Two endangered lemurs stolen from a safari park in Bangladesh last year have reportedly been found at a massive wildlife facility in India run by billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s family.
The two ring-tailed lemurs were among three stolen from Gazipur Safari Park in March 2025 before being smuggled across the border into India.
Bangladesh’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has now traced the animals to Vantara, the 3,500-acre wildlife rescue and conservation centre in Gujarat conceived by Mukesh Ambani’s son Anant Ambani.
Investigators said the animals changed several hands before reaching Jamnagar, where they were allegedly sold for around Rs4.8 million to an institution associated with Vantara.
The story of how the lemurs got there, however, goes back even further.
The animals were themselves smuggled into Bangladesh through Dhaka airport in 2018 under a false customs declaration. Authorities caught them and eventually moved them to Gazipur Safari Park.
But on March 23 last year, three lemurs were stolen from the park.
Investigators allege a wildlife trafficker carried out the theft with the help of a security guard. The animals were stuffed into sacks and taken to a house, where their pictures and videos were sent to potential buyers in India.
Two were then allegedly taken across the Darshana border with help from a local border lineman.
Six of the eight suspects in the case have since given confessional statements before a court, according to investigators.
Bangladeshi authorities reportedly discovered where the lemurs had ended up after pictures of them at Vantara appeared on social media.
Now comes another problem: proving they are the same animals.
The safari park never microchipped the lemurs or stored their DNA profiles. Bangladesh is therefore planning to test a related lemur still in the country and use its DNA to establish a blood relationship with the animals in India.
Bangladesh has also sought Interpol’s assistance to bring them home.
2026-09-09 21:02:00
