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.

Thailand is sending almost 1,000 highly endangered lemurs and tortoises back to their home in Madagascar, in what both countries called their biggest ever operation against wildlife trafficking.

In a ceremony in Bangkok, Thai authorities transferred the 961 healthy animals over to members of the Malagasy Department of National Parks

Madagascar has launched an operation to repatriate more than 1,000 endangered lemurs and tortoises, seven months after Thai authorities seized them from wildlife traffickers. Officials are calling it the largest return of trafficked species in the island nation's history.

Several dozen lemurs and more than 900 tortoises endemic to Madagascar that were trafficked to Thailand will be returned home this week, the Indian Ocean island-nation’s Environment Ministry said.