Archive for March 1st, 2006
Close by to all three islands are coral reefs which serve as a habitat as well as a source of food for much marine life including many species of reef fishes such as the butterfly fish, clown fish and the parrot fish. The crystal clear waters and the sandy sea bottom have conspired to ensure that the sunlight could penetrate quite deep under waters. Hence, the Park is ideal for scuba diving and snorkeling. Another fish commonly found among the corals is the Oriental Sweetlip (Plectorhinchus orientalis). It is a fascinating fish in that it provides sustenance to the smaller fishes which feed on its flaky scales and parasites residing on its scales.
Another denizen of the reefs is one species of starfish the Blue Starfish (Linckia laevigata). This pantone blue beauty is spectacular as it can grow to a length exceeding 30 centimeters (12 inches). Scuba divers and snorkelers would certainly be mesmerized by the exquisite beauty of the healthily living corals, colorful reef fishes, graceful sea turtles, awesome sharks and barracudas and many of the other rich marine lives found in the protected waters of Pulau Tiga Park.
Accommodation
The resort offers accommodation ranging from deluxe chalets ideal for a family of four to twin-sharing cabins with an option to enjoy air-conditioning, attached bathrooms and open verandas to enjoy panoramic views of the Resort. The resort restaurant offers good food especially fresh sea food and plenty of soft drinks and beer. Fresh squids harvested from the sea just around the jetty area were served to Pieter, Eric and I for lunch. The game room includes a pool table, Karaoke set as well as an array of board games and darts. There is also a TV room with cable network channels and set of video cassettes on the “Survivors” shot in Pulau Tiga and produced by Mark Burnett for CBS. In addition there is a small library to while away one’s spare time should the weather turn foul.
Pulau Tiga - come visit
It is not easy to find a place so close to a capital city with so much to offer to visitors, namely, a pristine environment, unpolluted seas, rich marine life, clean fresh air, unspoiled beaches and undisturbed wild life. Pulau Tiga is a great place to watch the sun rise and sun set with the reflections shimmering against the placid sea-waters while observing the egrets dived off the jetty for their catch. It is also an ideal setting for one to enjoy the sounds and sights of the forests.
The incessant screeching of the cicadas, crickets, and beetles punctuated by the occasional raucous calls of the hornbills and the animated chattering of monkeys as they swing from one branch to another all add to the cacophony of symphonic music of the forests. The thriving colonies of corals and the rich and myriad marine life make it a haven for scuba divers, snorkelers and other lovers of the sea. Pulau Tiga Park promises all these and more for a quiet, and serene holiday or a boisterous and fun-filled one which ever way you chose or want it. Pulau Tiga promises all these and many more.
March 1st, 2006
Pulau Tiga is an inverted “L” shaped island measuring 4.5 kilometers (2.8 miles) in length and 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) wide. The highest point is in the middle of the island where it rises to 100 meters (330 feet) above sea level. It has an area of 20.7 square kilometers (8 square miles). The island is formed from a series of eruptions of several mud volcanoes over a long period of time. Several active ones can still be sighted at or near the summit of the island. Some of them continue to ooze out slowly from the ground hot volcanic mud whilst others spew squirts of mud every few minutes with unpredictable intervals. Still others release combustible methane gas from subterranean fissures and flames can often be seen.
Except for the Park Headquarters and the adjacent Pulau Tiga Resort the rest of the island is generally forested with tropical hardwoods belonging to the dipterocarpaceae family. As is typical of dipterocarp forests the trees are festooned with climbers, creepers such as rattans and lianas or vines and epiphytic ferns and orchids. In the low lying swampy areas the nipah and nibong palms tend to proliferate. Along the island at several sandy beaches coconut palms bowed to the direction of the predominant winds.
Along several stretches of the shoreline one indigenous tree stands out — the Barringtonia (Barringtonia asiatica) a sea poison tree whose fruit and seed when crushed produces a liquid which can be used to kill fishes when poured into placid waters found in sheltered coves. This tree produces flowers with puff balls of white stamens with pink tips. They bloom at night and a sweet scent waft the atmosphere. The scent attracts moths and nectar feeding bats. The next morning the flowers will be splattered profusely on the ground beneath the tree.
