Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary: In which we monkey around

January 6, 2013 in Asia, Malaysia, Travelogue

“But you’ve already seen Orang Utans!”

Indeed. But can one really have too many encounters with an endangered species on one of only two islands in the whole world that they inhabit? No, we didn’t think so either.

Today, we were delighted to watch nine orang utan swing down out of the jungle to their feeding platform to munch on a basket of fruits that the rangers provide to supplement their foraged diet as they learn to provide for themselves.

The Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Center is located on 43 square miles of forest at the edge of the Kabili Sepilok Forest Reserve. If you happen to find yourself on the far east end of Borneo, you really must attend it. They’re engaged in the heroic work of rescuing baby orang utans that have been living in captivity and teaching them to live in the wild. From bottle feeding the tinies around the clock, to seeing them off into the deep forest years later, it’s a comprehensive program that focuses on education.

Since I’ve already written some of the basics about Orang Utans when we visited them in Sarawak, I’ll just leave you with some pictures from today:

Family Travel Borneo

There are other creatures besides the Orang Utan…

Family Travel Borneo

Tracks!

Family Travel Borneo

Family Travel Borneo