After lunch we headed out to the Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary …
We were again very lucky with the abundance of monkeys we saw, we arrived early and there were only a handful of people there which meant the monkeys were not as threatened by us …. running right by us and happily sitting still while we sat next to them.
Its great to see the rescue, rehabilitation and return work done at the Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre and the Sun Bear Conservation Centre.
A very friendly and informative guide (Aami Rahman from Borneo Trails Tours and Travel) took us through both parks and discussed reasons for their decline in numbers, about their habitats and other interesting things … did you know “Orang Utan” means man of the forest?
Whilst the Malay/ Borneo people are now understanding of the reasons why Orang Utans need to be protected (they used to take the babies off their mother as pets), there’s still work being done with the Chinese people (from mainland China mostly) who pay top dollar for Sun bear meat, seen as an expensive delicacy @ 3000MYR per kg.
The Orang Utan shares over 96% of their DNA with humans. You can adopt an Orang Utan.. so Faiza adopted this one.
There were more than just bears to see at the Sun Bear Conservation Centre, we also came across a green viper snake, centrepede, Great pied hornbill and a colourful little bug …
There were ANZAC day commemorations held in Sandakan, Borneo this morning. Unfortunately we were not able to make it. However, a visit to the memorial park was obligatory.
Only two more working days to go till our Orangutan counter plan …
Malaysia here we come … Kuala Lumpur for a few nights where we’ll see the Batu Caves then over to Sabah, Kota Kinabalu then across to Sandakan with a day trip out to Sepilok to see the Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre and the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre.