India: 5 baby orangutans rescued, smuggling suspected
Five young orangutans, not native to India, were found in an Odisha forest, sparking suspicion of an international smuggling operation. Meanwhile, India said it was not involved in the BAPS-Eiffel Tower row.
Indian forest rangers rescued five infant orangutans in India's eastern Odisha state on Tuesday, sparking suspicions of illegal smuggling from Southeast Asia. The young apes, not indigenous to India, were discovered in the Balasore district, where villagers reportedly spotted them in a tree, mistaking them for monkeys before alerting authorities.
Local legislator Goutam Buddha Das revealed that the coastal location suggested potential oceanic transportation from Indonesia. "I demand a high-level inquiry to discover those involved in the smuggling racket," Das said. Three males and two females were examined by veterinarians, found healthy, and provided with food and hydration before being transferred to Nandan Kanan Zoo in Bhubaneswar for quarantine.
Odisha's Environment Minister Ram Singh Khuntia stated that the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau is currently investigating the circumstances of the animals' arrival in India, suspecting an international trafficking syndicate. Orangutans are native to the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, with an estimated 104,000 remaining in the wild, a significant decline from over 230,000 a century ago.
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