If you want an exciting treat in a tropical paradise, Sabah in Malaysia is the place to be.
Click here to watch the video
And once there, don't miss the Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary. It is a fascinating place where you can observe the primates in their natural habitat.
Set in the lush 4,300-hectare Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve, the sanctuary in Sandakan, on the east coast of Sabah, attracts tourists, volunteer caretakers and researchers alike.
The sanctuary was set up in 1964 to rehabilitate orphaned orangutans.
Today it's a haven for ecotourists from all around the world. At present, there are about 60-80 orangutans living in the reserve.
The orangutans are strong and intelligent animals.
Their hands and feet help them swing from one tree to another, no matter how small or delicate a branch is.
A raised wooden boardwalk will take you to a gallery and a feeding platform from where you can watch the animals emerge from the rainforest.
The sanctuary supplements the orangutan's natural diet with fruit and milk twice a day — at 10am and 3pm.
Although there were three orangutans, including a baby, that showed up at the 10am ration, I saw seven in the reserve.
My tour guide told me that on a good day, a dozen or more can be seen at feeding time.
In seventh heaven
Visitors are asked to keep to the walkways and not approach the apes.
The orangutan is the largest tree-dwelling mammal, but is a shy and gentle creature.
Some, such the male orangutan Miskam, have even been known to become quite attached to people.
A 15-minute video presentation, which is held at 11am, tells visitors how those amazing creatures are being rescued from the jungle and returned to the wild after their safety has been ensured.
It shows three young arboreal animals being trained and taken care of by the dedicated team at Sepilok.
While the rehabilitation of the “person of the forest'', as the orangutan is also known, is the primary goal of Sepilok, it also focuses on public education, conservation and breeding programmes of the animals, apart from the conservation of other endangered species.
- To watch the video, log on to www.gulfnews.com/gntv
Go there . . . Sabah . . . From the UAE
From Dubai
Kota Kinabalu is the closest airport.
Malaysian Airlines flies daily via Kuala Lumpur. Fare from Dh4,215
Singapore Airlines and Silk Air fly daily via Singapore. Fare from Dh2,755
— Information courtesy: The Holiday Lounge by Dnata.
Ph: 04 4380454
Fact file
- Scientific name: Pongo pygmaeus
- orangutans, once found throughout South East Asia, belong to a species of apes that now survive only in small populations across the islands of Borneo and Sumatra.
- The name orangutan is derived from the Malay and Indonesian words orang, meaning “person'', and hutan, meaning “forest''. Thus orangutan stands for “person of the forest''.
- The male orangutan grows to about 5 feet and can weigh up to 200 pounds. But females only grow to half that size. orangutans reach maturity between 7 and 10 years and can live up to 40 years.
- orangutans are mainly vegetarian but sometimes eat insects.
