ORANG UTANS

Sunday, August 26, 2018
Damai Beach Resort, Sarawak, Malaysia
August 26 - 27
We slept in on Sunday and then spent the day playing cards, getting a bite to eat at the Damai Center, swimming in the warm China Sea waters and just, in general, relaxing in the beautiful tropical paradise.
The next morning at 8:30, we were greeted by Gosli who would be taking us to the Semenggoh Wildlife Center, the biggest Orangutan Rehabilitation Center in Sarawak, and to the Annah Rais Longhouse.  Gosli spoke great English and was a wealth of knowledge about the sites we would be visiting and the history of Sarawak as well as US politics.  Apparently, he is an avid reader and listens to the US news constantly.  I was amazed at how knowledgeable he was about both his country and ours.
Our first stop was the Semenggoh Wildlife Center, established in 1975 as a sanctuary for the injured and orphaned orangutans and as a center to educate visitors about the orangutans in Malaysia and the dire situation they are in.    I noticed that Gosli was pronouncing "orangutan" like it was two words and, he informed us, it actually is.  Urang means man and Utan means forest. 
The biggest problem orangutans face is the destruction of their habitat due to logging, mining and forest fires, as well as fragmentation of their habitat by roads, forcing them out of their natural habitat.  Gosli told us that the sanctuary started with 11 orangutans that were taken from people who had them as pets and from zoos.  The current population of 31 semi-wild orangutans, roam free within a 740 hectare forest reserve.  Rehabilitated animals are released into the wild whenever they are ready as, the main goal of the Semenggoh Wildlife Center is “to rehabilitate confiscated wildlife that have been incapacitated or handicapped due to prolonged captivity by humans with the objective of releasing them to the forests eventually.”  Gosli informed us that, according to Sarawak’s Wild Life Protection Ordinance 1998 on the endangered orangutan, “Any person found hunting, killing, capturing, selling, offer for sale, importing, exporting or be in possession of any trophy or flesh shall be guilty of an offense and shall on conviction be liable to a term of imprisonment of 2 years and a fine of RM 30,000”(about $7,000 US).
According to Gosli, the Center was opposed to allowing visitors but, at the insistence of the government, they agreed to allow visitors to observe the orangutans for one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon during feeding time.  So, we and the other visitors were led into the forest at 9 a.m. after a rather alarming warning from our guide.  He stressed the importance of remaining quiet and of not making any sudden movements as, although the orangutans are not aggressive, shortly after he began working at the Center, he ended up in the hospital as a result of trying to distract two of the resident males who were battling for dominance.  We were led to viewing site, across from which a staff member was situated on a platform.  He had buckets of food and was calling out, by name, to the resident Orangutans. 
 The sighting of orangutans is not guaranteed as the animals are often able to fine their own food in the surrounding forests but, since the orangutan population has increased over the years, this isn’t always possible.  After about fifteen minutes of patiently watching, we were rewarded by a mama and her baby who were climbing down to the feeding platform on one of the many wires that are strung throughout the forest.  It was a joy to watch them grabbing for food and watch the antics of the baby.  What was really amazing was how close to them the worker was able to be as they came right down to the ground and stood right next to the worker and was almost the same height as he was.
We watched these two for about 20 minutes before returning to the entrance where one of the large males had come down.  We were able to get a much closer view of this one eating and I was able to get a great video of him.  We watched this guy for another 15 minutes or so and then our hour of visiting was up.  On our way out I got a few shots of two large knarly crocodiles that, apparently, live amongst the orangutans.
What a fabulous experience this was.  Next blog….a report on our visit to the Longhouse community.

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Comments

Amanda Frost
2018-09-06

What a surprising collection of photos!

Amanda Frost
2018-09-06

Ritchie reminds me of an embarrassing "someone" who behaves as badly as Ritchie but does like to be photographed and no doubt loves his reflection!

Emily Levy
2018-09-06

Great blog entry Susan. So informative. Love your photos.

2025-02-10

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