´óÏó´«Ã½

Thailand is sending almost 1,000 endangered lemurs and tortoises back to Madagascar after they were stolen as part of the illegal buying and selling of animals.

Both countries have called it their biggest operation against wildlife trafficking.

The illegal wildlife trade - where animals are sold in exchange for money - is now one of the biggest forms of wildlife crime in the world.

Police found and seized the animals in the south of the country in what Thailand's government said is the country's biggest seizure.

The African island of Madagascar is one of the world's remaining biodiversity hotspots, but the rate of extinction to wildlife has been rising there.

Research published last year found the number of mammal species on the island threatened with extinction increased dramatically, from 56 in 2010 to 128 in 2021.

The animals sent back to Madagascar included ring-tailed lemurs, brown lemurs, spider tortoises and radiated tortoises.

All the animals are endangered and found on the Indian Ocean island.

Nearly a third of the 107 species of lemurs, which are all found in Madagascar, are critically endangered and experts say lemurs are often trafficked for the illegal pet trade.

The furry primates and the tortoises will be sent to special centres when they return.

According to a report from TRAFFIC in 2023, an organisation that works on the trade in wild animals, Thailand is south-east Asia's biggest legal importer and exporter of endangered wildlife from Madagascar.

But the report says illegal trafficking - that breaks the law - still exists and "the true extent is likely to be greater than those reflected by seizure records alone."

Madagascar's environment minister, Max Andonirina Fontaine, told the news agency AFP that it is "difficult" to know the true number of animals smuggled out of Madagascar, but that the increase in finds shows anti-trafficking has improved.