IWN Report — Sunday, 4 October 2026
The wildlife-trade monitoring network TRAFFIC says the five orangutans found abandoned in Odisha last month show that India plays a part in the illegal trade in these apes.
According to TRAFFIC, forest officials found the orangutans on 8 September while on patrol in the Jaleswar range of Balasore district in Odisha. Wild orangutans live only in Indonesia and Malaysia, so they are a long way from home. TRAFFIC calls the discovery bewildering.
TRAFFIC documented 140 incidents involving the illegal orangutan trade across Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand between January 2016 and December 2025. These cases, including seizures, rescues and poaching, involved 159 live orangutans, a higher number than the incidents themselves because several cases included multiple animals.
Most of the orangutans were juveniles. Where the species could be identified, 24 per cent were Sumatran and 37 per cent were Bornean.
TRAFFIC also recorded 15 attempts to smuggle orangutans out of those three countries. The animals were headed for places including Russia, South Korea, the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.
Orangutans have been found in India before. In November 2024, a young orangutan was rescued during a raid on a flat near Mumbai in Maharashtra, according to TRAFFIC. IWN has followed the Odisha case since the animals were found, including the joint investigation by the state police and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau.
Indonesian authorities issued a statement two days after the seizure, TRAFFIC says, saying they were seriously following up on the case.