Odisha Investigates How Five Baby Orangutans Reached Forest Near Highway

According to the BBC, five baby orangutans were found in a forest in India’s eastern state of Odisha, prompting an investigation into whether they were trafficked into the country and abandoned near a highway. The animals were rescued early on Tuesday in Balasore district after local people alerted forest officials, then given first aid and moved to Nandankanan Zoological Park in Bhubaneswar, where they are in quarantine and being monitored. Balasore District Forest Officer Pratik Prakash Indalkar said the apes could not have reached Odisha naturally and may have been transported by road. He said the five animals were found in Ranakata, a proposed reserve forest in Bhogarai block near the West Bengal border, in an area dominated by casuarina trees and close to a state highway. Odisha’s forest minister said investigators are examining whether an international smuggling network was involved, and the state government has also asked India’s Wildlife Crime Control Bureau to investigate. Police, forest officials and a special task force are involved in the inquiry. Orangutans are not native to India and are found in the wild only in Indonesia and Malaysia. Officials described the animals as infants, while some local reports said they were between one and two years old. Wildlife expert Biswajit Mohanty said their young age made the discovery particularly concerning, noting that young orangutans usually stay with their mothers for several years and females typically give birth only once every eight years. International commercial trade in orangutans is prohibited under Cites, and they are also protected under Indian wildlife laws.