Baby Orangutans in India Highlight Growing Illegal Wildlife Trade

The discovery of five baby orangutans abandoned in a forest in eastern India has brought to light concerns about a burgeoning illicit trade of apes into the country. The three males and two females, estimated to be between six and eight months old, were found on a plantation in Odisha, a region thousands of miles from their native rainforests in Borneo and Sumatra.

These critically endangered animals, whose wild populations number around 119,500 according to the World Wildlife Fund, play a vital role in their natural habitat by spreading seeds that aid rainforest regeneration and carbon storage. Their presence in India is evidence of a growing illegal wildlife trade, estimated by a 2026 study by National University of Singapore researchers to be worth $34 billion annually, with India emerging as a key destination.

Experts suggest that current seizures represent only a fraction of the trade in exotic animals, often sold to affluent Indian collectors seeking rare animals as status symbols. India's existing wildlife laws primarily focus on protecting native species from illegal export, creating gaps in controls for imported animals that complicate tracing their origins.

Recent incidents underscore this trend. In 2022, two young Sumatran orangutans were found in boxes at a checkpoint in northeastern India. Another orangutan was rescued in Mizoram in 2023, and one was found in an apartment near Mumbai in November 2024. Additionally, at least 23 gibbons were seized at Indian airports in 2025, and in May 2026, Egyptian authorities intercepted three sedated chimpanzees destined for India.

"India has become the number one destination for the live trade of primates," stated Sinan Serhadli, a wildlife trafficking expert at the Orangutan Information Centre in Indonesia. He attributes this to wealthy collectors and the increasing number of direct flights to India from Southeast Asian transit hubs like Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, which offer faster routes for traffickers.

The profit margins in this trade are substantial, allowing traffickers to absorb losses and still profit, according to wildlife trafficking researcher Uttara Mendiratta. Furthermore, questions have arisen regarding legal trade channels. While commercial trade in orangutans is largely prohibited, exceptions exist for captive-bred animals. CITES data indicates India imported 41 orangutans between 2021 and 2024, but Serhadli expressed doubt about the legitimacy of their captive breeding.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, India allowed the registration of exotic animals without proof of origin in 2020, a measure intended to address concerns about disease transmission. While an online portal exists for reporting births, deaths, and breeding of non-native species, inadequate government staffing and expertise hinder effective inspection and identification of exotic animals. This system also presents an opportunity for trafficked animals to be falsely registered.

Despite India strengthening its wildlife laws in 2022 to grant authorities clearer powers to seize illegally traded exotic animals and prosecute traffickers, the initial policy changes had already facilitated the trade, according to Mendiratta.

Indonesia's Ministry of Forestry has stated it is taking "active steps" to repatriate the five baby orangutans found in Odisha, dispatching experts to verify their origins and assess their health. The mothers of these infants were likely killed, leaving the young dependent on them for up to nine years. While conservationists have successfully returned orangutans from Thailand to Indonesia, only one has been repatriated from India to date.

Concerns have also been raised about a Tapanuli orangutan, the world's rarest great ape, reportedly acquired by Vantara, a wildlife facility run by the family of billionaire Mukesh Ambani. CITES trade data suggests the animal left Indonesia in 2024 and arrived in India via the United Arab Emirates, a route Serhadli noted cannot be legal. Indonesia's Ministry of Forestry is investigating these reports but has not yet confirmed the animal's species, origins, or transit details. Vantara has faced international scrutiny over its acquisitions, though India's Supreme Court cleared the facility of wildlife trafficking and animal mistreatment allegations in 2025. However, in September, 27 wildlife conservation and animal welfare organizations urged Vantara to cease importing wild animals, citing concerns over endangered species and animal welfare.