Indonesia seeks to bring back baby orangutans allegedly trafficked to India
AFP | Jakarta
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Indonesian 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 yesterday.
The critically endangered animals were found Tuesday by rangers patrolling in the Balasore district of India's eastern Odisha state.
Authorities suspect the primates, known for their shaggy red fur, 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, the ministry said in a statement.
Orangutans in the wild are native only to Indonesia's Sumatra island and Borneo, which it shares with Malaysia and Brunei. 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 (IUCN), which lists Sumatran orangutans as critically endangered, the young of the species are weaned only at about seven years of age.
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