Roaming the forests are some herds of bearded pigs, families of long-tailed macaques and hordes of the Malaysian field rats (Ratus tiomanicus) which originally stowed away from boats of fishermen who operate in the waters nearby. Found in abundance are the monitor lizards which feed mainly on carrion and the common skinks which enjoy basking in the sun or lying still among the leaf litter and detritus from fallen trunks and branches. There are also a variety of snakes, frogs and other reptiles and amphibians. There are only a few species of mammals as the island does not have a permanent source of fresh water to maintain a viable population and diversity of species.
Pulau Tiga is renown for megapodes (Megapodius freycinet), a ground dwelling bird. The species known as the Tabon or Philippine Shrub-fowl is found mainly in the heavily forested center part of the island. It is a chicken-like bird with a bare red face and a pair of very strong legs which is suitable for digging a few feet into the ground for the female to lay its eggs in short intervals and bury them under moulds of earth and sand. The eggs are the favorite of the monitor lizards and the forest rats. The young chicks take some time to hatch by the heat of the sun and without the presence of either of their parents.
When the infant chicks emerge from the shell they straight away dig their way out from the huge mound of earth and sand and start life on their own without being weaned by their parents. The island is uninhabited prior to the setting up of the office for the Park rangers who currently number some 18 transients. There are seven walking trails radiating from the Park Headquarters. Trekking time ranges from half an hour to an hour and a half and none of the trails are too arduous for any reasonably fit and healthy person. The most popular is the Larai-Larai Trail which will allow trekkers to perambulate around a greater part of the western half of the island with the final lap involving traversing across the width of the island from Pagong-Pagong Beach in the north to the Resort in the centre south. This trail which takes an hour and a half to complete will bring one to a number of interesting places. Along the Larai-Larai Beach one can certainly spot the Great Crested Terns roosting among the white rocks stacked close to the shore line. However not far away I chanced upon a sight which rudely jolted my perception of a pristine environment in Pulau Tiga. I saw in a secluded cove along the shoreline one of the major scourges of Modern Man — many hundreds of plastic bottles and containers were strewn haphazardly around. They were apparently flotsams brought in from the mainland by the tidal waves.
Moving inland we arrived at the first mud volcano which was the size of a soccer field. We discovered that besides the bubbling mud oozing out from the ground there were a few spots where jets of warm mud and water spurted from the mud volcano. Nearer to the summit at the center part of Pulau Tiga we encountered a smaller mud volcano with a gazebo beside it. While all of us were sitting in the gazebo to catch our breath we suddenly heard a hissing sound followed immediately with a shower of mud which splattered onto our hair and the rest of our body. There was not enough time for us to re-act by ducking or taking other evasive actions. All of us had a good laugh over our baptism of mud. We soon move on and along the trail where there was dense undergrowth we spotted a solitary megapode bird. We considered all of us as lucky to be able to experience some fairly close up glimpses of the mysterious mould building incubator bird without much of an effort and time.
It takes only a few minutes to reach Pulau Kalampunian Damit (Snake Island) by speed boat. The Snake Island is a rocky volcanic outcrop. It was formed from intrusion from the inner depths of the earth crust of molten magma which turned into igneous dolerite rocks. The Island is about 40 meters (130 feet) long and 30 meters (100 feet) high. The whole island is very rocky except for a narrow sandy fringe in certain parts. The island is covered by a canopy of vegetation with the Euphorbiaceae family contributing the dominant trees. Trees from this family are short in stature and they look like shrubs. Most of these trees are succulent and cactus-like and there is frequent occurrence of milky sap.
The inhabitants of the island are sea snakes all of them from a species known as the Yellow-Lipped Sea Krait (Laticauda colubrina). On any one day a visitor may find as many as 180 of the pearly-blue with black bands snakes curled up among the rocks and boulders and the tree roots or crevices in the tree trunks. During the day they are inactive and lethargic as they are afraid of the heat. At night they are very active. Unlike true sea snakes (Hydrophiinae subfamily) which spend their entire lives in the water sea kraits or lacticaudine sea snakes come ashore periodically to rest, digest their food, mate and lay eggs. The favorite food of the sea kraits are the moray eels which are commonly found in the waters of the Park.
