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Five baby orangutans are found abandoned 1,700 miles from home in India as experts question a billionaire's zoo

Five baby orangutans at Nandankanan Zoological Park in Bhubaneswar, whose mothers were most likely killed, leaving infants who would normally cling to them for up to nine years.
Five baby orangutans at Nandankanan Zoological Park in Bhubaneswar, whose mothers were most likely killed, leaving infants who would normally cling to them for up to nine years.

Their mothers were probably killed, leaving infants that would normally cling to them for up to nine years. Villagers in Odisha were baffled by the reddish-haired apes they found on a casuarina plantation in September: three males and two females aged six to eight months. Keepers at the zoo now housing them have reportedly played classical music to calm them. Conservationists are raising concerns over rare animals acquired by a zoo owned by Mukesh Ambani's family.

In 2022, two Sumatran orangutans were found in boxes at an Assam-Mizoram checkpoint.

India's laws protect tigers, elephants and rhinos, leaving imported exotic animals poorly policed.

The illegal wildlife trade is worth $34 billion a year, with India an emerging market.

MoreThe IndependentBaby orangutans found in India expose illegal wildlife trade as experts question billionaire’s zooAPBaby orangutans in India expose illegal wildlife trade as experts question a billionaire’s zooAPIndia emerges as major destination for trafficked orangutans and other endangered apesThe Business StandardBaby orangutans found in India highlight illegal wildlife trade, raise questions over billionaire's zoo
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