On September 8, 2026, a routine patrol by the Odisha Forest Department officials in a forest in the Jaleswar area of Balasore district, Odisha, became national news because of a unique discovery. During the patrol, Balasore’s Divisional Forest Officer, Pratik Prakash Indalkar, and his team stumbled upon a group of five baby orangutans, lying abandoned in Bichitrapur forest under Bhograi block.
The baby orangutans, three males and two females aged between 1 and 1.5 years, lay abandoned, looking weak, scared, and starved. As soon as news about the baby orangutans broke out, curious locals flocked in large numbers to see them. The forest officials provided the infants with food and swiftly moved them to safety, away from the crowds.
The baby orangutans were sent to the Nandankanan Zoological Park in Bhubaneswar, where they are being kept in quarantine. The infants are receiving care under expert supervision, and they are being observed for any signs of dehydration, illness, or stress because of being separated from their mothers at such a young age.
#WATCH: Five rescued orangutans brought to Nandankanan Zoo in Bhubaneswar, kept in quarantine#Bhubaneswar #Odisha
— OTV (@otvnews) September 9, 2026
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The innocent red-furred creatures have grabbed national as well as international attention. While there is nothing unusual in wild animals being found in a forest, the presence of baby orangutans in Odisha’s forest became a talking point because the area is not their natural habitat. Odisha, or, for that matter, India, has no known population of orangutans, one of the three great ape species found in Asia.
In Asia, orangutans are exclusively found in Sumatra (Indonesia) and the island of Borneo, both of which are located thousands of kilometres away from India. It is not yet clear whether the baby orangutans are from Indonesia or Borneo. The Indonesian Ministry of Forestry said that primary observations and the physical features of the baby orangutans indicate that they might belong to the Indonesian orangutan population. The ministry called for a DNA test to confirm their genetic origins.
Baby orangutans might be victims of wildlife trafficking
In the absence of any migratory corridor linking their natural habitat and India, it is unlikely that the baby orangutans would have travelled such a vast distance and arrived at the eastern coast of India on their own. The lack of a plausible explanation for their presence in India has raised suspicions of possible transnational wildlife trafficking. It is suspected that the animals might have been smuggled into India or were being smuggled to a different destination via India.
Odisha’s environment minister, Ram Singh Khuntia, expressed suspicion that the baby orangutans are victims of wildlife trafficking. “We suspect that an international racket might be involved in this,” Khuntia said, adding that investigators are examining whether an international smuggling network was involved in their trafficking.
“Orangutans are not native to India. Their natural habitat is found only in Indonesia and Malaysia, particularly on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. Therefore, the presence of five baby orangutans in India strongly suggests that the animals are victims of illegal wildlife trade and smuggling involving a transnational network,” the Indonesian forestry ministry said in its statement.
Indian authorities are working to determine the origins of baby orangutans and investigate how they ended up in Odisha. Meanwhile, the Indonesian government has urged the Indian government to return the baby orangutans to Indonesia. Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry said it is following up on the matter with Indian authorities, including the CITES Management Authority of India and the Indian Embassy in Jakarta.
This is not the first time the orangutans have been found in Indian territory. Earlier, in 2022, two baby orangutans were found abandoned at a checkpoint near the border between the states of Assam and Mizoram.
Transnational wildlife trafficking and the role of India
The incident has reignited debate around international wildlife trafficking, which remains a major challenge for governments across the world. While there is no universally accepted definition of wildlife trafficking, it involves illegal trade, smuggling, poaching, capture, or collection of endangered or protected species of animals, plants, and their parts in violation of national or international laws. The demand for luxury goods, exotic pets, food, and traditional medicine made from parts of endangered or protected plants and animals fuels the wildlife trafficking networks.
Wildlife trafficking is said to be the fourth-largest illicit trade globally after arms, narcotics, and human trafficking. At present, illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife products is estimated to be worth $7-$23 billion annually. It is one of the most lucrative criminal activities in the world.
While illegal trade in wildlife is a global menace, India is not exempt from its impact. India features among the top 20 countries for wildlife trafficking and among the top 10 countries where wildlife trafficking happens via air routes. Apart from its rich biodiversity and the dense human population, India is a preferred place for wildlife traffickers for a specific reason. India is exploited for a threefold role of being a source, a transit route, and a destination for wildlife trafficking compared to other countries where one or two of these activities take place. This makes it structurally challenging for law enforcement to address and curb the problem.
