Nandankanan Zoo Focuses on Ailing Baby Orangutan as Four Others Stay Healthy

Nandankanan Zoological Park authorities are paying special attention to one of the five orangutans rescued in Odisha, after the infant continued to run a temperature that has recurred since it was brought in. The five apes were found in a casuarina forest near Bhograi in Balasore district on September 8.

The baby orangutan developed fever again on Sunday while in quarantine, but its condition was reported stable on Monday. Officials said the animal has shown a high body temperature ever since its arrival, with the fever subsiding after medication only to return later.

Deputy director of Nandankanan Pradeep Mirase said the temperature had come down and that every step was being taken to ensure the health and wellbeing of the orangutans. The remaining four are healthy and responding normally, officials added.

Separate arrangements have been made for the orangutans even though the zoo's quarantine enclosure has recently become relatively crowded after the arrival of 58 new animals. Special mosquito nets have been installed in their temperature-controlled room.

Experts said the fever could stem from stress, fatigue or a sudden change in environment. A veterinary officer noted that the infants will need time to acclimatise, as orangutans normally live in a rainforest atmosphere. Aditya Acharya, who heads the Centre for Wildlife Health at Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, said high body temperature in orangutans is monitored much as in humans, and that paracetamol-based medication is normally administered.

The Odisha government has constituted a five-member technical committee to monitor the health, wellbeing and management of the apes during quarantine. The state is awaiting permission from the Central Zoo Authority to keep the five cubs at Nandankanan, and has written to the CZA seeking approval to retain them.

Forest and Environment Minister Ganesh Ram Singhkhuntia said on Friday that the letter had been sent two days earlier. Amid reports that Indonesia is seeking the return of the primates — orangutans live exclusively in the tropical rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra — senior state officials said repatriation has not yet been considered and that the immediate focus is on the animals' survival. With one orangutan still unwell, the collection of blood samples and other formalities is expected to be delayed further, while authorities continue to investigate how the animals reached Balasore.