Two endangered ring-tailed lemurs stolen from Gazipur Safari Park in Bangladesh have been found at Banatara, a wildlife rescue and conservation project in Gujarat, India, managed by Anant Ambani, according to Bangladesh’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Investigators said the animals were allegedly sold after passing through several intermediaries for about Rs 4.8 million.
Bangladesh has sought assistance from the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) to bring back the two lemurs. The repatriation process has become complicated because the animals had no microchips, unique identification numbers or stored DNA profiles to establish their identity and ownership.
Banatara is owned by Reliance, one of India’s leading industrial and business conglomerates. The wildlife conservation facility is part of a 3,500-acre conservation centre. Although it had begun operating earlier, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally inaugurated it in March 2025. Anant Ambani, the younger son of Reliance chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani, oversees its management.
CID investigations and confessional statements made in court by arrested suspects revealed details of the theft and trafficking, investigators said. Three lemurs were stolen from the safari park in the early hours of March 23, 2025. Two of them were later smuggled into India through the Darshana border in Chuadanga.
Gazipur Safari Park authorities filed a case the following day, which is being investigated by the CID.
Investigators said wildlife trafficker Jewel allegedly stole the lemurs with the assistance of Nippen Mahmud, a security guard employed through outsourcing. The animals were placed in sacks and kept at a house, where videos and photographs were taken and sent to potential Indian buyers.
Bablu from Kolkata and Shiplu from Mumbai travelled to Bangladesh in May 2025, according to the investigation. Delwar and Tapan coordinated their contacts and arrangements in Bangladesh. Investigators said a deal was made to sell one adult lemur and one juvenile for Tk1.7 million, while the price of another juvenile was set at Tk300,000.
Statements by arrested suspects said two lemurs were taken across the Darshana border with the help of a local border line-man. The animals subsequently passed through several people before reaching Jamnagar in Gujarat. Indian buyers later sold them for about Rs 4.8 million to an institution associated with the Banatara project.
Bangladeshi investigators noticed the matter after photographs of the two lemurs at Banatara were posted on social media. Efforts to return the animals began after investigators found similarities between the photographs and the lemurs stolen from Gazipur Safari Park.
Police officials said microchips, registration numbers and genetic profiles are crucial internationally for confirming the ownership and identity of trafficked wildlife. The lemurs had been at the safari park for more than five years, but no DNA profiles had been stored and no microchips or individual identification systems had been used.
The absence of such records has created difficulties in scientifically proving that the two lemurs at the Gujarat facility were stolen from Gazipur Safari Park. Authorities are now attempting to create a DNA profile of the juvenile lemur still in Bangladesh to establish blood relations with the two trafficked animals.
Inspector Sunil Das, the investigating officer in the lemur theft case, said two rare lemurs were brought into Bangladesh through Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in August 2018 after being falsely declared at customs. The animals were placed at Gazipur Safari Park after being detected.
“The animals came to the attention of an international network while at the safari park,” Das said. “At one stage, the lemurs were stolen with the assistance of a security guard and smuggled across the border. Those involved have been brought under the law. Most of the accused have given confessional statements.”
The customs intelligence operation at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport seized a large illegal consignment of rare birds and animals, including several lovebirds, cockatoos, macaws, peacocks and a pair of lemurs. Part of the seized consignment was later sent to Gazipur Safari Park.
Investigators found that the lemurs had been imported after being declared as birds. The pair produced two offspring while at the safari park. After the male lemur died, the female and the two juveniles remained at the park.
The CID said eight people have been named as accused in the case. Six of them have made confessional statements under Section 164 before a court. Statements from two accused, Delwar and Jahir Mia, could not be recorded because they went into hiding after securing bail following their arrests.
Investigators also found allegations that Jahir Mia had previously been involved in the theft of macaw birds.
The company that imported the lemurs in 2028 was identified as ASHA Enterprise. Its office in Monipuripara, Tejgaon, was found locked.
Md Atiul Hafiz Sad, owner of the company, said by phone: “Our family runs a C&F agent business. We do not currently have information on who falsely declared and imported the lemurs.”
Ring-tailed lemurs are native to the island of Madagascar in Africa and are known for their long black-and-white ringed tails. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the species as critically endangered on its Red List.
The species is included in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, meaning international trade is prohibited except under special conditions.
Wildlife and zoo expert Md Reza Khan said DNA profiles and individual identification information should be recorded as soon as rare and endangered animals are taken into conservation. Such records make it easier to establish an animal’s identity and ownership in the event of theft or trafficking.
Khan said technology-based border surveillance, particularly CCTV and other modern systems, should be expanded to prevent wildlife trafficking. He also called for the identification and prosecution of networks involved in wildlife theft and trafficking within Bangladesh, along with stronger coordination among the Forest Department, law enforcement agencies and intelligence services.