Odisha Zoo Uses Music Therapy to Calm Rescued Orangutans as Smuggling Probe Widens

Five baby orangutans rescued from a forest in Odisha's Balasore district are being treated to calming classical and instrumental music during their feeding sessions at Nandankanan Zoological Park, part of a set of measures aimed at reducing the stress of animals separated from their natural habitat.

Deputy director Pradeep Mirase said the decision followed suggestions from biologists and a review of research papers on the subject. He said the music should help the apes relax and feel secure, and that the zoo had also given them soft toys and slings to keep them occupied. Footage released by the authorities shows the juveniles playing with plush orangutan toys and hanging from slings between the regular meals served by dedicated keepers.

Officials described the music as one of several enrichment activities, noting that such interventions have been shown to improve activity and biological functioning while curbing fearful, aggressive and abnormal behaviour.

Experts point out that orangutans normally remain with their mothers until they are about seven or eight years old. Separation from their mothers and a journey of more than 4,000 km to an unfamiliar environment are likely to have contributed to their anxiety.

The five were rescued on Tuesday, and their appearance has triggered concern rather than curiosity among the authorities, since the species is not native to India. Wild orangutans are found only in the rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra in Southeast Asia, and all three species are classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. With no natural land corridor linking those islands to India, officials say a natural migration is implausible. The Balasore divisional forest officer, Pratik Prakash Indalkar, said four of the five babies are healthy and are being examined and treated by veterinary doctors.

An expert team from the Centre for Wildlife Health at Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology is in constant touch with the zoo, and its recommendations are guiding the animals' upkeep. The panel has advised shifting them to an open enclosure after three to four days so they can get sunlight and adjust to their surroundings. Blood samples, originally to be drawn on Thursday for DNA profiling and other tests, have been deferred because the apes remain stressed and are yet to acclimatise; a zoo official said the process generally takes seven to eight days, and sampling has now been put off for ten. Further decisions will wait until the orangutans stabilise and central zoo authorities and other agencies give their approval.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, who is in Dubai for an investors' meet, has ordered a thorough inquiry into how the animals reached the state. He said Odisha would not be permitted to serve as a transit route for illegal trafficking of exotic wildlife, and warned that any racket involved in transporting such animals would be identified and dealt with firmly under the law.

Investigators are pursuing a possible inter-state wildlife smuggling network. Two teams of the special task force have stepped up the search for those responsible, while units of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau in Kolkata and Bhopal are coordinating with the STF to trace an international link, with officials suspecting the animals originated in Borneo. Based on circumstantial evidence, officials believe the smugglers used interior roads across West Bengal and Odisha to avoid national highways, where they expected monitoring and checks. The STF is examining CCTV footage along those routes and tracking vehicle movement.