The eels make their homes among the reefs. The sea kraits in turn are hunted by the white-bellied sea eagles (Haliaeetus leucogaster). When I was on the island I observed a pair of the sea eagles circling low over the island apparently looking for a prey. Later on when one of my three guides nonchalantly caught hold of the neck of one of the snakes in order for the three of us to have a close look at the snake. We observed that the body of that particular snake bore heavy scar marks caused apparently by the claws of a sea eagle which somehow accidentally let its grip loosen and drop the snake to the ground. It must be the snake’s lucky day as it got to live another day! Without any qualms or squeamishness Pieter held onto the snake when Bonnie the guide offered it to him. I must admire Pieter for his feat as he was real cool with the snake.
On the way back to Pulau Tiga, we landed on Pulau Kalampunian Besar. As this island was formed mainly from sand-stone and sediments it could not withstand the mighty sea waves. Without the cover of vegetation this island does not have much animal life other than being a haven for hermit crabs, stone crabs and a colony of Great Crested Terns foraging for fishes in the shallow waters. I also sighted a pair of eagles belonging to the Braminy Kite species (Haliastur Indus). They were perched on two poles which were used as markers to ascertain the tidal level. As the waters around the island are home to an abundance of fishes in view of the ban on commercial fishing in the national park the eagles have plenty of choices over their pickings.
March 1st, 2006
The secret is out! Pulau Tiga, a “Survivor Island” is certainly the secluded island where travelers can come to escape from the humdrum of daily life, immersed in an unhurried world and to be pampered by the charms of Mother Nature for a couple of days. Since the CBS network released in 2000 their first “Survivor” serials, a reality-based TV game show depicting the lives of 16 ordinary Americans from different walks of life marooned on the island, many people throughout the world begin to know about the pristine South China Sea island of Pulau Tiga (meaning Three Island in Malay). In this game show the 16 castaways divided into two groups, the Pangong and Tagi tribes entertained audience to the dog-eat-dog world in their mission to be the last remaining “survivor” who would take home One Million US Dollars.
Over a span of 39 days, the two groups pitched against the other in a series of competitions which included gulping live rhinoceros beetle larvae without feelings of queasiness and challenging one another to a meal of barbequed forest rats. At the end of each round of competition, the losing team would amongst themselves vote one of their members out of the island. Members of each tribe lived together in rather primitive abode put up by themselves in separate parts of the island along aptly named beaches, the Pagong-Pagong beach in the north east of the island and the Tagi beach in the south east. The 13-episode series was so popular that CBS soon followed with sequels shot in the Australian Outback, Africa, the Marquesas, the Amazon, and Tarutao in Thailand.
Location
Pulau Tiga Park was gazetted a national park in 1985. It is located about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south west from Kota Kinabalu, the state capital of Sabah. It can be reached directly by boat from Kota Kinabalu or one and a half hour by road from Kota Kinabalu to Kuala Penyu, and then by boat from Kuala Penyu. Kuala Penyu is a small village located at the tip of the northern end of the flat Klias Peninsula, a scenic paddy planting area where sights of diligent buffaloes are common. From the jetty in Kuala Penyu, the rest of the journey will take half an hour to reach the island of Pulau Tiga. The motor boat route from Kuala Penyu is rather scenic, traversing the Kimanis Bay which 30 and more years ago would on any particular day play host to several log carriers. These ocean going vessels would take their valuable cargo of timber logs to Japan and Taiwan to meet their fate under the highly intimidating saws in the mills.
One beautiful morning in late March 2003, my Kota Kinabalu pal, Casey, dropped me off at the office of the Pulau Tiga Resort in downtown Kota Kinabalu’s Wisma Merdeka which is next to the Hyatt Kota Kinabalu Hotel. On the way the van driver picked up my two newly found traveling companions from a nearby hotel. They were two Dutch men — Eric, a post-graduate student and Pieter, a distributor of textile garments in the Netherlands. They had just completed a four-day trek in Sarawak’s Bario Highlands. Similar to their long gone compatriot the intrepid 17th Century Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, they trekked the wilds of Sarawak and a small part of Indonesian Borneo (Kalimantan) without any guides and using just maps and compasses. The best part was that neither of them understood a word of Malay, the lingua franca of Malaysia and Indonesia.
