Orangutans and monkeys…what a combination!

We are docked in Sandakan, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia today.

Sandakan is on the northern tip of Borneo, almost off the map above.



This blowup of Sabah shows the location of Sandakan, Sepilok and Labuk Bay.

We chose to take one of the ship’s tours to an Orangutan rehabilitation center and a Proboscis Monkey preserve. Last year we had a stop in Kota Kinabalu on the north side of Sabah. We also had an opportunity to see Orangs and Proboscis Monkeys at that time, but it was in a zoo-like controlled environment. The stop we made today was the real deal – both animals in the wild.

 Jane of the Jungle. Not really, but Bonnie of the Jungle just doesn't have that ring to it...

Forget about us, but look at the trees and vines. This area must be hundreds, if not thousands, of years old.

Orangutans are found only on the island of Borneo, the fourth largest island in the world, and are an endangered species. They share about 94% of our DNA and are one of the most fascinating creatures we have ever encountered. The Proboscis Monkey is also endangered and is also a native of Borneo. While not nearly as close an evolutionary relative as the Orangutan, the Proboscis is nonetheless as fascinating.

The day began early with a short bus trip to Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre (“Sepilok”).

Sepilok consists of about 30,000 acres of virgin rainforest. The Centre has separate areas for adult Orangs, juvenile Orangs, and injured or sickly Orangs. Our visit began at the nursery. There were about six or seven juveniles and two adult females in residence. We were able to watch them from a glassed-in observation area adjacent to the “play yard.” This is the only outside area of Sepilok that is in any way artificial. By artificial I mean that is closely monitored and easily accessible by the handlers and biologists.

Sepilok is basically open forest. There are no fences, roads (except for the entry road and several maintenance paths), or other vestiges of human impact. The object of the Centre is to take these animals and let them return to the wild. They have a feeding schedule – and we were fortunate to be there at the morning feeding – but as soon as they stop coming regularly to the feeding stations, the biologists know they have been successfully acclimated to the wild (because the find their own food). They are then  re-captured and released in another part of the island in a natural habitat.

This youngster is about two. Orang mothers keep and nurture their offspring until they are about 8 or 9 and then send them off on their own. They do not mate while they are nurturing one youngster, but only when they are "single" again. Unlike most other primate species, Orangs may only have three or four offspring in their lifetime. That is why it is so important to keep them protected. They are in danger of dying out.

We could have stood in the viewing room for hours watching these close relatives. Orangs have four arms and no legs. The handlers, the biologists, and the locals call their limbs as “upper arms” and their lower limbs “lower arms.” When you watch them closely for a while it becomes apparent that they have the same number of fingers (toes?) on each limb and they are also one of the few animals other than humans that have an opposable thumb. If you don't think that is important, try to do almost anything without using your thumbs…

To see them effortlessly move among the trees, vines, platforms, and cables in the open areas is to marvel at how closely they seem “almost human.”

After spending about an hour in the nursery, we moved to the viewing platform.

This was where the feeding took place. Several handlers went up to fixed platforms and dumped baskets of fruit and vegetables. As soon as they left, the Orangs started coming out of the trees and began their feast.

Each Orang is tattooed upon entry to the Centre. The handlers and biologists use the tattoo number to keep track of who eats, how much, when, etc. As soon as they determine that the Orang appears to be feeding significantly away from the platform, they arrange for the animal’s return to the wild.
I should point out that the Orangs that are at Sepilok are either found injured, orphaned, or have otherwise been set apart from their natural environment.

After another roughly another hour of viewing the Orangs we returned to the bus and made our way to the Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary (“Labuk”).

Labuk is part of a private reserve. It was begun by a palm oil planter who was taken by both the plight of the monkeys and the desire to assist the local wildlife community. Labuk is also in a natural state, but is somewhat smaller than Sepilok.

Proboscis Monkeys (“PM”) live in mangrove forests and can swim as well as move among the trees and vines. They are the “Jimmy Durante” of the animal world. They have faces that only a Mother could love and they have social habits that only Casanova would be seriously comfortable with. They can grow to about 60-70 pounds (of solid muscle) despite their rather frail appearance, pot bellies, and prominent nose (whence the name “Proboscis”).

A group of PMs is called a tribe and is headed by one dominant male. The male can have as many females as he can handle (insert joke here…). Solitary males live near tribes as a group of bachelors. There are no solitary females. Without going into too much graphic detail for the sake of the younger readers of this blog, suffice it to say that an adult PM can, and does, try to mate with any and all females within his harem as often as possible. He also spends a lot of his “off” time defending the harem from any of the bachelor males who might challenge his rank and authority. That happens quite often, so as you can imagine the dominant male is a pretty busy fellow – doing one thing or another…

 This mother and child are typical of the harem.

Bonnie does not have a monkey growing out of her head. The alpha male leapt onto our viewing platform and was checking to see if he could add to his harem...I think...

 his will give you an idea of just how up close and personal we were able to get with these wild animals.

Uh...cover your eyes...

 Hey, Mom...what's he doing over there??

The alpha male made it very clear to the smaller upstart on the stairs that he was not welcome to join them on the platform.

We stayed at Labuk for about an hour and then returned to the ship in time for a late lunch.

Tomorrow is a sea day followed by a day in Manila, Philippines. Stay tuned…