5 baby orangutans found in Odisha forest, rescued
Balasore, Odisha: Five baby orangutans, aged 1-2 years, were found wandering in the Bichitrapur forest near Badapai village in Bhograi block on Sept 8 morning.
Locals spotted them around 6 am and alerted forest officials. They were rescued and shifted to Nandankanan Zoo in Bhubaneswar on Sept 9 and are under quarantine.
Orangutans are native only to Borneo and Sumatra — India has no wild population. Natural migration is impossible, officials said.
Balasore DFO Pratik Prakash Indalkar said smuggling is a possibility but not yet proven. The state has asked the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) to probe how the critically endangered apes, protected under CITES Appendix I, reached Odisha.
