The Orangutans

On our final day of the great Malaysian Adventure, Rosa and I made our way from the hotel to Semenggoh Nature Reserve , a thirty-minute, reasonably priced taxi ride away from Kuching. Orangutans come part in parcel with the stereotype of a Bornean holiday but unfortunately, their habitat in continually threatened by human activity, particularly in Indonesian Borneo where palm oil farms encroach on their habitat.  

There are two major reserve/rehab centres in the Malaysian half of the island. The first is Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, a drive from Kota Kinabalu, but rumour has it that the place is overrun with tourists who are overcharged to see orangutans that could be treated just a little bit better. 

These rumours set up our expectations for what we might see upon arrival in Semenggoh. Once in the car park however, we were told to get out of the car and make our way on foot down a long dirt road. As we emerged onto the park path, a ranger stopped up rather sharpish. Out in front of us, a mother and child lolled about with little heed to the 10-15 humans looking at them: 

On the other side of the path, a full grown male orangutan descended a series of ropes to gather up a bunch of bananas. His antics were closely watched by the visitors who were closely watched by the park wardens. Every step of the way, these guides were knowledgable about their wards and did their most to protect them from the potential stupidity of my fellow human beings:

The park's main goal is to retrain these beautiful beasts for rehoming in the wild. Many of them have been kept in captivity as pets or have been orphaned. As they become more and more self sufficient, the orangutans spend more time in the trees surrounding the reserve. For example, this guy:

Male orangutans are very territorial and tend to spend their time alone in the forest, whilst the females tend to breed and rebreed over a series of years, living and raising their female offspring. This lady, Delima, came back to hang out on the cool cement at towards the park's closing time.

The people who remained at the park at this point maintained a respectful distance to watch Delima's hilarious antics:

The park was a stunning conclusion to a very special trip to Borneo.