India is misused as a source for its own endangered species such as tigers, pangolins, star tortoises, and red sanders. It is also used as a transit route for animals, plants, and their parts moving between Southeast Asia and international markets. Furthermore, it also serves as a destination to facilitate a wide consumer base for trafficked wildlife. India’s porous borders with its neighbours, like China, Myanmar, and other Southeast Asian countries, in addition to its growing aviation sector, provide a conducive route for wildlife trafficking.
According to the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), a total of 202 incidents involving wildlife crime were documented between April and December 2025. Out of these, 151 cases related to hunting, attempted hunting, and illegal entry into protected areas or illegal trade of native wildlife species. 51 incidents were linked to attempts to smuggle live exotic wildlife for the pet trade, mostly from Southeast Asian countries.
During the same period, 29 incidents involving the smuggling of tiger and leopard parts were recorded, involving seizures of skins, claws, and teeth across multiple states. Besides, 15 ivory seizures were reported, along with a case of an elephant electrocuted for its tusks.
The most trafficked animal species in India
Pangolins, seahorses, and tortoises are some of the most trafficked species in India. Patagonian seahorse (hippocampus patagonicus) is one of the three seahorse species that are trafficked for their use in medicine. Indian star tortoise is trafficked worldwide due to its high demand as a pet.
According to a 2020-21 report by India’s Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, the most common animal products trafficked out of India in that period were ivory, turtles and tortoises (especially the Indian star tortoise), Indian and red sandalwood (red sanders or lalchandan). The report states that the illegal trade in rhino horn registered a decline, but pangolin poaching kept rapidly growing. Besides, the trade in tiger parts also continued unchecked.
In addition to that, tiger and leopard skins, their bones and other body parts, rhino horns, ivory, turtles and tortoises, seahorses, snake venom, mongoose hair, snake skins, tokay gecko, sea cucumber, chiru fleece, musk pods, bear bile, medicinal plants, red sanders timber, and caged birds such as parakeets, mynas, and munias are also some of the animal parts commonly smuggled out of India.
Most common trafficking routes in India
According to a 2018 report, wildlife traffickers moving ivory, rhino horn, reptiles, birds, pangolins, marine products, and mammals by air tend to rely on large hub airports all over the world. In the case of India, wildlife traffickers mostly use two major routes for smuggling wildlife into and out of India. One of the routes is the international border along the northeastern states of India, and the other route is through airports.
The trafficking in rhino horns, tiger parts, and pangolin scales is especially rampant along the Indo-Nepal and Indo-Myanmar-China borders, and the Northeast Indian cities such as Dimapur, Guwahati, and Imphal are being used as transit sites. Trafficking of birds and reptiles happens along the India-Bangladesh border, including the Dooars region in northern West Bengal, particularly the town of Jalpaiguri.
In air routes, Chennai and Mumbai airports have emerged as major centres for the trafficking of reptiles, including turtles and tortoises, into and out of India. The Indian star tortoise, which is said to be the most trafficked reptile in the world, is supplied from trafficking hubs in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu to Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia, primarily by air. Live animals are smuggled in checked luggage, hand-carried containers, or mislabelled air cargo shipments.
Legal framework to address the menace
At the international level, wildlife trade is regulated by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which currently has 184 Parties, including 183 countries and the European Union. India is a signatory to the convention. Notably, orangutans are listed as an endangered species under CITES. They are included in CITES Appendix I, the strictest category under the convention, which outright prohibits any international trade of listed animals for primarily commercial purposes. Besides, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies all three living species of orangutans as Critically Endangered.
At the domestic level, the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, creates the legal framework to prevent and punish the trafficking of protected species. The Act was amended in 2022 to implement the CITES obligations. The enforcement of the laws is undertaken by the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) along with the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, state forest departments, and customs authorities at ports and airports. The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, is further supported by the Customs Act, which provides additional tools for seizing illegally imported animals and prosecuting smugglers at the point of entry.
However, despite dedicated domestic and international frameworks to address the problem of wildlife trafficking, the problem continues unabated due to logistical challenges in the implementation of the laws.
