/p>\n
Lar gibbons are listed as endangered, with their numbers threatened by habitat loss, hunting and the illegal pet trade<\/p>\n
Lar gibbons are small apes covered in blonde or dark brown fur, with a distinctive ring of white fur around their faces.<\/p>\n
They live in tropical forests in small family groups and are found across parts of south-east Asia, including Thailand, Myanmar and Malaysia.<\/p>\n
The species is listed as endangered, with its numbers threatened by habitat loss, hunting and the illegal pet trade.<\/p>\n