5 baby orangutans rescued from suspected smuggling operation in India

A group of baby orangutans has been found in a forest in India, thousands of kilometres from their natural habitat, sounding the alarm about possible illegal smuggling. Orangutans are native only to Borneo and Sumatra, two islands in southeast Asia, and are distinct for their sparse reddish-orange fur and long, powerful arms. Their presence in Odisha, an eastern Indian state on the Bay of Bengal, prompted environmental officials in the region to open a trafficking investigation. 1:14 World’s only-known albino orangutan returns to the wild Story continues below advertisement “We suspect that an international racket might be involved in this,” Odisha’s environment minister, Ram Singh Khuntia, told the Indo Asian News Service.The five babies were discovered by forest department officials who were patrolling the Jaleswar range in Balasore district, The Guardian reported. Get daily National news Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you'll never miss the day's top stories. Officials suspect the orangutans were in the area for a few days before they were found, and have since been placed in quarantine at a state zoo, the U.K. newspaper said.The species is critically endangered...