September 10, 2026

Five baby orangutans have been discovered in a forest in eastern India, thousands of miles from the animals’ natural habitat, prompting authorities to investigate whether they were victims of an international wildlife trafficking operation.

Forest officials found the five young orangutans while patrolling the Jaleswar range in the Balasore district of Odisha. Orangutans do not naturally live in India; their wild populations are native to the Indonesian and Malaysian islands of Borneo and Sumatra.

The unusual discovery immediately raised concerns among wildlife officials about how the animals reached the region.

Odisha Environment Minister Ram Singh Khuntia said investigators suspect an international trafficking network may have been involved. Authorities are now working to determine where the animals came from and how they were transported into India

The Baby Orangutans Are Now in Quarantine

Officials believe the orangutans had been in the forest for only a few days before they were discovered.

All five animals have since been moved to a zoological park in Odisha, where they are being kept in quarantine while officials monitor their condition and continue the investigation.

The case is particularly serious because international commercial trade in orangutans is prohibited under CITES, the international agreement regulating trade in endangered wildlife.

Orangutans remain under severe pressure from habitat destruction and illegal wildlife trafficking. Their populations have fallen dramatically over the past century, making the discovery of five young animals far outside their natural range especially concerning.

Authorities have not yet announced exactly where the five orangutans originated or who may have been responsible for transporting them.

Source: Reporting published September 10 by The Guardian/Agence France-Presse.