Vikram's viral video with lar gibbon sparks India wildlife investigation - BBC News

A deleted video of Tamil star Vikram cuddling an endangered gibbon has triggered an inquiry into how the animal entered India.

Image source, Vikram/InstagramImage caption, Vikram, an actor from Tamil Nadu, posted a clip of him playing with the endangered animal

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.

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.

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.

They have not concluded that the animal was trafficked, or that Vikram owned it or was involved in bringing it into India.