>SEVEN juvenile orang utans live on the grounds of the Shangri-La Rasa Ria Resort. But not in the rooms. Instead, they have their own playground at the resort's Nature Interpretation Centre.
Established by the resort in collaboration with the Sabah State Wildlife Department in June 1996, the project was aimed at providing the initial steps at rehabilitation for stranded and orphaned baby orang utans as well as other endangered fauna.
When they reach the ages of six or seven, the orang utans are sent to the rehabilitation station in Sepilok and subsequently released into the wild. Younger animals who show the ability to fend for themselves are released earlier.
As the orang utans here are of a younger age, there is a greater chance to watching them at closer range than at Sepilok where rehabilitation efforts have been so successful that the adult orang utans prefer to find their own food and are disinclined to show up at feeding stations at set times.
When To Go
Hiking along the trail to the orang utan feeding station.
Visitors are allowed to enter the nature reserve though bookings must be made as only 50 visitors are allowed in at any one time. The hour-long In Search Of The Orang Utan programme is on daily at 10am and 2pm to coincide with feeding times. Entrance fee is RM65 but resort guests pay RM50 and children between six and 16 pay RM10.
The programme starts with a talk and video show by the rangers who then leads the way up a forested hill. It's a relatively easy, 10-minute walk as there are steps and ropes to cling on to.
Nature Walk
Along the way, lucky visitors may catch glimpses of hornbills, monitor lizards, tortoises, mousedeer, civet cat and the beautiful long-tailed macaque swinging in the trees. The Nature Reserve is also home to countless small mammals, over 60 species of birds, 30 species of butterflies and a wide spectrum of indigenous flora. The reserve, located on a hilly area, is covered with secondary forest growth with an abundance of fruit trees to support the population of birds and other animals.
Two viewing platforms have been set up at the feeding stations and visitors are advised not to go beyond the railings - for their own safety.
Right now, there are seven orang utans, five of them just three years old. They are fed bananas, apples, sweet potato, carrot, long beans, kangkung with milk fortified with vitamins.
Kadazan ranger D'ary, who has worked here for three years, says training is provided but it is essential to have an innate love for the forest animals.
Pick A Trail
Ranger feeding the juvenile orang utans.
The nature reserve, spread over 25 hectares of land, has a variety of jungle walks that the public can take part in. The 1.5km Nature Trail takes two hours and visitors learn about monkeys, insects, leeches and inspect a termite mound. Rangers also point out medicinal plants an palm species.
For something more, the 1.8km Native Trail also brings visitors to a native house.
Bird watchers may prefer the Bird Watching Trail, a two-hour walk that stops at bird feeding stations and an observation tower where over 60 species of feathered friends have been spotted. It also meanders through a wildlife garden and includes butterfly watching.
The Honeymoon Lagoon Trail takes it easy with mostly plants and trees for viewing.
For the really adventurous, the Nocturnal Animals Watch offers a chance to run into nocturnal wildlife like sambar deer, civet cat, barking deer, slow loris and porcupines. It starts at 9pm and lasts two hours.
There is also as special Ranger For The Day programme for children between eight and 16, with a maximum of three children per session. For a fee of RM20, children get to help rangers in their daily work like feeding the animals.
Man of the forest
THE name orang utan comes from the Malay phrase Orang Hutan or "man of the forest". These primates can be found mainly in Borneo (estimated population: 22,000) and Sumatra (estimated population: 5,000).
The largest tree-climbing animal in the world, the orang utan (Pongo pygaeus) is now an endangered species mainly because of the loss of its habitat due to logging, agriculture, fires and hunters who often kill the mother to capture an infant to sell as pets.
In addition, these primates have a slow reproductive rate and females have only one baby every seven to eight years. Infants stay with their mothers until they are about seven or eight
Orang utans are totally protected in Malaysia.
Unlike chimpanzees and gorillas, orang utans do not live in large social or family groups. They are semi-solitary animals. Adult males are usually found alone and adult females are generally accompanied by one or two offsprings. Adolescent orang utans are the most sociable, spending up to half of their time in small groups of two to five.
Adult males are much larger than females and often grow to 150cm in height and average 120kg in weight. Females, on the other hand, only grow to about 120cm in height and 45kg in weight. Adult males also have large cheek pads and a large pouch of skin under their chin.
Orang utans eat leaves, barks, buds, stems, fruit and will occasionally eat insects, although they are mainly fruit eaters.
