Google maps: Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary
Sepilok near Sandakan is a worldwide known Orangutans' rehabilitation centre. Injured, ill or orphaned apes are cared for here and prepared for being returned to the wild. The area is massive, a piece of wild jungle where Orangutans can learn their skills to safely return to where they belong. Normally Orangutans are very difficult to see in the wild but here they are lured to specific spots for supplementary feeding twice daily. There is a fruiting season now so this time only few of them came but it still made the whole experience unforgettable.
Orangutan means "person of the forest" - Orang Utan in Malay / Indonesian, and it really feels like they are not so different from us humans. They are said to be the most intelligent out of all the great apes, use tools and communicate extensively but it is more their behaviour, body posture that make their resemblance to humans unique. They can stand up straight, make faces, go bald, kiss each other, frown their eyebrows and fold their arms. They are also very hairy, live on trees and survive on fruits and leaves but there is really something special - I am not so sure the feeling is mutual though as many of them actually end up in Sepilok because of us.
Sepilok near Sandakan is a worldwide known Orangutans' rehabilitation centre. Injured, ill or orphaned apes are cared for here and prepared for being returned to the wild. The area is massive, a piece of wild jungle where Orangutans can learn their skills to safely return to where they belong. Normally Orangutans are very difficult to see in the wild but here they are lured to specific spots for supplementary feeding twice daily. There is a fruiting season now so this time only few of them came but it still made the whole experience unforgettable.
Orangutan means "person of the forest" - Orang Utan in Malay / Indonesian, and it really feels like they are not so different from us humans. They are said to be the most intelligent out of all the great apes, use tools and communicate extensively but it is more their behaviour, body posture that make their resemblance to humans unique. They can stand up straight, make faces, go bald, kiss each other, frown their eyebrows and fold their arms. They are also very hairy, live on trees and survive on fruits and leaves but there is really something special - I am not so sure the feeling is mutual though as many of them actually end up in Sepilok because of us.
No comments:
Post a Comment