Home / Environment / Orangutan Ordeal: 5 Infants Found in Odisha Forest
Orangutan Ordeal: 5 Infants Found in Odisha Forest
9 Sep
Summary
- Five infant orangutans were discovered in Balasore district.
- An international wildlife trafficking network is suspected.
- Investigators are examining CCTV footage and mobile data.
A 5-member team from the crime branch's Special Task Force (STF) is investigating the mysterious appearance of five infant orangutans in Balasore district, Odisha. The STF suspects an international wildlife trafficking network may be operating along the eastern coast.
Investigators are meticulously examining CCTV footage and mobile tower data from the Bhogarai area, where the critically endangered primates were rescued. They are also coordinating with the Coast Guard and police stations along the Odisha-West Bengal coastal border to gather information.
Authorities have reached out to zoological parks across India to determine if any orangutans have been reported missing. Officials believe the orangutans were deliberately abandoned in an accessible forest patch to ensure their quick discovery, possibly to save them from predators.
The rescue of these infant orangutans, a species not native to India's wild, has triggered significant concern among wildlife enforcement agencies regarding illicit trafficking activities.
