Wildlife Tourism In Sabah: Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre

Useful background information

Illegal logging, deforestation, and the palm industry have all contributed to the sad situation whereby wild orangutans now have less natural habitat than in the past. Adult orangutans are killed by poachers during land-clearing operations, and this sometimes results in young orangutans becoming orphaned. Baby orangutans may also become separated from their parents during the mayhem of having their homes destroyed. Sometimes, poachers capture the young creatures to be kept as pets.

Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre takes care of young orphaned orangutans, helping them to learn vital skills to survive on their own in the wild. This is a long process, and one that requires round-the-clock commitment. It was the first centre around the world to be dedicated to the rehabilitation of orphaned orangutans.

Goals and work at Sepilok

The goals of Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre are to equip young orangutans with all the natural skills needed before releasing them to live independently into the large surrounding protected reserve.

You can watch an informative video at the visitor’s centre (open 9 am to 4 pm) that details the work of the centre in caring for the youngsters. Learn how younger orangutans develop their climbing and foraging skills by watching and copying older orphans, spending their days outdoors and, to ensure their safety, their night inside. Video showings are at 9 am and 2 pm, lasting for around half an hour.

The surrounding sanctuary is also crucial for ensuring that wild orangutans have a safe place to live.

Another important goal of the centre is to educate people about orangutans and the danger they face, largely because of man. Allowing tourist visits means that more funds can be raised for ongoing projects and that, hopefully, people will become more aware of how their individual actions can, through a chain effect, have an impact on the lives of wild orangutans.

A delicate balance is maintained between the needs of the orangutans, and the rehabilitation process, and the desires of the public to learn more about, and get up close and personal with, the huge orange apes. Rehabilitation rightfully comes first.

When deciding whether to visit an orangutan viewing / feeding centre, it is worth keeping in mind that Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre is, out of all the centres that allow tourist visits, the only one to actively still be engaged in rehabilitation and conservation works. Whereas others now operate solely as tourist attractions, the centre at Sepilok maintains its original aims, tirelessly working to protect the species.

Boardwalks and feeding platform

Take a walk along the boardwalks, and pay heed to the warning signs; forest-dwellers include pesky macaques that may make a grab for your belongings, venomous snakes that can be cunningly disguised amongst the branches, and powerful orangutans who may become aggressive if they feel threatened. You must stick to the wooden walkways, both for your own safety and to protect the creatures that live in the reserve.

In order to allow visitors to see mighty orangutans, the centre has set up a feeding platform in the forest. Sightings are not guaranteed, but are very likely. Food is laid out on the platform two times each day, at 10 am and 3 pm.

Orangutans that come to the feeding platform are those that have been released into the reserve. Essentially, they come for a free meal! The centre puts enough fresh fruit and vegetables down to tempt the orangutans, but not enough that they can rely on the feeding platform as a means of survival; orangutans must still be able to find their own food around the forest.

It is heart-warming to think that any orangutans you see at feeding times are the centre’s success stories – these are orangutans who have been released from the centre having completed successful skills-training after having been orphaned as youngsters.

Other activities at the centre

Hang around at the feeding area for a while after the orangutans have had their fill and swung off through the dense trees, and you’ll see macaques coming out of the trees to steal what their much-larger fellow forest-dwellers have left behind. There is a noticeable difference in eating habits, with the orangutans leisurely munching their way through the offerings and the macaques grabbing items in a frenzy.

Visitors are not permitted in the indoor nursery areas. You can, however, watch orangutans training in the outdoor nursery. Using trees, ropes, and swings, the adolescent orangutans here are in their final stages of training before being released into the reserve.

Several nature trails run through the reserve, covering different terrains and surrounded by wildlife. There is also an onsite café and gift shop.