Indonesia steps in to save baby orangutans found motherless at Indian forest

Indonesian authorities are working to repatriate five baby orangutans found motherless in a forest in India's Odisha state. The critically endangered primates were discovered by rangers on Tuesday and are suspected to have been trafficked into India. The young orangutans, estimated to be around one-and-a-half years old, are reportedly healthy and being cared for at a zoo. Preliminary observations suggest they are of Sumatran origin, with DNA tests planned for confirmation. This discovery has prompted a criminal investigation into the alleged trafficking.

Five critically endangered baby orangutans were discovered in a forest in India's eastern state of Odisha, thousands of kilometers from their native habitats in Indonesia and Malaysia. Local residents alerted forest officials, who rescued the apes and provided them with first aid before transferring them to Nandankanan Zoological Park for quarantine and monitoring. Investigators are examining the possibility that the orangutans were trafficked into India by an international smuggling network and subsequently abandoned near a highway. Forest officials believe the animals could not have reached Odisha naturally and were likely transported there by road.