00:04Five baby Aurangutans found abandoned in a coastal forest in Odisha's Balasore district.
00:11But this may be more than just a wildlife rescue.
00:15Investigators are now probing what could be a multi-country wildlife trafficking operation
00:20and a failed smuggling transit that allegedly ended in Odisha.
00:25The five critically endangered Aurangutans, three males and two females,
00:31are estimated to be between six months and one year old.
00:35Their alleged value on the international black market?
00:39Around Rs. 25 lakh each.
00:42That puts the estimated value of the five at more than Rs. 1.25 crore.
00:47So how did they reach Odisha?
00:51Investors suspect the animals may have been transported by sea from Southeast Asia,
00:56possibly entering West Bengal or being offloaded somewhere along the Bay of Bengal coast.
01:01From there, the suspected plan may have involved road transportation towards Kolkata
01:06or other destinations in mainland India.
01:09But then something went wrong.
01:12With police checkpoints and increased coastal surveillance putting pressure on the suspected network,
01:17investigators believe the handlers may have panicked.
01:20The five young Aurangutans were allegedly dumped inside an isolated Kasurina grove
01:25before the handlers fled.
