Five orangutans found in India face long road back home to Indonesia

Five infant orangutans discovered roaming a forest in India's Odisha state on Sept. 8 are believed to have been trafficked thousands of kilometers from Sumatra, likely through Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar and Bangladesh, according to conservation groups tracking the route. Only Indonesia and Malaysia have native orangutan populations, making the animals' presence in eastern India a clear sign of an international smuggling network rather than a local incident.

The orangutans are now housed at a zoo in Bhubaneswar while India's Wildlife Crime Control Bureau investigates their origin, and Indonesia's forestry ministry says it is coordinating with Indian officials and the CITES wildlife trade authority toward repatriation. Conservationists note that past repatriation attempts have stalled for years in the gap between the two countries' legal systems, even as similar orangutan trafficking cases surfaced in India in 2022 and 2023.

All three orangutan species are critically endangered, with Sumatran orangutans down nearly 20% between 2011 and 2023 and only 716 Tapanuli orangutans estimated to remain. Indonesia's forestry ministry spokesperson said any citizen found involved in the trafficking would face legal action, without offering further detail on the ongoing investigation.

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