How did five baby orangutans end up abandoned in India?

Authorities in Odisha, India, found five orangutan babies abandoned in the forest undergrowth, all under 18 months old and separated from their mothers. The infants—critically endangered great apes whose natural range is thousands of kilometers away in Borneo and Sumatra—were discovered after villagers alerted forest officials; about 1,000 people reportedly gathered around the scene. Pratik Prakash Indalkar, a forest officer in Balasore, said staff were unsure how to respond. The animals were fed and transported roughly 400 kilometers to Nandankanan Zoo, where they remain in quarantine. Conservationists linked the case to a $20 billion illicit wildlife trade.