Bhubaneswar: The health of five baby orangutans rescued from a forest in Odisha’s Baleshwar district is steadily improving under specialised care at Nandankanan Zoological Park here, with the state’s climate and environment proving favourable for their recovery, Forest, Environment and Climate Change Minister Ganesh Ram Singkhuntia said on Wednesday.
The three male and two female infants, estimated to be between six months and one year old and not native to India, were found abandoned on September 8 in a casuarina plantation in the Bhograi area near the West Bengal border. Local residents spotted them clinging to trees, prompting forest officials to rescue the critically endangered primates, species naturally found only in the rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra, and shift them the same day to a temperature-controlled quarantine enclosure at the zoo in Bhubaneswar. The discovery has triggered a joint investigation by the Odisha Police Special Task Force and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau into suspected international wildlife trafficking, with authorities examining how the animals reached the coastal forest far from their natural habitat.
Speaking to reporters, the minister highlighted continuous monitoring by doctors from national-level institutions in Mysuru and New Delhi, along with experts from the Wildlife Institute of India in Dehradun and the Centre for Wildlife Health. “The climate of Odisha suits the orangutans. Special care is being taken, and they are being monitored 24 hours. The weight of the orangutans has also increased,” Singkhuntia said.
Initially the orangutans were underweight and faced health challenges, including issues managed through temperature-regulated enclosure care, anaemia in three of them (one severe and two mild cases) and a fever in one. Zoo authorities reported a steady gain in the primates’ weight, with a male cub (M1) growing from 5.6 kg on September 22 to 6.05 kg on September 26, with similar improvements across the group; overall, the infants are accepting feed normally, displaying improved appetite, behaviour and activity levels, and normal faecal consistency.
Singhkhuntia said that the DNA test of the orangutans will be conducted very soon to determine the origins and subspecies. “Contact has been established with the Zoological Society of India (ZSI) for the DNA test. Samples will be sent. After the DNA test report comes, it will be clear which country they originated. Accordingly, the Centre will also be informed,” the minister said.
The tests, to be processed through the Zoological Survey of India in Kolkata, will also help in the ongoing probe.
High-level reviews have reinforced care standards. Chief Secretary Anu Garg, along with Forest and Environment Department Secretary Bhaskar Sarma and Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) P K Jha, visited the orangutans on Sunday and directed round-the-clock monitoring. Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida is scheduled to visit them on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, officials are contemplating shifting the infants to a larger enclosure at the park once their health fully stabilises and quarantine ends. Nandankanan already has a specialised orangutan enclosure that has remained empty since the death of a 41-year-old female in 2019.
On the investigation, Singkhuntia noted that the Crime Branch of Odisha Police and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau are examining the circumstances of the trafficking. “The state government is not updated on the probe as there were floods and rain. We will soon review the progress made in the investigation,” he said.
No arrests have been made so far as authorities continue efforts to trace the route that brought the exotic primates to Odisha.