Semenggoh
Semi Wild Orangutans That Come To A Feeding Platform When The Forest Has Nothing Better To Offer And Stay Away Entirely When It Does · Kuching, Sarawak
SEMENGGOH HAS BEEN REHABILITATING ORANGUTANS SINCE 1975 AND THE ANIMALS HERE ARE NOT CAPTIVE - they are semi-wild, living in the surrounding forest reserve, free to come and go. TWICE A DAY FOOD IS PUT OUT ON A PLATFORM, AND WHETHER ANYONE TURNS UP IS ENTIRELY UP TO THEM. In the FRUITING SEASON, ROUGHLY AROUND THE MIDDLE OF THE YEAR, THE FOREST IS FULL OF WILD FOOD AND ALMOST NOTHING COMES - the centre says so openly and people still arrive expecting a guarantee. WHEN THEY DO COME IT IS EXTRAORDINARY: adults swinging down through the canopy a few metres from a walkway, mothers with infants, and RITCHIE, the big dominant male, who has been here since the seventies and whom the wardens will tell you to take very seriously indeed. IT IS HALF AN HOUR FROM KUCHING, which makes it the easiest orangutan encounter in Borneo. The reserve opens only around the two feeding sessions, arrive before the stated time because the walk in and the briefing both take a while, and leave your bag in a locker.
Semenggoh Nature Reserve, Siburan, Sarawak, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
SEMENGGOH IS ABOUT THIRTY MINUTES BY ROAD FROM KUCHING. THERE ARE TWO FEEDING SESSIONS A DAY, MID-MORNING AND MID-AFTERNOON, and THE RESERVE OPENS ONLY AROUND THEM - you cannot wander in at other hours. ARRIVE BEFORE THE STATED TIME; the walk in from the gate takes several minutes and the briefing matters. A MODEST ENTRY FEE APPLIES. NOTHING IS GUARANTEED AND THE FRUITING SEASON, ROUGHLY MID-YEAR, ROUTINELY PRODUCES NO SIGHTINGS AT ALL - the centre publishes this and it is honest of them. KEEP THE STATED DISTANCE, DO NOT STAND BETWEEN AN ORANGUTAN AND WHERE IT WANTS TO GO, and follow the wardens without argument. THESE ARE WILD ANIMALS AND RITCHIE IN PARTICULAR IS DANGEROUS. Bags go in lockers. It rains in every month.