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Five baby orangutans are found abandoned on an Indian plantation 1,700 miles from home 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 likely killed, leaving infants that would normally depend on them for up to nine years. Villagers in Odisha found them in a casuarina forest in September, puzzled by their reddish hair. The three males and two females, aged six to eight months, are now at a zoo where keepers reportedly play classical music to soothe them. Conservationists are raising concerns over a zoo owned by Mukesh Ambani's family.

A 2026 Singapore study puts the global illegal wildlife trade at $34bn a year.

India's wildlife laws protect native tigers, elephants and rhinos, not imported exotic animals.

Two Sumatran orangutans were found stuffed in boxes at an Assam-Mizoram checkpoint in 2022.

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 zooSouth China Morning PostDiscovery of baby orangutans in India exposes booming illegal pet trade
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