Relaxed to anxious to playful: Rescued baby orangutans show range of emotions at Odisha zoo

Five baby orangutans rescued in Odisha are recovering at Nandankanan Zoological Park, where they are receiving veterinary care, nutrition and stress management. Authorities are also probing suspected international smuggling after the animals, native to Southeast Asian rainforests, were found in Balasore

Bhubaneswar: Five baby orangutans, who were recently rescued from Odisha’s Balasore district and kept at a zoo here, have been displaying a range of emotions – from momentary mood swings, playful actions to anxiously clinging to each other.

On Thursday, they were taken out of their quarantine cell for a sunbath to keep them “stress free”, a senior official of the Nandankanan Zoological Park in Bhubaneswar said.

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The animals were rescued by forest department personnel on Tuesday.

The orangutans, aged about one year, have been expressing emotions like human children, the official said.

“Sometimes they appear to be relaxed, and in the next moment, they cling to each other, likely due to feelings of anxiety for being separated from their mothers,” he said.

They have also been playing with teddy bear soft toys in the quarantine unit of the zoo, the official said.

“We are providing them with the best veterinary treatment available, and at the same time monitoring their mental condition, as the baby orangutans were found in a scared state when rescued. Treatment is underway as per the advice of the Centre for Wildlife Health (CWH),” Nandankanan Zoological Park Director Sanath Kumar N said.

Though there is enough space in the quarantine room, it has been seen that they sit and sleep very close to each other, he said.

“The orangutans are also exposed to the morning sunlight to keep them stress-free. Three animal keepers have been engaged to look after them,” the official said.

They are being fed infant milk formula, boiled mashed apple, banana, and oral dehydration, the zoo director said.

A veterinary doctor has been assigned the duty to oversee the health condition of the baby orangutans round-the-clock, he said.

“Every care is being provided so that the animals feel at home at the zoo,” he said.

The zoo authorities have also constuted a health committee comprising veterinary experts from the OUAT (Odisha University of Agriculture Technology), who have conducted an initial round of examination, he said.

“As per advice, the animals need to be acclimatised to the new environment. After that, bio-samples, including blood and oral swabs, will be collected for screening at CWH,” the official said.

Three of the five animals are males and two females, aged between six months and one year, and standing roughly one to one-and-a-half feet tall, he said,

After being rescued and brought to the zoo on Tuesday night, one of the babies was found to have fever, two others showed symptoms of common cold, while another was infected with worms.

“Now, the health condition of all the baby orangutans is stable after medication. They enjoy eating apple, banana, dry fruit and bottled milk,” a zoo doctor said.

The animals also give signals when feeling hungry or thirsty, he said.

“The staff engaged with the quarantine cell have been barred from working in any other section of the zoo keeping in view the infection risk,” the doctor said.

Odisha Forest and Environment Minister Ganesh Ram Singh Khuntia, who visited the zoo, said: “The health of the orangutan babies is priority for the government. The Nandankanan Zoo authorities are also in constant touch with officials of the Mysore zoo, where orangutans are housed.”

Meanwhile, a joint probe is underway by the state police and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) over suspicion that an international smuggling racket might be behind the animals’ sudden appearance in the state, officials said.

Orangutans are not found in India and are native to rainforests in Malaysia and Indonesia, including the islands of Borneo and Sumatra in Southeast Asia, they added.