In brief
In the eastern Indian state of Odisha, five baby orangutans were found abandoned in a forest near the West Bengal border, far from the species’ natural habitat. Rescued by locals, the emaciated apes were taken to a Bhubaneswar zoo for treatment and quarantine. The inciting incident has the state government and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau probing whether the animals were smuggled into country by an international trafficking ring. Investigators suspect road transport and have set up a special task force to trace the chain of custody. The discovery highlights the ongoing challenge of wildlife trade and the need for rigorous enforcement to protect critically endangered species.
Five infant orangutans were discovered abandoned in a forest near the West Bengal border in Odisha, a region thousands of kilometres away from the tropical rainforests where the critically endangered species normally live. Local villagers spotted the babies on the forest floor, eating bananas, and promptly alerted forest officials.
The five newborn-like apes were rescued early on Tuesday and taken to Nandankanan Zoological Park in the state capital, Bhubaneswar, where they are receiving first‑aid care and are now in quarantine under veterinary supervision.
Odisha’s forest minister has said investigators are looking for evidence of a wildlife smuggling network that might have transported the animals by road and abandoned them near a highway. The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau has been asked to assist, and a special task force combining forest officials and police will examine transport routes and satellite data.
Pratik Prakash Indalkar, the district forest officer, said the four‑year‑old baboons could not reach Odisha naturally and likely passed through a highway corridor. The area where they were found—Ranakata in the proposed reserve forest—was close to the state highway and covered mainly by casuarina trees, giving investigators clues about possible transport methods.
The discovery follows an earlier incident in 2022 when two baby orangutans were found abandoned at a checkpoint between Assam and Mizoram, where officials suspected they had crossed into India from Myanmar. Despite international treaties such as CITES and Indian wildlife law banning trade in these apes, illegal smuggling continues to threaten the species.
According to wildlife experts, female orangutans reproduce slowly, often giving birth only once every eight years, and young ones remain with their mothers for several years to learn essential survival skills. The adolescents’ sudden isolation and lack of adult conspecifics has raised urgent questions about the apes’ fate and the chain of custody leading them to Odisha.
