Bhubaneswar: After conducting an initial field visit, the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, which was tasked with examining the possible international trafficking angle behind the mysterious appearance of five infant orangutans in Balasore’s Bichitrapur forest, is set to share key technical inputs with the crime branch’s special task force (STF), said senior forest officials.They added the team conducted the initial field visit two days after being assigned the inquiry. While the bureau is not mandated to investigate the criminal aspects of wildlife trafficking, it will play a crucial role in assisting the STF with expertise on international crime and illegal trade routes.Officials said the involvement of the bureau assumes significance as orangutans are not native to India, strongly indicating an international trafficking link. Investigators are currently examining several technical leads, and the bureau experts are expected to help map possible trafficking routes, identify methods used by wildlife traffickers and establish connections with known exotic species smuggling networks. “Since there is a clear indication of international trafficking, the bureau’s role is important in establishing the link. Their analytical inputs could shape the next phase of the investigation,” a senior official said.A day after the orangutans were spotted in the coastal forest last Tuesday, the ministry of forest, environment and climate change constituted a four-member inquiry team from the bureau to probe possible links to organised international wildlife crime.According to the official order, the team — headed by Patil Suyog Subhashrao and including Kishor Kumar Sharma, Koushik Mondal and Molay Das — has been tasked with examining the modus operandi of the trafficking operation, identifying smuggling networks and linkages, and analysing similarities with other cases involving the illegal trade of exotic wildlife species.Investigators believe the bureau’s findings could provide critical leads in unravelling one of the most unusual wildlife trafficking cases reported in Odisha in recent years.