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Thousands of kilometres from home: How did 5 orangutans end up in Indian forest?
The young apes are not native to India, prompting authorities to investigate whether an international wildlife trafficking network was behind their mysterious arrival
- PUBLISHED: Wed 9 Sept 2026, 6:00 AM
Five young orangutans have been found in a forest in eastern India, thousands of kilometres away from their natural habitat, leaving wildlife officials trying to answer one question: How did they get there?
The orangutans were spotted near Badapai village in the Balasore district of Odisha at around 6am on Tuesday, September 8.
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Their appearance immediately raised questions because orangutans do not live naturally in India. Wild orangutans are found only in the rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra in Southeast Asia.
Forest officials rescued all five animals and launched an investigation into how they reached the area.
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Could they have travelled there naturally?
Officials say that is highly unlikely.
Balasore Divisional Forest Officer Pratik Prakash Indalkar said there is no natural corridor connecting the area to the orangutans' habitat.
“Chances of their natural migration to the Balasore forest is less as there is no corridor link. It must be a human-induced act,” he told The Indian Express.
Authorities are now investigating whether the animals may have been brought to India as part of an illegal wildlife trafficking operation.
Odisha's Forest and Environment Minister Ganesh Ram Singh Khuntia said the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau would investigate the case as authorities look into a possible international smuggling link.
Police are also assisting with the investigation, while forest officials are searching surrounding areas for signs of other animals or evidence that could help explain how the orangutans arrived there.
What happened to the orangutans?
The five animals were taken into the care of forest officials following their rescue.
Four were reported to be healthy, eating food and drinking oral rehydration solution, while veterinary doctors examined and treated the group.
Officials believe the orangutans are juveniles based on their size, although their exact ages have not yet been determined.
Arrangements are being made to move them to Nandankanan Zoological Park in Bhubaneswar, where they are expected to be quarantined and monitored.
Why is their discovery so unusual?
Orangutans are Asia's only great apes and are naturally found in the rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra.
All three orangutan species are classified as critically endangered, making the discovery of five young animals so far outside their natural range particularly significant.
For now, officials have not confirmed exactly where the five orangutans came from or how they reached Odisha.
The investigation will now focus on tracing their origin and determining whether an individual or international wildlife trafficking network was responsible for bringing them into India.