On the way to Kuala Penyu, we passed miles and miles of rolling countryside much of it with light secondary forests and occasionally traversing the small kampongs (villages) with their small paddy farms and fruit orchards. Many of the dense primary forests have long disappeared as the trees had been rapidly chopped down and relentlessly fed to the hungry mills for the construction, furniture and wood-making industries.
Geography
The Park covers an area of 158 square kilometers (61 square miles). Most of the area consists of the sea with coral-filled reefs rich in reef fishes, crinoids, sea cumbers, sea urchins, shrimps, lobsters, sea turtles, sharks, barracudas, squids and other wonderful gifts of nature. Within the Park grounds are three islands namely Pulau Tiga, the main island, Pulau Kalampunian Damit (better known as Snake Island) about a kilometer north east of Pulau Tiga. Sandwiched in between is the slightly larger island of Pulau Kalampunian Besar which has been eroded by wave action some time ago and reduced to a large sand bar.
As the Park lies in the equatorial belt it receives a lot of rain throughout the greater part of the year except that the less wet months are from February to April during the inter-monsoon period between the South West Monsoon from April to October and the North East Monsoon from October to January. Total rainfall recorded some 250 centimeters (100 inches) per annum. The average daily mean temperature varies between 22° to 33° Celsius (70° to 90° Fahrenheit). Although Pulau Tiga receives a high precipitation there are not many sources of fresh water because of the absence of water catchments in view of the very low elevation of the summit on the island. Most of the rain waters just run off into the sea.
March 1st, 2006
Taman Nasional Tanjung Puting merupakan kawasan pelestarian alam yang sangat penting artinya untuk melindungi flora dan fauna khas dan endemik di Pulau Kalimantan. Pada awalnya terdiri dari Cagar Alam Kotawaringin dan Suaka Margasatwa Sampit dengan luas total 305.000 ha. Namun semenjak tahun 1996 taman nasional yang terletak di semenanjung barat daya Kalimantan Tengah ini bertambah luasnya menjadi 415.040 hektar.
Secara geografis terletak antara 2° 35′- 3° 20′ Lintang Selatan dan 111° 50′- 112° 15′ Bujur Timur dan meliputi wilayah Kecamatan Kumai, Kecamatan Hanau di Kabupaten Kotawaringin Barat dan Kecamatan Pambuang Hulu, Kecamatan Sebuluh dan Kecamatan Seruyan Hilir di Kabupaten Kotawaringin Timur. Kawasan ini dibatasi oleh anak Sungai Kumai, Sungai Sekonyer di sebalah utara, Sungai Seruyan di sebaelah timur dan pantai Laut Jawa di sebelah selatan dan barat.
Tanjung Puting beserta beberapa taman nasional lain di Kalimantan, merupakan benteng terakhir dalam penyelamatan satwa dan tumbuhan asli Kalimantan yang terancam kepunahan akibat berarnya desakan hidup manusia. Untuk itu penyelamatan kawasan ini sangat penting artinya, karena masih banyah rahasia kehidupan dalam kawasan ini yang belum banyak digali untuk kepentingan manusia di masa depan.
Taman nasional ini memiliki beberapa tipe ekosistem yatiu tipe tipe hutan hutan tropika dataran rendah, hutan tanah kering (hutan kerangas), Hutan rawa air tawar, hutan rawa gambut, hutan bakau (mangrove), hutan pantai dan hutan sekunder.
Flora
Jenis-jenis flora utama di daerah utara kawasan adalah hutan kerangas dan tumbuhan pemakan serangga seperti kantong semar (Nepenthes sp.). Hutan rawa gambut sejati, memiliki jenis tumbuhan yang memiliki akar lutut, dan akar udara.
Di sepanjang tepi semua sungai di kawasan ini terdapat hutan rawa air tawar (aluvial) sejati, memiliki jenis tumbuhan yang kompleks dan jennis tumbuhan merambat berkayu yang besar dan kecil. epifit dan paku-pakuan menjalar dalam jumlah besar.
