KUCHING: Carlos, a 17-year-old Bornean Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus), arrived at Matang Wildlife Centre on Friday morning after being cared for and bred at Bukit Merah Orang Utan Island Foundation (BMOUIF), Perak. According to a press statement issued yesterday by the Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC), Carlos is healthy and will remain in quarantine for a period of time before being made accessible to public view.
The MoU between Sarawak State Government and Bukit Merah Lake Town (BMLT), Perak was signed in 2012, to transfer on loan three orangutans to promote ex-situ conservation, research and public education. Today, BMLT has a total of 21 orangutans including its offsprings, a success story of ex-situ conservation. BMLT and Sarawak Forestry will continuously collaborate on orangutan research and monitoring to realise the viability of these semi-wild populations.
Assistant Minister of Urban Development, Land Administration and Environment and Chairman of Sarawak Forestry Corporation Sdn. Bhd. (SFCSB), Datu Hj. Len Talif Salleh, on behalf of the Sarawak state government, received the symbolic handing over of the Orangutans at an event witnessed by Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on July 6, 2018.
Orangutan is a Totally Protected Species under the Wild Life protection Ordinance, 1998 and has been accorded protection under Sarawak’s law dated back to the 1940s. All Orangutan natural habitats in Sarawak are protected as in Batang Ai National Park (NP), Ulu Sebuyau NP, Sedilu NP, Lanjak-Entimau Wild Life Sanctuary and Bukit Lesong Nature Reserve. The only other population outside protected areas is in Ulu Menyang, which is now protected under the Orangutan Conservation Area.
