Sepilok
Orangutan Sanctuary
Sepilok
Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in the Malaysian Sabah District of North Borneo
was founded in 1964, to rehabilitate orphan orangutans. The site is 43 sq km of
protected land at the edge of Kabili Sepilok Forest Reserve. Today around 60 to
80 orangutans are living free in the reserve.
When
Sabah became an independent state in Malaysia in 1963, a Game Branch was
created in the Forest Department for the conservation of wild animals in the
region.
Consequently,
43 sq km of protected land at the edge of Kabili Sepilok Forest Reserve was
turned into a rehabilitation site for orangutans, and a centre built to care
for the apes. Today around 25 young orphaned orangutans are housed in the
nurseries, in addition to those free in the reserve.
The
facility provides medical care for orphaned and confiscated orangutans as well
as dozens of other wildlife species. Some of the other animals which have been
treated at the centre include; sun bears, gibbons, Sumatran rhinos and the
occasional injured elephant.
Recently
rehabilitated individuals have their diet supplemented by daily feedings of
milk and bananas. The additional food supplied by the centre is purposefully
designed to be monotonous and boring so as to encourage the apes to start to
forage for themselves.
Sepilok
is considered by the Wildlife Department to be a useful educational tool with
which to educate both the locals and visitors alike, but they are adamant that
the education must not interfere with the rehabilitation process. Visitors are
restricted to walkways and are not allowed to approach or handle the apes.
In
the wild orang utan babies stay with their mothers for up to six years while
they are taught the skills they need to survive in the forest, the most
important of which is climbing. At Sepilok a buddy system is used to replace a
mother’s teaching. A younger ape will be paired up with an older one to help
them to develop the skills they need.
The
creation of reserve areas minimises the impact of deforestation on orangutans
and far fewer young apes become the victim of the illegal pet trade as a result
of these ‘sanctuaries’. Babies are often caught during logging or forest
clearance or captured by poachers who slaughter the adult apes to reach them.
The Malaysian Government has clamped down on illegal trading, outlawing all
such practice and imposing prison sentences on anyone caught keeping them as
pets.
Entrance fee
At
Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, you will have to pay an entrance fee
of RM30 for foreign adults (Malaysians pay only RM5). If you want to visit the
Sabah Rhinoceros enclosure, you will have to pay another RM10 (RM4 for locals).
Children pay RM15. If you bring along any cameras, video cameras, phone cameras
or any other recording equipment for personal use, you have to pay RM10 at the
entrance. Also remember to read the 'rules' and apply sunscreen or mosquito
repellent before entering the centre.
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