Alpha male George accepts food from Conservation Assistant, Zul
Camera-shy Doris was caged her entire life and is unable to climb trees. However, she willingly acts as an adoptive mum to young orangutans in the centre
Staff at the Matang Wildlife Centre Auby Ilias, Park Executive; Siali Aban, Park Manager & Zulfika Ngatdemon, Conservation Assistant
A strange looking plant I encountered in the rainforest
The brown-haired male with the engaging big brown eyes was staring at me with great interest. The feeling was mutual.
The hunk in question was George, the alpha male orangutan (meaning “person of the forest” in Malay) at the Matang Wildlife Centre in Sarawak, Borneo. In town for the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF), I signed up for the pre-conference tour of the Centre’s “Heart to Heart with Orangutans” program. This nature park is a refuge for orangutans who have been injured, displaced by deforestation or abandoned by their human owners.
It is currently home to 27 orangutans. While some are being rehabilitated to be released into the wild, several will sadly remain permanently, as their former life as pets have left them unable to fend for themselves. Graduates from Matang’s rehabilitation program are released into the wild at the Semenggoh Wildlife Centre where former orangutan residents sometimes return for a visit during feeding times.
After an overview of the sanctuary, we prepared a meal for the animals comprising tapioca leaves and shoots, long beans, sunflower seeds and raisins all liberally dressed with honey. Some of the goo was wrapped into small packages using large Dillenia leaves, and some was stuffed into tubes of bamboo about a metre long, “to make the orangutans work to get at their food,” explained Auby Ilias, Park Executive for the Centre.
Then, it was off to clean the cages. Donning hard hats and rubber boots, we scrubbed and hosed down every inch of a cage. Then came the best part – feeding time (I don’t know who was more excited, me or the orangutan). Although interaction is not permitted amongst visitors and the animals, my group was allowed to pass the food-filled bamboo tubes into their outstretched arms. It was a thrilling experience.
After feeding time, it was back to the manual labour of clearing the wooden boardwalks from debris. Being in a rainforest, this chore had to be attended to regularly due to the frequent bouts of rain which scattered leaves, causing a slippery hazard.
This was an appropriate start to the ATF, which was held in Sarawak, home to one of the most diverse eco-systems in the world. While it was a good way to showcase the green offerings of the country, it also brought to mind the plight of nations striving for progress and development vs.saving the environment. Hence, it was heartening to hear that tourism ministers at ATF were striving to promote sustainable economic growth through the conservation of nature-based tourism in the region in the form of green hotels, community-based tourism and homestays.
* ASEAN stands for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations comprising Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
