Authorities are working to repatriate five baby orangutans allegedly trafficked to India, where they were found motherless in a forest, Jakarta’s forestry ministry said.
The critically endangered animals were found Tuesday by rangers patrolling in the Balasore district of India’s Odisha state.
Authorities suspect the primates were trafficked into India, sparking a criminal investigation.
The youngsters, estimated to be about one-and-a-half years old, appeared to be healthy and were being cared for at a zoo after their rescue.
Orangutans in the wild are native only to Indonesia’s Sumatra island and Borneo.
The five infants appeared to be of Sumatran origin, the ministry said, and DNA tests will be used to confirm where they were from.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which lists Sumatran orangutans as critically endangered, the young of the species are weaned only at about seven years of age.
The last estimate of the species’ population size, in 2016, was just over 13,500.
The Indonesian government has requested India hand over the apes, said forestry ministry spokesman Ristianto Pribadi.
“The forestry ministry has begun communicating with the government of India through the Indian embassy in Jakarta,” he said.
Jakarta has also been in touch with conservation NGOs to help rehabilitate the baby orangutans, the ministry statement added.
Panut Hadisiswoyo, founder of the Orangutan Information Centre, an NGO, said it supported bringing the primates home.
“Repatriation should be the priority,” he said. “In my opinion, the DNA tests can be done after repatriation.”
Wild orangutans have been put under pressure in recent weeks by forest fires that have plagued the region and consumed swathes of Borneo island. — AFP