Di daerah utara menuju selatan kawasan terdapat padang dengan jenis tumbuhan belukar yang luas, hasil dari kerusakan hutan kerangas akibat penebangan dan pembakaran. Umumnya terdapat di sepanjang Sungai Sekonyer dan anak-anak sungainya. Tumbuhan di daerah hulu sungai utama terdiri atas rawa rumput yang didominasi oleh Pandanus sp. dan bentangan macrofita (bakung) yang mengapung, seperti Crinum sp. Di daerah pantai meliputi hutan bakau (mangrove), dan lebih jauh ke daratan yaitu di kawasan payau pada muara-muara sepanjang sungai utama, terdapat tumbuhan asli nipah. Tumbuh meluas ke pedalaman sejauh sungai, dan menandai kadar intrusi air payau ke darat. Untuk daerah pesisir pada pantai-pantai berpasir banyak ditumbuhi tumbuhan marga Casuarina, Pandanus, Podocarpus, Scaevola dan Barringtonia.
Jenis-jenis tumbuhan lain yang dapat ditemui di Taman Nasional Tanjung Puting adalah meranti (Shorea sp.), ramin (Gonystylus bancanus), jelutung (Dyera costulata), gaharu, kayu lanan, keruing (Dipterocarpus sp.), ulin (Eusideroxylon zwageri), tengkawang (Dracontomelas sp.), Dacrydium, Lithocarpus, Castanopsis, Hopea, Schima, Melaleuca, Diospyros, Beckia, Jackia, Licuala, Vatica, Tetramerista, Palaquim, Campnosperma, Casuarina, Ganua, Mesua, Dactylocladus, Alstonia, Durio, Eugenia, Calophyllum, Pandanus, Imperata cylindrica, Crinum sp., Sonneratia, Rhizophora, Barringtonia, nipah (Nypa Fruticans), Podocarpus dan Scaevola. Sedangkan untuk tumbuhan lapisan bawah hutan terdiri dari jenis-jenis rotan dan permudaan/anakan pohon
Fauna
Satwa yang ada di Taman Nasional Tanjung Puting umumnya satwa endemik yang hidip di Pulau Kalimantan. Beberapa satwa yang cukup dikenal da dilindungi adalah Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) , Bekantan (Nasalis larvatus), Owa-owa (Hylobates agylis), Beruang madu (Helarctos malayanus), Selain itu kawasan juga dihuni oleh sedikitnya 38 jenis mamalia termasuk 9 jenis primata, 16 jenis reptilia, dan 200 jenis burung.
Potensi wisata
Sebagai kawasan pelestarian flora fauna, Tanjung Puting juga dikembangkan sebagai daerah kunjungan wisata. Banyak lokasi yang menarik baik pemandangan alamnya yang khas hutan dataran rendah, serta satwa yang mudah dijumpai. Hingga saat ini Tanjung Puting dekenal sebagai lokasi rehabilitasi orangutan Kalimantan yang pertama kali dibangun, dan banyak pengunjung yang ingin lebih dekat dengan kera merah ini.
Peta Taman Nasional Tanjung Puting
Lokasi yang dapat dikunjungi untuk melihat orangutan dan primata lain adalah Pos Tanjung Harapan, Pondok Tanggui dan Camp Leakey. Namun tak hanya itu, masih banyak yang dapat dikunjungi dan dikembangkan untuk daerah tujuan wisata, minat khusus seperti Danau Burung, Sungai Buluh, Natai Lengkuas ataupun kawasan timur yang belum banyak dikembangkan serta daerah sekitarnya seperti Pantai Kubu, serta Taman Wisata Alam Tanjung Keluang dengan pohon-pohon cemara, pasir putih dan air yang jernih, bisa untuk berenang.
Di sepanjang Sungai Sekonyer juga dapat dilihat berbagai jenis burung seperti elang, raja udang, bubut, pecuk ular, rangkong, babat mayat (Asian paradise flychatcher) seta rombongan betet dan kicauan beo. Melihat lokasi berbagai jenis primata seperti bekantan, lutung hitam dan monyet ekor panjang.
