Two ring-tailed lemurs allegedly stolen from a safari park in Bangladesh have been found at a zoo and wildlife centre linked to India’s wealthiest family, according to a report by British newspaper The Independent, citing Ajker Patrika. Ajker Patrika first reported the matter.
Bangladesh Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) said the two animals were among three lemurs stolen from বঙ্গবন্ধু Sheikh Mujib Safari Park in Gazipur in March 2025. The animals were later trafficked abroad, investigators said.
Lemurs are native to Madagascar in Africa and are considered a critically endangered species. Investigators said the stolen lemurs had been brought into Bangladesh through Dhaka airport in 2018 using a false declaration to customs authorities. The animals were later rescued and transferred to the safari park.
Dhaka has sought assistance from the International Criminal Police Organization, Interpol, to bring the animals back to Bangladesh. Ajker Patrika reported that the repatriation process has become complicated because the lemurs do not have microchips, separate identification numbers or stored DNA profiles for identity verification.
Officials are attempting to prepare a DNA profile of the lemur that remains in Bangladesh. The test is intended to determine whether it is biologically related to the two lemurs allegedly trafficked from the country.
Ajker Patrika reported that the lemurs were smuggled into India through the Darshana border in Chuadanga. The animals were subsequently sold for nearly 4.8 million Indian rupees, or £504,000.
Investigators said the lemurs were stolen with the assistance of a security guard and taken to India with the help of a border “lineman”. After changing hands several times, the animals reportedly reached Jamnagar, a city in western India, where they were allegedly sold to an organisation associated with Bantara Wildlife Centre.
Investigators said six of the eight suspects in the trafficking case had given confessional statements before a local court. Bangladeshi officials said they became aware of the matter after photographs of the lemurs at Bantara were posted on social media, following which authorities launched efforts to recover the animals.
The Independent contacted Bantara for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
Bantara, spread across about 3,500 acres in Gujarat, India, is primarily a zoo and wildlife centre operated by the Radhe Krishna Temple Elephant Welfare Trust. The trust is supported by Reliance, the Indian industrial conglomerate owned by Mukesh Ambani, one of Asia’s richest people.
Anant Ambani, Mukesh Ambani’s son, planned Bantara. The Ambani family has long-standing close relations with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who inaugurated Bantara Zoo in March 2025.
Animal rights organisations have questioned whether Bantara should be regarded as a genuine conservation initiative. The groups have criticised the centre over a lack of transparency in animal acquisitions and its focus on rare species and large-scale infrastructure.
Animal rights groups have also raised concerns about the impact on government zoos after animals were transferred from states including Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh to the private zoo. Bantara has also faced allegations of violating animal-import regulations and has come under scrutiny from authorities in Germany and the European Union. Bantara has rejected those allegations as “completely false and baseless”.