Today was another day filled with the thrill of sharing the
world with wild animals. We left Selingan Island after breakfast around 7:00
a.m. and sped back across the ocean like a lightening bolt.
We walked back up
to the Sandakan Hotel, picked up our bags, loaded up in the bus, and set out
for Sepilok and the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre. The centre was
founded in 1964 as the first official project to rescue orphaned baby
orangutans from logging sites, plantations, illegal hunting, and being kept as
pets. The apes are trained to survive in the wild and are released as soon as
they are able to do so. About 60 to 80
orangutans live free in the forest surrounding the centre.
Feeding time was at 10:00 a.m. and as soon as their keeper
walked out with a basket of food they came swinging from all over the jungle to
partake.
We also viewed the nursery area where the younger
orangutans learn to be outside and play on a large climbing frame. The
orangutans provided hours of entertainment with their trapeze and high wire
antics, their squabbling amongst themselves, and they all seemed to like having
an audience and discreetly checked over their shoulders to make sure we were
still watching and laughing!!
After
the orangutans we went “next door” to the Sun Bear Conservation Centre. I had
never heard of these tiny bears and apparently they are little known. They
are the smallest bear species and the best tree-climbers!! They used to be
found throughout Asia including Vietnam, China, and India, but now their
numbers are diminished due mainly to deforestation, hunting, and the pet trade.
The babies make adorable pets, but they grow into fierce adults and people
don’t know how to handle them, so they cage them, abandon them, or otherwise
treat them badly. There are about 37 rescued bears in the centre. The mission
of the centre is to rescue the bears and prepare them to return to the forest,
and to increase awareness of sun bears internationally.
The
little black, nocturnal bears with beige muzzles and horseshoe shape on their
chests were hard to spot among the forest trees and underbelly. They have very
long tongues and love honey!! Desperate to get at the honey, they tear open the
tree trunks thus creating nests for other jungle dwellers such as hornbills.
We are
so lucky to be able to see so many animals on this trip. Most of them have been
“endangered” and it really makes you realize the destruction man is causing to
our planet. But I suppose that is our history and who knows whether we will be
able to stop the process, reduce the process, or simply be aware that at one
time the earth was different.
Having
watched so many animals fill their stomachs, we turned our mind to eating in
the brand new restaurant just outside both of the organutan and sun-bear
centres. According to one of our group, an orangutan got out of the centre and
was happily running around the car park at the restaurant before being chased
back in by the staff from the centre!!
After
lunch we got into a taxi and drove 45 minutes out of Sepilok, through the palm
tree plantation to the Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary. Once again, this
was started in an effort to provide a safe haven for the proboscis monkey whose
hunting grounds in the forest were being ripped down to make way for the
hundreds of acres of palm plantations. The proboscis money is unique to Borneo
and the sanctuary provided first rate viewing platforms for these characterful
monkeys. When feeding, there was no doubt that the alpha male and his immediate family had precedence!! He was the first to take his food, and chased any intruders away until his harem was satiated. The young monkeys are very active, the older ones, especially the
males, tend to “snooze”. The monkeys mixed in amongst us, and we were able to
take pictures with them. They could also be a little dangerous: I was standing
on the wooden walkway when the alpha male decided to swing up there and gallop
along the walkway. He literally whizzed past missing me by only inches. My attention
was over the rails to the other monkeys and I got a heck of a fright when I
felt the power of his body behind me!!
I
almost forgot the hornbills that visited us at this last sanctuary. They
perched in a tree and gave us a beautiful view and insight into the antics of
this beautiful bird.
We
left the sanctuary around 4:00 p.m. when the military arrived with their hard
hats and guns. No idea what that was about. Maybe just a routine patrol. But,
we don’t like guns, and thought it a good time to move on!!
On the
way back to the hotel in the taxi Laura and I asked our driver if he would stop
for let us take a picture of the vast area of palm tree plantations. It
stretches as far as the eye can see in every direction. We didn’t get the best
pictures, but I think you can get the jist!
It was
about 5:00 p.m. when we got back to the hotel – just time for a shower, then
off to dinner, then bed and a great night’s sleep despite the hydro
interruptions which turned off the air conditioners every time the generator
stopped. Here are some pictures to show how beautiful the grounds of our hotel - The Sepilok Jungle Resort - were!
We all
agreed we had had an exhilarating day filled with antics of apes, monkeys and
sun-bears.
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