Sebagai daerah tujuan wisata alam, faktor pendukung seperti penginapan sudah banyak berkembang. Penginapan kelas melati mudah ditemui di Pangkalan Bun atau Kumai. Bila ingin lebih dekat dengan alam dan suasana hutan, sudah tersedia Rimba lodge Hotel dan Ecolodge Hotel di pinggir Sungai Sekonyer berbatasan dengan Taman Nasional, atau Wisma Tamu Taman Nasional Tanjung Puting atau dapat menginap di kelotok yang di carter, bila ingin mencari suasan lain.
Aksesbilitas
Cara terbaik menuju Taman Nasional Tanjung Puting asalah melalui Kumai, Kota Kecamatan dan Pelabuhan laut yang terletak 15 Km dari Pangkalan Bun (ibukota Kabupaten Kotawaringin Barat).
Untuk menuju Pangkalan Bun dapat dicapai dengan menggunakan pesawat udara: Dari Pulau Jawa penerbangan yang melayani adalah Deraya dari Semarang (Senin, Selasa, Kamis dan Sabtu). Sedangkan dari kota-kota di Kalimantan, penerbangannya adalah DAS atau Deraya dari Pontianak atau Ketapang.
Kemudian dari Bandara Iskandar Pangkalan Bun, dapat menggunakan Taxi ke Kumai sekitar 12 Km.
Sedangkan bila menggunakan kapal laut menuju Pelabuhan Kumai dapat menggunakan jasa PELNI (Binaiya, Lawit, Tilong Kabila, Leuser) dari Semarang atau Surabaya.
March 1st, 2006
The symphony-like sounds produced by Mother Nature’s grand orchestra comprising members from the beetles, cicadas, wasps, bees, frogs, birds and other creatures of the forests provided an excellent opening the herald the arrival of a troop of semi-wild Orang Utans (Pongi pygmaeus). Sharp on the dot at 8.30 am on one crispy morning in Semenggoh Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre these shy and docile Asian apes clamber down stealthily from the crowns of trees surrounding the food platform, apparently in unison, to the strains of the beat and sounds of the forest.
The food consisting of bananas, sugar cane, nuts and milk have been neatly laid out by the wardens at 8.30am. Right on cue the Orang Utans make a quick grab for their favorite food. Some of them driven by greed resorted to all four limbs and their mouth as well to arrogate the goodies. A few of the younger ones were busy slurping milk from the bottles. After their meal they are up to their “monkey” tricks. In fact they are better at this game than their primate cousins the macaques. They have a wide repertoire of horse-play antics and in this regard they are even more ingenious and innovative than humans! Despite whatever they are doing they would respond delightfully to their names whenever the wardens call out, among others, Seduku, Delima, Ritchie, Anwar and George.
All of us standing on the raised boardwalk craned our necks towards the direction of the food platform as far as we can go against the rope-off area. They provide us with an unforgettable memory.
The Place
Semenggoh is similar in purpose and character to the world-renown Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre in Sandakan, Sabah. However there is a difference in that Semenggoh is also a rehabilitation sanctuary for other wildlife species such as the gibbons, monkeys, sun bears, hornbills and other wildlife which have been injured, orphaned or confiscated from illegal owners holding such creatures captive. It is very easy to get to Semenggoh as it is located in the outskirts of Kuching, the City of Cats. The Center lies 32 kilometers (22 miles) south of Kuching along the main trunk road to Serian; small town 64 kilometers (38 miles) from Kuching and Serian is well-known for the Ranchan Pools comprising a set of cascading waterfalls nearby.
Most good class hotels provide mini-vans at a small charge to Semenggoh. Taxi cabs easily available from Kuching city could also be hired at a return fare of Ringgit 60 (US$16) in addition to a levy for waiting time at the rate of Ringgit 10 (US$2.70) per hour or part thereof. For those on a tight budget or who would like to a more leisurely journey but with stops in between or who like to mingle with the locals may travel by public bus (Sarawak Transport Company Bus Numbers 6, 6A, 6B or 6C). For foreign visitors traveling in public buses they may be able to experience a veritable Tower of Babel situation as inside the bus they should be able to hear a multitude of languages and dialects ranging from Malay, English and Chinese dialects — Mandarin, Hokkien and Foochow — to Iban and Bidayuh spoken by the Sarawak natives.
