Sandakan Sepilock Orangutan Rehabilitation Center
- Address:Batu 14, Sepilock
- Hours:Open daily
- Admission:Free
1:30 AM Monday, May 28
Partly cloudy. Warm.
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The Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center, located near the town of Sandakan, is one of only four places in the world set up to preserve and protect orangutans.
Established in a corner of the Kabili-Sepilok rainforest reserve in 1964, the center has expanded in recent years as news of its work began to spread and the number of orphaned and abandoned orangutans continues to grow due to ongoing destruction of their natural habitat.
These endearing creatures, with their orange hair and intelligent eyes are cared for at the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center until they are strong enough or old enough to return to live independently in the Borneo jungle.
A raised wooden walkway takes you to the observation deck where orangutans emerge from the rainforest to be fed by the rangers. The Sepilok center supplements their rainforest diet with two feeds at 10am and 3pm. While not all the orangutans make an appearance at feeding time, this is the best time to see them as they mostly roam free and unseen in the surrounding jungle.
We visited the park and botanical garden, had lunch, and then drove to Poring Hot Springs. On the way to the Springs, we were very fortunate to see the Raffalisia flower in bloom. This was one of the highlights of our 10 day trip to Borneo!! The 12-story high canopy walk-way. was another feature of this trip. I have seen other canopy walk-ways but this one is the most "rustic"--being only a plank inside a net--very exciting. Continue Reading »
The park is quite a long way from KK itself but the scenery to be seen on the drive itself makes it all worth it. During the day we made several stops to go into the rain forest to see the indigenous plants and flowers including the Rafflesia. Also visited the hot springs and the butterfly park.
Continue Reading »
Worth doing, but not with this tour company. The guide kept telling us it was not his usual tour, and that he wasn't really interested in these type of tours. Felt like he wanted to go home ASAP. Continue Reading »
Practical Info
The Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center also provides medical aid to other local wildlife species including; sun bears, gibbons, Sumatran rhinoceros and the occasional injured elephant.
The Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center is 25km (15.5mi) north of Sandakan.
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