Primates Under Threat in Sabah, Borneo: How Tourists Can Help

A safe haven in the forest for orang utan

The Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre is a more established stop on the tourist trail. Just outside Sandakan, this centre was set up in 1964 to help return orphaned orang utan to the wild. Twice a day rangers distribute food to waiting orang utan who need a little bit of extra help getting their meals from the forest. The feeding time is targeted at animals that are not yet fully rehabilitated; visitors to the feeding station are often young, and still learning to fend for themselves, or mothers with babies. When we visited we were thrilled to see two mothers with young orang utan (one just a few weeks old) at the feeding station. There was also a scrawny youngster who had obviously been rescued from near starvation, a living reminder of the difference the centre can make. The feeding time is a good opportunity to view animals that are making the transition from being human dependent to wild animals. The food is kept deliberately monotnous to encourage the orang utan to forage for themselves. Over 100 animals have been rehabilitated at the centre to date. Some of the apes have been so successfully rehabilitated that they have been relocated to protected areas elsewhere in Sabah, in a bid to manage population size in the forest at Sepilok and to contribute to population growth in areas where there is room for more apes. A visit to the rehabilitation centre is an excellent way to fund the rehabilitation centre’s valuable work. It’s also one of the best ways to guarantee a sighting of an orang utan; they are shy, elusive animals in the wild, whereas at the rehabilitation centre there are usually at least two apes at the feeding station every day.

These stories demonstrates how tourism creates hope for the future of these primates, and for the ecosystem of Borneo in general. If tourism can generate enough income and, hopefully, wealth, for its people, we can dream that there will be no need to ravage the landscape in the future, or that development can co-exist in balance with habitat conservation.