Five baby orangutans have been discovered abandoned in a forest in eastern India, far from their natural habitat, prompting an investigation into potential trafficking. The apes were found in the Ranakatha Protected Reserved Forest in the Balasore district of Odisha state.
Local residents alerted officials after spotting the young orangutans, believed to be two females and three males under one year old, on the forest floor eating bananas. Forest officials estimate the animals had been in the location, which is near a highway, for two to three days. No other orangutans were found in the vicinity.
The orangutans, native only to the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, could not have reached Odisha on their own and are thought to have been transported there, according to Balasore District Forest Officer Pratik Prakash Indalkar.
Following their discovery on Tuesday, the group received first aid and were transported to Nandankanan Zoological Park in the state capital, Bhubaneswar. They have since been quarantined and are under observation, with reports indicating they are adjusting well and interacting with stuffed toys.
India's Wildlife Crime Control Bureau has been requested to investigate the incident. Local police, forest officials, and a special task force are also involved in the probe. The area where the orangutans were found is described as being covered mainly by casuarina trees and is not a dense forest, adding to the suspicion that they were deliberately placed there.
Orangutans are critically endangered, with the Bornean, Sumatran, and Tapanuli species all facing severe population declines due to deforestation, habitat destruction, and hunting. Mothers typically give birth once every eight years and orangutans stay with their mothers for several years, making the abandonment of such young animals particularly concerning.
The international commercial trade of orangutans is banned under Cites, the global treaty regulating the trade of endangered species, and they are also protected under Indian wildlife legislation. Despite these protections, illegal trafficking persists, with orangutans often sold as exotic pets or to private collectors.
This is not the first instance of young orangutans being found in India. In 2022, two infant orangutans were discovered abandoned near the Assam-Mizoram border, with authorities believing they had been smuggled into the country from Myanmar.