Film February - Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre Sabah Malaysia (the Borneo side)
When I was working in Malaysia I took a weekend trip to Sepilok, Sabah, Malaysia (it was on the Malaysia part of Borneo). The reason I went there was to visit the Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in hopes of seeing Orangutans.
There is no guarantee that the returned to the wild orangutans will make an appearance. These are mainly orangutans who have been orphaned, either by logging or capture as pets. The centre teaches the orangutans how to live in the wild. A feeding session is held twice a day and the orangutans can come for a feed if they wish but it is their choice. As they thrive in the wild they generally visit less often, but some come back occasionally even after years, orangutans who have had their own babies will bring them for a visit too. Interactions with people are kept to a minimum, the public kept at a distance and asked to remain quiet. A lot of people don't stay quiet - hooting like children's idea of monkey sounds - I was frustrated, fearing their carry on would deter the orangutans from visiting. But as I watched and waited swinging down the ropes to the feeding platform came several large muscular red heads. I fell in love. This is probably the point where I knew I love wildlife photography and probably my first action shot too, this little orangutan was moving pretty quickly along the rope.
Orang is the malay and indonesian word for man/person and hutan is forest - the word orangutan means "man of the forest".
This is a scan of my print, I have not scanned the negatives yet and have a huge box to sort through. Taken with my Canon EOS 30E 35mm SLR - the E stands for "eye" you could calibrate the focus points to lock onto wherever you looked through the view finder - I love fit. I longed for a tele-photo lens instead of my basic kit lens. It was all stolen when my home was burgled a few years ago.