These buses can be boarded from the STC terminus situated in the city center a short distance from the central wet market. The fare for the half hour journey is Ringgit 1.90 (50 US cents). Just tell the bus driver that you wish to visit Semenggoh and he would drop you right in front of the main outside entrance at the Forestry Department Nursery. From the main entrance visitors will need to walk an uphill for some 20 minutes along a sealed road carved out from the forest to reach the Rehabilitation Center entrance. Cars, taxi cabs and mini-buses can however drive straight to the Center entrance.
History of the Rehabilitation Center
The Center was set up in 1975 within a 740-hectare (1828-acre) forest reserve authorized in 1920 by the third White Rajah, Charles Vyner Brooke, who ruled Sarawak until 1946 when he ceded it to the British Government which turned it into a Crown Colony.
Charles Brooke in turn took over the reins of government of Sarawak when his uncle the legendary adventurer James Brooke returned in 1865 to retire before he passed away two years later. James Brooke invalidated from the British East India Company based in India arrived in Sarawak in 1839 in his well-armed schooner the Royalist. Using the sheer brute fire power of the Royalist he helped Sarawak’s Viceroy (for the Sultanate of Brunei), Rajah Muda (Prince) Mahkota to bust the marauding pirates lurking in the rivers and coast-line of Sarawak as well as put down a rebellion by the local Malays and the Bidayuhs. As a reward the Sultan of Brunei installed James Brooke as the Rajah of Sarawak in September 1842.
In the early 1970s, the Government of Sarawak realized that with the destruction of vast swathes of forests due to exploitation of commercial tropical timber many wild animals had been displaced from their natural habitat and some of them had been hunted, injured or captured and retained as pets and their young ones left as defenseless orphans. This rapid despoliation of the forests started from the second half of the 1960s when the efficient killer contraption, the motorized chain saws and the mighty man-of-war of the forest, the tractors and bulldozers were deployed in commercial timber harvesting, making of jungle tracks for use by logging trucks and haulage of logs to feed the hungry saw mills in Sabah and abroad.
Until the British left Sarawak in September 1963 cutting of hardwoods was very much a localized operation as loggers had to use manual labor to cut the tree trunks, haul the logs using raw human strength to the rivers and to raft them before floating the logs down the river to the log ponds by the sea. The Semenggoh Wildlife Rehabilitation Center was therefore established with the objective of training injured, orphaned or confiscated wild animals and birds so that they could be equipped with the skills and the experience to be able to survive on their own in the wilds of Sarawak.
The Wildlife Found in the Rehabilitation Center
The star attraction is of course the Orang Utan, the great Asian ape. The intelligence of the huge and gentle being and its remarkably human expression make it a source of endless fascination. Apes due to their ability to walk with a human-like gait and their human size body structure as well as their human-looking face (albeit with a protruding jaw) are much loved by many humans. In fact their name is literally translated as the Man of the Forest from Malay/Indonesian. The adult male Orang Utan is 1.4 meters (4.5 feet) in height and weighs 100 kilograms (220 pounds). The adult female however is shorter and lighter. Unlike Man and the other animals the Orang Utan builds its “nests” every day to stay sheltered for the night. Their “nest” is a rough platform of twigs, leaves and branches pulled over the crotch of strong branches high up in the crown of trees.
In the Rehabilitation Center the new arrivals after medical attention and quarantine are brought daily by wardens to the forest and encouraged to climb trees, swing from branch to branch, and forage for food such as fruits, termites and other invertebrates and young shoots of rattans and palms. They are also taught to identify those poisonous fruits which are inedible to Orang Utans. Most Orang Utans are able after two to three years to be gain back their instinct to enable them to survive on their own in the forests.
The best times for visitors to visit the Center is their feeding time which is 8.30am to 9.00am and 2.30pm to 3.00pm. The morning session is recommended as the temperature should be around 26 degrees Celsius (78 degrees Fahrenheit) as opposed to 32 degrees Celsius (89 degrees Fahrenheit) in the mid-afternoons. Not all the Orang Utans come to the feeding platform as those who are capable of foraging for food on their own would give the free meals a miss. This would demonstrate the success of Semenggoh as a Rehabilitation Center if more and more Orang Utans do not show up at feeding times. When the fruits are not in season then more of these animals would turn up. Therefore it depends on luck and the seasonality of fruiting to be able to see the Orang Utans as they are not kept in cages and shown as exhibits as in a zoo.
