Five baby orangutans were discovered abandoned in a forest in Odisha, eastern India, thousands of kilometres from their native habitats in Borneo and Sumatra, prompting an investigation into whether they were victims of international wildlife trafficking. The find is significant because orangutans are critically endangered and protected under both global and Indian law, and the animals' presence so far from home strongly suggests deliberate smuggling and abandonment rather than natural movement.

The apes, believed to be two females and three males all under a year old, were found on Tuesday near a highway in the Ranakatha Protected Reserved Forest after locals alerted officials; forest officers estimate they had been there for two to three days. They have since been given first aid and taken to Nandankanan Zoological Park in Bhubaneswar for quarantine and monitoring, and appear to be adjusting well. India's Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, police and a special task force are investigating, with officials saying the young orangutans could not have travelled there unaided and were likely driven to the location; a similar case occurred in 2022 when two infant orangutans were found smuggled via Myanmar near the Assam-Mizoram border.