Alfred drove us the 2.5 hours back down the bumpy, dusty road from Deramakot this morning where we said goodbye to him and Mike. A taxi was waiting for us at the main highway to complete the 1.5 hour drive to Sepilok. We had a moment of unease when, at a routine police stop, our driver discovered that his business driver’s license had expired! But he managed to talk the nice policeman into letting us continue on our way, promising to renew tomorrow.

Once in town, we checked into the Sepilok Nature Resort. Dave is starting to feel that all the names of the local towns sound like Pokemon characters.  He must be a boy-dad! 

Our Sepilok guide, Vendon, is taking us to The Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center (Pusat Pemuliharaan) this afternoon. Vendon is knowledgeable and he is quite entertaining. It also helps that he is a photographer himself and knows where to go to get the good shots.

The center consists of a 4292 hectare (42 square km) semi-wild enclosure for about 80 injured, rescued (from poaching or the pet trade) or orphaned orangutans.  The staff have named them, and can recognize each individual. The hope is most of the animals will be rehabilitated and released back into the forest. The center operates jointly between the Malay government and Orangutan Appeal out of the UK. For RM250 ($75) we were able to adopt our own orangutan, Hujan. Sadly we don’t get to take her home but our donation will help keep her fed and cared for.

Man of the Forest is a literal translation of the words in Malay: Orang = man, hutan = forest.

In addition to the ‘residents’, wild orangutans will often show up within the protected reserve.

The very young orangs have an indoor nursery where they are cared for by center staff. When they graduate to the outdoor nursery, they are teamed up with an older and more experienced partner to teach them how to survive independently in the forest.

The center feeds the orangs twice per day. They purposely keep the provided food the same every day to encourage the apes to forage in the forest for other more exciting foods. Their diet consists of green beans, cabbage, cantaloupe and bananas. This orangutan stuffed a fistful of green beans in her toes and took them into a tree to munch on.

Just before the second feeding of the day, we were alerted that Malim, the wild alpha male, had made an appearance at the platform. The guides and volunteers were all very excited, as he is typically only seen a few times per year. And he is usually camera shy and turns his back to the crowd. Today was a very lucky day.

He’s over 200 pounds and stands about 5 feet tall. He’s also 10 times stronger than a human. Do not mess with him!

The alpha male asserts his dominance in the congress of orangs, and starts to eat large quantities of fruits and vegetables. The increased volume of food causes a spike in testosterone which creates the englarged cheek pads. His cheeks not only increase his visual impact, but also amplify his vocalizations similar to using a megaphone.

Most of the babies in the preserve are likely Malim’s offspring. He is in his prime at around 25 years old.

Tomorrow we will visit the Sun Bear Centre and do a night walk at the Rainforest Discovery Center in Sepilok.