Animal sanctuaries at Sepilok

The Kapili-Sepilok forest reserve hosts two important centres where tourists can spot orangutans and Bornean sun bears in their natural habitat. The reserve is a much needed conservation land for the primary jungle that is fast disappearing to plantations and commercialisation in the wider Sabah area.
The orangutan rehabilitation centre does invaluable job with the primates whose offspring are often found orphaned, and in captivity at the local plantation workers' houses. It is a sad byproduct of logging in Sabah; the primates' roaming area is diminishing, and the oil palm forests don't provide enough nutrition to the indigenous species. Furthermore, the baby orangutans make a desirable pet but keeping them in captivity is punishable by law, a fact that not many of the locals even know.

Founded already in the 60s, the Orangutang rehabilitation centre offers a more established, and more zoo-like, experience for the tourists than the recently opened sun bear conservation centre; Via an established canopy walkway, tourists can find the feeding platforms to wait for the men of the jungle to arrive for their daily feedings. Although this is intended as an experience where a visitor can see the animals in their natural habitat, it didn't initially feel much different to a visit in a zoo. The set up with the ropes leading to the feeding platform feels like a staged show for the visitors. It is somehow hard to imagine being in a natural habitat, albeit virgin forest. This said, I am pleased to have witnessed the feeding but the highlight for me was the off chance of one of the cheeky monkeys wondering into the crowd. He was clearly enjoying the interaction, slowly lingering on the walkway before grabbing one of his carer's hand and walking back into the jungle. Their little faces are so innocent - this mini-encounter made me think about all the logging and reduction of their chances in the wild and I found the scenery all around Sabah very upsetting. When I go home I will do my best to opt for products with no palm oil - first thing to do is to order all drinks without the palm oil sugar!

There are also few walks in the area that take the visitors amongst the jungle but having already been to quite a few runs and walks at home, this didn't impress me too much. The bird watching tower is only open from 9am which is too late in the day for any real spotting.

We visited the sun bear sanctuary in the next morning before setting off again. I didn't know anything about these bears - not even that they are arboreal so I was quite amazed to find their nests high up in the forest trees. The carers are very knowledgeable and chat keenly with the public, so we learnt quite a lot; more endangered animals due to the ever diminishing rain forest area! This encounter is less structured than the meeting with the primates. The feeding times aren't published, and the visitors can enter the facility at any time until 3.30 pm. However, the feeding happens between 11-12 and we were lucky enough to be there at that time. Few more bears wondered to greet us having smelled the food, so all in all we saw 5 little black and furry brown nosed bears, although one of them snoring up in the woods with only one paw visible.

During our visit to Sepilok, we stayed in the beautiful Nature Resort just next to the sanctuaries. In theory, the orangutans would be free to roam in the Resort's garden but we weren't that lucky. Whilst the rooms themselves are in need of an update (they are a bit 80s tastic), the resort feels like a real jungle sanctuary, and the staff is extremely friendly. Their lounge was a perfect place for a cold beverage after a sweaty day in the jungle, I would certainly recommend it!