A day with some real swingers! - description of travel and Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in island of Borneo - Asia - Column

The exotic tropical island of Borneo is shared by Indonesia and Malaysia.

The Indonesian portion (called Kalimantan) occupies the southern part of the island and is relatively primitive. It's off the normal tourist path, except for adventure trekkers.

The Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah occupy the north and are very much worth your attention.

The capital of Sarawak is the fascinating old city of Kuching. There are some day trips and overnights, particularly the trips up the Skrang River, that surely are worthwhile.

The capital of Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, was bombed level by the Japanese during World War II so has far fewer sites of historical interest. Some cruise ships stop at "K.K." (as it's called), and it's an interesting jumping-off point for some fascinating day trips.

Perhaps the best of these is the trip to the Sepilok Forest Reserve on the east coast of Sabah near the logging port of Sandakan. It is a lush, tropical rain forest sheltering more than 217 species of birds, 70 species of mammals and at least 400 species of trees.

Of primary interest to visitors is the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, which I have visited twice in recent years.

Orangutan center

The center has been in existence since 1964 and is devoted to the rehabilitation of animals which have been orphaned and/or illegally captured.

Even though the orangutan has been listed as a totally protected animal since 1963, poachers still shoot the mothers in order to capture the young, which they sell or keep as caged pets. Most of the animals returned to Sepilok were either confiscated or received from logging camps.

The goal is their ultimate release back into the wild. Since its inception, the center has released more than 100 orangutans.

"Orang-utan," incidentally, means "man of the jungle" in the local language. The tribesmen thought the apes looked like very hairy men from a distance!

The animals are reconditioned, little by little, for living in the wild by giving them increasing freedom in their natural environment.

Captive orangutans, deprived of their mothers, often do not have the skills to find food, build nests (they like to sleep in trees) or even climb properly.

These skills must be taught, or revived, so that they will be able to survive on their own and integrate socially with the wild population of the forest. The young are the size of small children, but an adult orangutan stands 31/2 to four feet tall and weighs up to 225 pounds. You probably remember the lovable "Clyde" in the Clint Eastwood movie "Every Which Way But Loose."

They are remarkably "human," very, very funny and, with rare exceptions, very gentle.

Meeting the orangs

I arrived at the sanctuary shortly before feeding time. After signing in at the visitor center, my excellent guide, June Herboldt, showed me to the animal clinic area.

When orangs first arrive at Sepilok, they are admitted to the clinic for a period of quarantine so that any communicable diseases picked up on the outside won't be passed on to the wild population. Animals that do become sick also are brought here to be nursed back to health.

On this particular day, a tiny orang named "B.J." was there. B.J. sneezed for me and a ranger wiped his nose with a Kleenex.

I looked in another large cage and saw something that made my socks drop: a 24-foot python!

June explained that the snake had come in out of the jungle one night, managed to squeeze through the bars of a holding cage and swallowed two baby orangutans. The python then was too fat to get back through the bars and simply went to sleep.

The rangers got the shock of their lives the next morning when they came to feed the babies. They added extra bars so the snake could not get out to threaten any of the other animals.

We hiked out through the dense jungle on a well-marked path and crossed a small stream to get to the feeding area. We stopped in a clearing at the bottom of a hill. In and around a large tree ahead, I could see eight or nine small orangs awaiting our arrival. One was hanging upside down and waving to us.

The ranger had two buckets of milk, a large bucket of bananas and vitamin pills. A few of the apes started swinging down toward us. One was too small to climb and swing, so he just rolled down the hill with a big grin on his face.

Firsts to arrive was "Zaid," whom June described as "the naughty one" (and so he was). He tried to sneak up behind and playfully poke me.

He also recently learned how to stick out his tongue at people who gave him a banana. He loved to bounce up and down on small tree limbs. Zaid soon left with bananas clutched in both hands and one foot.

More little friends kept arriving, some by tree and some on foot. "Boy," "Rajah," "Intan," "Fuji" (named by a Japanese film crew who fell in love with him) and, finally, baby "Alex," who liked to be held and abolutely loved riding in the empty milk bucket.

In another few minutes a much larger mother orangutan, with her baby clinging to her fur, came down into the clearing. This was "Grace."

A few years previous, Grace had twins, but there hadn't been enough milk to feed them both and they died.

Grace then adopted one of the orphans. She would take it off into the jungle for weeks at a time but always came back.

When an orangutan has a baby, she raises it to the age of four or five years before mating again.

When the adoptee was about four, Grace had another baby and was so proud that she brought it all the way up to the ranger's office to show it off. Now that she had her own baby, she left the 4-year-old adoptee in the compound, but she still came back every few weeks to play with it and give it fruit.

One of Grace's other children, "Juliana," climbed on electric wires and got electrocuted. They saved her but had to amputate one arm. She was rehabilitated and returned to the jungle. She now swings with the best of them and comes back every few weeks to play with her old friends.

Another legendary orang at the Rehabilitation Centre was "Heinz." Heinz was smuggled into Germany (from Sumatra) when he was six or seven years old. He was brought back to Sepilok in 1967 and rehabilitated for four years.

Heinz only returns every few months but reportedly still understands some German words and commands.

Various locations

There are several other orangutan sanctuaries of which I am aware.

One is just outside Kuching (Sarawak) on this same island of Borneo. It caters to all animals and birds but usually has some orangs.

Another is at Bohorok on the Indonesian island of Sumatra near the large city of Medan. It's a bit more of a hike than at Sepilok but is every bit as interesting.

At any of these, you must time your visit to coincide with feeding time(s) in order to meet the furry inhabitants. It will be a fascinating day, and the pictures can be priceless!

COPYRIGHT 1993 Martin Publications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group