Five baby orangutans recently rescued from Odisha’s Balasore district and quarantined at the Nandankanan Zoological Park here have been showing a range of emotions, from playful behaviour and brief mood swings to anxiously clinging to one another, prompting the zoo authorities to take measures to keep them stress-free.The animals were taken out of their quarantine enclosure on Thursday for a sunbath, a senior zoo official said.The apes were rescued by forest department personnel on Tuesday.The orangutans, aged between six months and one year, have been displaying behaviour similar to human children, the official said. Three of the five orangutans are males, and two are females.“Sometimes they appear to be relaxed, and in the next moment, they cling to each other, likely due to feelings of anxiety from being separated from their mothers,” he said.The animals have also been playing with soft toys in the quarantine unit, he said.Regional Chief Conservator of Forests Prakash Chandra Gogineni said humans and orangutans share a high degree of genetic similarity.“There seems to be no difference between a human child and a baby orangutan. Humans and orangutans share about 96.4 per cent of their genetic instructions, according to certain journals,” he said.A recent study by the Sumatran Orangutan Society also noted similarities in their psychological and emotional behaviour, he said.Nandankanan Zoological Park Deputy Director Pradeep Mirase said the animals’ behavioural similarities with humans would help in their care and acclimatisation.“Orangutans have many behavioural similarities with humans and hand-rearing them is not so difficult. They are friendly and staying together as a group, which should help them acclimatise to human care,” he said.The zoo has installed a swing inside the quarantine enclosure and provided soft toys for the animals as part of stress-management measures, he said.“As advised by the experts, steps are also being taken to play classical music to help reduce their stress,” Mirase said.Nandankanan Zoological Park Director Sanath Kumar N said the animals were being provided veterinary care while their physical and mental condition was being closely monitored.“We are providing them with the best veterinary treatment available, and at the same time monitoring their mental condition, as the baby orangutans were found in a scared state when rescued. Treatment is underway as per the advice of the Centre for Wildlife Health (CWH),” he told PTI.Though the quarantine enclosure has adequate space, the animals have been observed sitting and sleeping close to one another, he said.The orangutans are also being exposed to morning sunlight, and three animal keepers have been assigned to care for them, Kumar said.They are being fed infant milk formula, boiled and mashed apple, banana and oral rehydration solution, he said.A veterinary doctor has been assigned round-the-clock duty to monitor their health, he added.“Every care is being provided so that the animals feel at home at the zoo,” Kumar said.The zoo has also constituted a health committee comprising veterinary experts from Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT), who have conducted an initial examination.The quarantine enclosure is being regularly disinfected to prevent possible infection, Kumar said.“As per advice, the animals need to be acclimatised to the new environment. After that, bio-samples, including blood and oral swabs, will be collected for screening at CWH,” he said.After they were rescued and brought to the zoo on Tuesday night, one of the animals was down with fever, two showed symptoms of common cold, and another was found to be infected with worms.“Now, the health condition of all the baby orangutans is stable after medication. They enjoy eating apples, bananas, dry fruits and bottled milk,” a zoo doctor said.The animals also give signals when they are hungry or thirsty, he said.The staff working in the quarantine enclosure have been barred from working in any other section of the zoo due to the risk of infection, the doctor said.Odisha Forest and Environment Minister Ganesh Ram Singh Khuntia, who visited the zoo, said the government was prioritising the health of the animals.“The health of the orangutan babies is priority for the government. The Nandankanan Zoo authorities are also in constant touch with officials of the Mysuru Zoo, where orangutans are housed,” he said.The five orangutans were rescued from a forest in Balasore district on September 8. Their presence in the state has raised questions as orangutans are not native to India.Meanwhile, the state police and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) are conducting a joint probe amid suspicion that an international smuggling racket could be behind the animals’ sudden appearance in the state, officials said.Orangutans are not found in India and are native to the rainforests of Malaysia and Indonesia, including the islands of Borneo and Sumatra in Southeast Asia, they added.