Bhubaneswar: They were merrily swinging from branches in a dense casuarina forest, but the five baby orangutans had no business being there. Their bizarre appearance in a Balasore forest on Tuesday has left wildlife officials baffled and triggered a probe into suspected international trafficking, with authorities suspecting the critically endangered apes may have been abandoned by traffickers fearing arrest.The five orangutans — two females and three males — were spotted by locals dangling from tree branches inside the Bhogarai forest area, around 40km from the Balasore-Kolkata stretch of NH-16. Since orangutans are not native to India and are not found in the wild in the country, officials suspect they may have reached Odisha through an international trans-oceanic trafficking network.The animals are suspected to have been abandoned near Badipada (Chandaneswar) by traffickers fearing arrest. A special task force (STF) of the crime branch has started a probe, while a team from the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) is rushing to Balasore. “We have sent our personnel to Balasore to start the probe,” said IG (STF) Himanshu Kumar Lal.Forest minister Ganesh Ram Singhkhuntia said the WCCB would conduct a detailed investigation to identify the animals’ origin and uncover how they reached Odisha. Locals who first spotted the unusual animals alerted forest officials, believing that a rare species of monkeys had strayed into the area.“When our field personnel visited the site, to their surprise the 5 were orangutans, including 2 females and 3 males. As a crowd started gathering near the forest, we decided to bring a cage and safely secure the animals without using tranquilisers. The orangutans were extremely calm and meek. They could be handled by hand and placed inside the cage without any difficulty,” said divisional forest officer (DFO), Balasore, Prateek Indalkar.Indalkar said the animals could have been transported in a vehicle travelling from Kolkata to Balasore. “We suspect they may have come from Malaysia to Kolkata by ship. The WCCB has the expertise to determine the exact species and identify the country of origin,” he added.Chief wildlife warden Prem Kumar Jha said orangutans have previously been trafficked and kept illegally as exotic pets by wealthy individuals in several countries. “Whether the animals were being taken to Kolkata for sale to affluent buyers or were being moved from Kolkata to another destination will be established soon,” he said.Following a medical examination in Balasore, the rescued orangutans were shifted to Nandankanan Zoological Park, Bhubaneswar, where they have been housed at the animal rescue centre. Forest authorities said a decision on their long-term rehabilitation and future custody will be taken after the WCCB completes its investigation.
