Balasore, Sept. 10 (UDN): The rescue of young orangutans from Odisha has intensified an investigation into a suspected international wildlife trafficking network, with authorities examining how a species native to Southeast Asia reached the state through an alleged covert transport route.

 Representational Image

The Odisha Special Task Force (STF), along with the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), is probing the origin of the animals, the route they travelled and the network behind their movement.

Interior Road Route Under Scanner

Senior forest officials suspect the traffickers deliberately avoided National Highways and instead used interior roads through West Bengal to evade security checks.

Regional Chief Conservator of Forests (RCCF) Prakash Chandra Gogineni said the suspected route passed through Chandaneswar and the Bhograi region before entering Odisha, taking advantage of quieter village roads where surveillance is comparatively lower, particularly during late-night hours.

Investigators are now analysing CCTV footage from the suspected corridor to identify vehicles involved and reconstruct the movement of the animals.

International Link Being Examined

Officials believe transporting and concealing orangutans—an endangered species not found in India naturally—would have required an organised network rather than isolated local involvement.

The investigation is examining whether the animals may have entered India through routes connected to the country’s northeastern region before moving towards eastern India. However, authorities have not confirmed the exact origin of the rescued orangutans.

To strengthen the investigation, two WCCB teams from Kolkata and Bhopal have joined the probe. The teams are assisting in examining possible international connections, trafficking routes and the individuals involved in the operation.

Coordinated Probe Underway

The STF is continuing to collect digital evidence, including surveillance footage, while coordinating with wildlife crime investigators to identify the traffickers and determine how the endangered primates were transported across multiple regions.

The case has drawn attention because orangutans are native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia and are protected under international wildlife conservation laws, making their presence in Odisha a matter of serious concern for enforcement agencies investigating cross-border wildlife trafficking.