SANDAKAN, Nov 23 ― Over the last three years, there have been no cases of orangutans being hunted illegally, and neither were there cases of orangutans saved from becoming pets in Sabah, according to Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Datuk Christina Liew.

However, she said this year alone, the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre received five orangutans that were rescued because they were abandoned by their mothers, suffered injuries and were found in a remote forest.

“This situation shows that wildlife crime involving orangutans in Sabah is at zero, and the Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre is now more focused on orangutan rescue operations due to natural causes, conflict and lack of habitat.

“We have communicated this scenario to all interested parties for them to monitor the presence of orangutans in habitats close to them.

“Our hope is that these parties will help the Sabah Wildlife Department (JHL) in orangutan conservation efforts so that wildlife crimes involving orangutans will continue to remain at zero,” Liew said in her speech at the closing of Orangutan Caring Week 2023 at the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre here on Monday.

The minister also urged the public to help JHL in reducing incidents of orangutans being bitten by dogs, and in spreading the message of awareness to protect Sabah’s wildlife treasures.

The text of her speech was read by the director of JHL, Augustine Tuuga.

On the Orangutan Action Plan for Sabah (2020-2029), Liew said it aims to provide exposure about orangutans and their habitats, and touched on its five objectives to be achieved within 10 years.

These are to stop orangutan habitat loss and restore their habitat across the landscape; to ensure better protection for orangutans throughout their habitat; to make sure orangutans can live in their agricultural landscape; to ensure best ex-situ practices for orangutan management and conservation; and to carry out monitoring and forecasting of the orangutan population trends in Sabah.

“This year, various activities were carried out in line with the Orangutan Action Plan. Among them were a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Malaysian Palm Oil Green Conservation Foundation (MPOGCF), Sabah Wildlife Department, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, and HUTAN (an NGO involved in the Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Programme) to obtain the population status and distribution of orangutans in Sabah; Implementation of tree planting in areas identified as orangutan corridors and degraded forest areas by NGOs such as APE Malaysia and HUTAN; and Implementation of snares cleaning activities in wildlife habitat areas, especially orangutans,” Liew elaborated.

The Orangutan Caring Week Programme 2023 with the theme “Forest Guardians : Empowering Communities for Conservation” was jointly organised by JHL, Sandakan Municipal Council (MPS), Orangutan UK Appeal and HUTAN.

It was one of the awareness campaign activities as outlined in the Orangutan Action Plan for Sabah. It was also held at SK Kota Kinabatangan (located close to the orangutan habitat in the Kinabatangan district).

Other activities to mark the occasion included “Adopt Orangutan”, poster distribution in the district and around Sepilok, Zumba session, Orangutan Walk for three kilometres, a colouring competition for children, and Orangutan Sculpture. ― Borneo Post