VISITING THE ORANGUTAN AT SEMENGGOH WILDLIFE CENTRE - PART TWO

CONTINUATION OF PART ONE

 MONDAY, 5th SEPTEMBER 2022  ~ We now had to go to another feeding spot which was actually the main feeding area. To get there, people had to walk along a short jungle trek which was not challenging, thank God for that.

There were two orangutans, Analisa and her baby, about 3-4 months old whose gender and name were yet to be determined. We just stood there for quite some time, observing the orangutans before being instructed to get back to the first feeding area we went to when we arrived. So it was like going back and forth from one place to another.

Another adult, female orangutan, with the name of Seduku, was already clinging on the tree. She should be the queen of Semenggoh. At one point, she moved to the tree which was outside the fence and there was a ranger offering her bananas. This was the closest distance the visitors got to see the orangutan and people crowded the area to get a closer look at the majestic beast.

We even managed to get a selfie with Seduku, the queen.

Before heading to the buggy station to get us down, we stopped by at this gallery which exhibited the preserved skeleton of an orangutan. You could see the bones were similar to a human's. The ranger on duty told us more information about the animal and the most interesting thing was the tragic love story of the Delima, whose skeleton was preserved for public display.

Delima, the female orangutan, was actually murdered by a male, Ritchie. The reason: Delima rejected Ritchie's love and refused to mate a few times. Endu, Delima's 4 year old son, was with her when she was killed and the small orangutan was found alone and crying, until his sister, Serena, came to the rescue.

That was the end of our visit to Semenggoh Wildlife Centre. The best thing to do when you are here is actually to approach the friendly rangers as they could impart a lot of knowledge and interesting stories about the orangutan to you.

Highly recommended to come here if you like animals and nature.

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VISITING THE ORANGUTAN AT SEMENGGOH WILDLIFE CENTRE - PART ONE

 MONDAY, 5th SEPTEMBER 2022  ~ Once the rented car was handed over to us at the airport, we drove straight away to the very first spot in our itinerary: Semenggoh Wildlife Centre, as it was near. We were worried initially we might miss the orangutan feeding session that should take place at 9:00 a.m. but luckily there was enough time to get to the centre.

The entry ticket for an adult Malaysian was RM5.00 and another RM10.00 for the electric buggy ticket rides. You better get on the buggy unless you are willing to walk uphill to get the spots to see the orangutan which I think will take about 30 - 45 minutes one way. The buggy service was only introduced in the park on 30th August.

We were already warned by the officers at the counter that we might not be able to see the orangutans during the feeding sessions as the fruit season was in session. The beasts might not be tempted by the fruits offered by humans as natural fruits were already in abundance in the wild. We just kept our fingers crossed.

There was already a big crowd waiting to get into the buggy. It seemed everybody wanted to meet the orangutans during this school holiday when they came to Kuching.

Most of the visitors came in bigger groups. We managed to squeeze through to get onto the buggy earlier as there were only the two of us who could simply fill in the vacant seats. The buggy could accommodate 13 passengers at one time.

 

Once arrived at the buggy station, we had to walk a short distance to get to the first feeding area.

The crowd was already forming to see the park rangers giving food to the orangutan and there was only one in sight. I was told by the ranger that the one that we were observing was known as Jubli. He/She was quite faraway but we should be thankful at least one orangutan came to get the food offered.

Kevin, the friendly ranger

Then, we were asked to move to another feeding spot as there were other orangutans already waiting for us there.

The video of Jubli the orangutan can be found in Part 2 later.

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART TWO

MY KUCHING TRAVELOGUE MAIN PAGE

THE ORANGUTANS OF TORONTO ZOO

You might get tired of reading so let's just now watch a video of orangutans recorded at Toronto Zoo. Enjoy...

 

A VISIT TO TORONTO ZOO

On the third day of the Toronto trip, the time came for a visit to the zoo. It was a large area and the place was divided into sections according to different continents. We spent more than five hours there, admiring the animals on display. There were a lot of people, mainly kids going on a school trip and the day was cloudy but cold - to be inside the indoor exhibition which was warmer had made me feel at home.

at the zoo entrance

babirusa

tapir

rhinoceros

inside the Indomalay Pavilion

buttterflies in the wild

I have adopted a new hobby: hunting butterflies. This was also what I did when I was in one of the museums in Washington DC last week.

orangutan in captivity

a sleeping tiger

hogs, artistic ones

pygmy hippo

another type of hippo

grazing zebra

the MANE attraction: white lions

a giraffe in the background

fish as the wallpaper

rhinoceros basking in the sun 

the brightly-coloured flamingoes

It was definitely another exciting trip to the zoo. In fact I will not hesitate to visit more zoos in the future.

NOTE:
(i) There will be video postings of the visit later.
(ii) My blog posting of the trip will not be in time sequence but rather in random order.
(iii) I am having problem as the pictures uploaded in picasa has exceeded its limit so that might slow things down.