- On Sept. 8, five infant orangutans were found in an Indian forest, thousands of kilometers from their native range, raising questions about where they came from, how they got there, and who moved them.
- The Sumatran (Pongo abelii) and Tapanuli orangutans (Pongo tapanuliensis) are both found only in Indonesia, on the island of Sumatra.
- The Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) is found only in Indonesian and Malaysian Borneo; the island is shared between the two countries and Brunei.
- The government of Indonesia has engaged its counterparts in India in a bid to identify the animals and return them to Indonesia.
ACEH, Indonesia — The five infant orangutans found roaming a woodland in India’s Odisha state earlier this month may have been trafficked across several international borders — and now face a long journey home through the different legal and bureaucratic systems of India and Indonesia, conservationists say.
“This starts with hunting in the wild, separating babies from their mothers, and transporting them across various regions, then selling them or keeping them as exotic pets,” said M. Indra Kurnia, director of conservation at the Sumatran Orangutan Lestari Foundation–Orangutan Information Center (YOSL-OIC).
The five youngsters were found on Sept. 8 by locals near the Bichitrapur forest area in Balasore district, Odisha, a state on India’s east coast formed out of the ancient Kalinga region. Authorities are investigating how the animals came to be there, and the possible involvement of an international wildlife trafficking network.
Only Indonesia and Malaysia have native orangutan populations, with the Indonesian island of Sumatra around 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) across the Indian Ocean from Odisha.
The Bornean species lives in Indonesia and Malaysia, while the Sumatran and Tapanuli species are found only in Indonesia.
“We mustn’t just see this as a local case in the country where the animals were found,” Indra said.
Questions over wildlife smuggling route
This isn’t the first time stolen orangutans have been discovered in India, thousands of kilometers from their mothers.
In 2022, authorities in India recovered two stolen juvenile Sumatran orangutans in the north of Mizoram, a border state with Myanmar in India’s far east. A forestry officer at the time said the animals were suspected to have been transferred from Myanmar, and were both likely less than a year old.
A year later, in October 2023, Indian authorities recovered a single Sumatran orangutan from a car in Seling, a village in Mizoram, 55 km (34 miles) from the Myanmar border.
SCENTS, an Indonesian conservation organization that researches wildlife trafficking, said the latest batch of orangutans was believed to have been captured in Indonesia’s Aceh Tamiang district, Aceh province, and possibly trafficked through Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, and Bangladesh, through to India. Conservation groups have raised concerns about a trafficking route from Sumatra to India.
“Odisha or Mizoram generally serve as transit points before animals are shipped to final buyers or international markets,” said Dwi Nugroho Adhiasto, a wildlife trade expert and senior adviser at SCENTS.
Indra said the investigation should trace the Aceh route, including where the animals were captured, how they were transported, and who supplied and purchased the animals.
“The approach to orangutan trafficking must evolve from being rescue-oriented to being crime network-oriented conservation,” Indra said.
A physical examination can serve as a preliminary step to determine the origin of the five orangutans, by assessing physical features such as shape, size, coloring, and other characteristics.
However, DNA analysis can provide stronger evidence by comparing the five young orangutans’ genetic profiles with reference samples from known populations. This could help narrow their geographic origin, and potentially pinpoint the population from which they were taken.
“YOSL-OIC encourages morphological examination, health and genetic analysis as part of the investigation,” Indra said.
Repatriation presents bilateral challenges
The five young orangutans were transferred to Nandankanan Zoological Park in Bhubaneswar, the Odisha state capital, following initial examination by veterinarians. The Odisha state government has asked India’s Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) to investigate the origin of the orangutans.
Conservationists in Indonesia say this reflects the complexity of finding a way through two different legal systems, noting that previous attempts to repatriate orangutans to Indonesia had encountered bureaucratic obstacles.
“When the Indonesian authorities attempted to repatriate or return [wildlife], the process often hit a dead end,” said Panut Hadisiswoyo, director of the nonprofit Green Justice Indonesia. “They refused for various reasons.”
Panut said trafficking routes suggested the five orangutans were from Sumatra rather than from Borneo.
“I see this from the pattern of illegal trade routes that are already in operation,” he said.
The Indonesian government also said initial observations of the five indicated they were Sumatran orangutans, but that DNA testing could provide certainty.
Indonesia’s forestry ministry said its officials were coordinating with their Indian counterparts as well as staff at CITES, the global authority on the wildlife trade, to enable the Indonesian government’s goal: repatriation of the five young orangutans in compliance with prevailing laws and regulations.
In addition, the forestry ministry said it would work with nonprofit conservation organizations, including Yayasan Ekosistem Lestari, Jaringan Satwa Indonesia (JSI), the Center for Orangutan Protection (COP), and Forum Orangutan Indonesia (Forina).
All three orangutan species are critically endangered and their populations are declining. The latest range-wide estimate for Bornean orangutans put the population at about 104,700, although that assessment dates to 2016; the population was projected to have declined by 86% between 1950 and 2025.
A 2026 study estimated that 11,694 Sumatran orangutans remained in the wild, down 19.5% from 2011 to 2023, while the Tapanuli population was estimated at just 716. Habitat loss, killing, and a slow reproduction rate leave the species particularly vulnerable to further losses.
“If any Indonesian citizen is found to be involved, we will take firm legal action commensurate with the prevailing laws,” said forestry ministry spokesperson Ristianto Pribadi.
Banner image: This infant Sumatran orangutan in Indonesia was separated from its mother when it was forcibly taken by hunters in the forest. Image by Junaidi Hanafiah/Mongabay Indonesia.
This story was first published here and here in Indonesian on Sept. 10 and 14, 2026.
Indonesia’s orangutan trafficking cases reveal need for a change in approach (commentary)
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