- The case of missing lemurs from a Bangladeshi safari park exposes major gaps in wildlife conservation enforcement, locally and regionally.
- In the absence of protocols, tracing and repatriating trafficked wildlife becomes a big challenge for law enforcers.
- SAWEN, a high-level South Asian platform for wildlife enforcement, suggests continued dialogue among regional parties to close these gaps.
The case of three ring-tailed lemurs, an endangered species, stolen from Gazipur Safari Park in Bangladesh last year resurfaced on social media in September this year, when news spread that two of the lemurs were trafficked to India and later sheltered at a private wildlife conservation facility, Vantara.
The viral news prompted Vantara to release a statement, denying the allegations while assuring cooperation in sharing the DNA profile of the ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) currently in its custody with Bangladesh authorities.
However, the Bangladesh Forest Department was unprepared to respond to the call immediately, as it had no prior DNA profiling record of the lemurs stolen from Gazipur.
Sufi Ullah, special superintendent of police under the Criminal Investigation Department of Bangladesh Police, the investigation agency, told Mongabay on Sept. 13, “Even though Bangladesh court orders further probe following the availability of the DNA profile, cross-border investigation is impossible.”
Forest Department officials said that tracing the last destination is challenging and bringing the lemurs back is uncertain, as there is no repatriation protocol under the existing mutual understanding between Bangladesh and India.
Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, director at Bangladesh Forest Department’s Wildlife Crime Control Unit (WCCU), said, “Further investigation and repatriation [of the lemurs] may follow only if the governments of the two countries agree to do so.”
Meanwhile, South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network Secretary General Krishna Prasad Acharya, in an email to Mongabay, said that the exchange of information can assist the concerned countries in verifying available information, coordinating follow-up, and supporting further investigation by the competent national authorities.
The trails of lemur case
On March 23, 2025, security of the Gazipur Safari Park — a protected wildlife facility — was breached, and three ring-tailed lemurs were stolen.
Two of the stolen lemurs, along with other wildlife species, were brought to the park after being recovered from the airport in Dhaka in August 2018, during a smuggling attempt. The recovered lemur couple gave birth to two cubs at Gazipur Safari Park. One of the lemurs died in February 2022.
Following the theft of the lemurs, Bangladesh Police’s CID began an investigation in April 2025 and arrested eight people.
Sufi said, “Five of them gave confessional statements to the court. Following the statements, we could rescue one of the three stolen lemurs.”
The rescued lemur died at Gazipur Safari Park in February, he said.
On Sept. 8, a Bangladeshi newspaper, citing CID officials, reported the remaining two stolen lemurs from Gazipur had been traced to Vantara — a Gujarat-based privately held wildlife rescue and conservation project managed by a prominent business family in India.
Two days later, Vantara released a statement on social media. The statement said that the lemurs referred to in recent news reports were acquired in accordance with applicable laws and regulations, and Vantara is “ready to support the relevant authorities in establishing the facts, including through DNA comparison if appropriate.”
On Sept. 11, CID officials, however, reportedly said that they were still unable to confirm whether the two lemurs were currently at Vantara.
Sufi told Mongabay that one of the accused individuals, in interrogation, admitted that they smuggled two lemurs to India. “Where the animals were taken afterwards is still a mystery,” Sufi said on Sept. 20.
The shortcomings
The lemur family had been at the Gazipur Safari Park for nearly seven years, but neither their DNA profiles had been recorded nor were they tagged with microchips under an individual identification system, which investigators find to be an obstacle in tracing the stolen animals’ last destination.
Sufi said that CID has sought the lemurs’ DNA profile report from the Forest Department.
WCCU-Forensic Lab’s senior lab technician Konok Roy said that he collected DNA samples from the lemur that died in February this year.
“DNA profiling of wildlife is a time-consuming and complicated procedure,” he said.
Former WCCU Director Jahir Uddin Akon said the department could have stored the DNA profile of the lemurs and other wildlife in captivity, like a safari park, earlier.
“We did not apprehend such an incident. The lemur theft case is a lesson for us,” he said.
The lemur theft case has been filed under Sections 380 and 457, which involve theft and housebreaking, but not with poaching
In addition, the Wildlife (Conservation and Security) Act 2026, the only law to protect wildlife in Bangladesh, has no provision to address poaching of wildlife from a protected area such as a safari park.
Some Forest Department officials, who asked to speak anonymously to Mongabay, said that this is a major weakness of the Wildlife Act 2026.
What is the next?
WCCU Director Mizanur said on Sept. 20 that the DNA report would come back within weeks.
He, however, expressed skepticism about the repatriation of the lemurs from India, even if their whereabouts are found and matched with the DNA profile of their relative.
He said, “Lemurs are not native in Bangladesh. Indian authorities can challenge us about their ownership.”
He said currently there is no established protocol between Bangladesh and India for repatriating any trafficked wildlife.
Mizanur is the current spokesperson in Bangladesh for the intergovernmental platform SAWEN.
In January 2011, the SAWEN was established to strengthen cooperation among its eight member countries in combating wildlife crime.
SAWEN Secretary General Krishna said that SAWEN’s principal role, in cases involving suspected cross-border trafficking of wildlife, is to facilitate coordination, communication, and information exchange among the relevant national authorities, rather than to conduct investigations independently.
Krishna wrote to Mongabay, “If the wildlife is subsequently located and repatriation is considered appropriate, the process itself would need to be undertaken by the competent authorities of the countries concerned, in accordance with their national laws and applicable international frameworks, including CITES where relevant.”
Regarding the theft of lemurs from Bangladesh and reportedly trafficked to India, Krishna said SAWEN can facilitate communication and coordination with the appropriate authorities in India and other concerned member countries, as necessary, to support further information exchange and follow-up investigations.
Krishna mentioned that the recent First General Assembly of SAWEN, which produced the Kathmandu Declaration, also emphasized the need to further strengthen regional information sharing, intelligence cooperation, and coordinated responses to transboundary wildlife crime.
“Cases of this nature demonstrate the practical importance of timely information sharing, coordination among national focal points and enforcement agencies, and effective regional cooperation in addressing transboundary wildlife crime,” Krishna concluded.
Banner image: Ring-tailed lemurs in a zoo. Image by Luke Seago
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