Mumbai, May 5 (PTI) Forest officials on Monday raided a hotel in south Mumbai and arrested a man and a woman for allegedly smuggling nine primates from Malaysia, an official said.

However, eight of the wild animals had died before the raid. The surviving primate is critical and is being looked after by a team of wildlife experts, he said.

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The accused had smuggled Siamang Gibbons, White Faced Gibbons and Pig-Tailed Macaques, all CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) Appendix-listed species and protected under the Wildlife Act.

The accused have been identified as Shriram Subramanyam (30) from Chennai and Mathavi Sollakunnu (59) from Malaysia.

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Further investigations are underway, added the official.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)