New Delhi. Indian authorities have rescued five baby orangutans in an eastern forest region, according to a state minister on Tuesday, following a targeted wildlife recovery operation. Officials suspect the endangered primates were illegally trafficked into the country from Southeast Asia.
The orangutans, native only to the islands of Borneo and Sumatra and known for their shaggy red fur, were found in Balasore district of Odisha state.
They were “found when the Forest Department was patrolling in the Udaipur section under the Jaleswar range in Balasore district,” Odisha Environment Minister Ram Singh Khuntia told the IANS news agency.
Khuntia said investigators were trying to establish how the rare apes reached India, adding that the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau would probe the case.
“We suspect that an international racket might be involved in this,” Singh said.
The animals have been placed in quarantine at a zoological park in Odisha.
According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), around 104, 000 orangutans remain in Borneo and Sumatra, down from more than 230, 000 a century ago.
The Tapanuli orangutan, a third species, is classified as critically endangered, with fewer than 800 believed to survive in the wild.