Feeding times offer visitors a chance of viewing the Orang Utans at close range for a long period of time. It also offers a unique wildlife experience and excellent photo taking opportunities. After half an hour when they are well-fed and tired after messing around with one another or with the wardens or even with tourists who happen to be in their way they would in the same way they made their appearance quietly and unobtrusively leave from the scene. And that’s the end of the show for the time being!
Another animal which is often sent to the Center for rehabilitation is the Mueller’s Gibbon or Bornean Gibbon (Hylobates muelleri). The gibbons are hunted for food by the natives who are the Ibans, Bidayuhs, and the Orang Sungei or “Interior Peoples” who comprise smaller native communities such as the Penans, Punans, Kajangs, Kayans and Kenyahs. The coastal Malays because of their Islamic faith which discourages eating animals with either sharp teeth or claws shun such meat. However many of the natives like to keep gibbons as pets as they often make endearing pets although keeping them is an illegal practice. Gibbons are highly territorial by instinct. A troop consists of a nuclear family and it is common to find maturing adolescents (seven to eight year-olds) being chased off from the family. These young adolescent gibbons must therefore carve out a territory of their own often on the fringes of established families.
Consequently displaced gibbons especially inexperienced young males find it difficult to establish themselves. Field studies have found that the mortality rate of gibbons undergoing rehabilitation is quite high as they often die from loneliness, disease, starvation or are killed by hunters.
Like the Orang Utans, gibbons are apes as they too are tail-less but they are half the size of the larger apes. The Bornean Gibbons are silvery grey furry animals with black limbs and black faces but with a streak of white above the eyes. Unlike the Orang Utans the gibbons are very adept at swinging from branch to branch effortlessly using their long and slender arms in a pendulum-like fashion which is referred to as brachiating. Similar movements of the Orang Utans are slower and jerky. The other protected wildlife which are currently being rehabilitated in the Center are the different types of monkeys, sun bears (Helarctos malayanus), white-bellied sea eagles (Haliaeetus leucogaster) and some of the eight species of hornbills found in Borneo including the rhinoceros hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros) which is the state emblem of Sarawak.
However the Center is not only a haven for the displaced wildlife. There is a fruit garden with many of the wild fruit trees found in the jungles of Borneo. It also houses an ethnic botanic garden containing herbs (many of traditional medicinal value) and spices such as turmeric and lemongrass planted by Sarawak Malays and wild ginger by the Bidayuhs. The Sarawak Biodiversity Center, a botanical research center, a seedling center as well as a seed bank are also located in the Center.
Why Visit Semenggoh Wildlife Center?
The Center not only offers visitors an opportunity to be up close with Orang Utans and other wildlife in their natural environment but also a place to savor the peace, tranquility and quietude afforded by primal, pristine forest reserve. More importantly it educates the public to be more aware of the effects of wanton destruction of the habitat of wildlife arising from commercial exploitation of natural resources. It is of vital importance that governments and the people are constantly reminded that Man must learned from the extinction of the Bali Tiger (Panthera tigris balica) — the last one was killed in 1937 — and the Java Tiger (Panthera tigris sondaicus) — last seen in the wilds in 1972. Already the one-horned Java Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus) which has suffered from extensive clearance of forest and relentless hunting is in danger of extinction soon. Similarly the two-horned Sumatran Rhinoceros (Dicerohinus sumantrensis) is also highly endangered as it is seriously threatened by excessively high demand for its horn and other organs as an aphrodisiac.
Therefore the invaluable work of the Semenggoh Wildlife Rehabilitation Center towards Mankind and our children must be appreciated and supported by all right thinking man and woman. We do not relish showing to our children or grandchildren only the Orang Utan specimens exhibited in some musty museum nor rifle deep below our drawers to retrieve old photo albums to show them badly faded photographs of such wild animals. We wish the Center every success in its endeavors.
March 1st, 2006