Five infant orangutans, native only to the forests of Sumatra and Borneo, were found abandoned in the Indian state of Odisha — a discovery that speaks not merely to a single act of smuggling, but to the quiet transformation of an entire nation into a crossroads for the world's illegal wildlife trade. Since 2020, the volume and variety of trafficked species moving through India's borders and airports has grown dramatically, driven by demand for exotic pets, enabled by digital marketplaces, and outpacing the enforcement systems meant to stop it. The orangutans are a symbol of something larger: a
India emerges as major wildlife trafficking hub as exotic animals flood in
Thousands of endangered animals are being trafficked, seized, and displaced from their native habitats, with many species critically endangered and destined for captivity in the exotic pet trade.