[MALAYSIA] Sarawak - Semenggoh Wildlife Centre

13:55 Travel Bunny 0 Comments

Semenggoh Wildlife Centre is an orangutan sanctuary and nature reserve in Kuching. It is one of three such rehab centres for orangutans in Malaysia. During feeding times (twice a day), the semi-wild orangutans might show up and provide visitors an unique opportunity to see them at close range. There is no guarantee to see these interesting creatures but it is highly likely.

Getting there:

It is about 30 minutes drive from Kuching. You can get to Semenggoh by using Grab or rent a car and drive by your own. If you're using Grab, it is advisable to do a private arrangement with your Grab driver for the return trip as it would be hard to get a ride back to Kuching.

I hired a private driver for RM 350 for the day (8am - 5pm) including transport to Semenggoh Wildlife Centre, Jong's crocodile farm and Annah Rais long house then back to the hotel. This is most convenient way to travel if you're travelling with family and kids as the time and place can be flexible.

Another option would be to join a local tour. Some tour agencies offer a half-day tour to Semenggoh only. Others also combine Semenggoh with Jong's crocodile farm or Annah Rais long house.

It is also possible to take a bus to Semenggoh. Bus No.6 will drop you off right by the ticket office. But I have no idea where to take that bus in Kuching.

* Tickets can only be purchased at the entrance. 

From the ticketing booth (the main entrance) it is a 20-minute walk to the orangutan feeding area. Alternatively, you can purchase the buggy ticket and ride on the buggy for about 10 minutes to the orangutan feeding area. We opted to ride the electric buggy. 

From the buggy station, we still need to walk a short distance to the orangutan feeding area.

Do come here earlier than the designated feeding time (9am or 3pm) if possible as the rangers started calling for the orangutan earlier. When we arrived around 8.45am, we could see a huge orangutan already eating on the feeding platform. I'm guessing that he is Ritchie, judging from the look and size. He is the 'big boss' and alpha male of Semenggoh. He had all the fruits to himself. The fruit that the ranger offered includes bananas and coconuts. By 9am, he was already full and left by walking on the ground. I imagine it was because he is too big for the trees.

Remember to remain silent at the feeding area as noise would deter the orangutan from coming or disturb their feeding. Visitors are also not allowed to feed or take photos with the orangutans as they are treated as wildlife here.

A notice board that shows the orangutans that were named and rehabilitated by the rangers. 

Visitors were ushered to the main feeding area which is 200m into the forest. The trail was not wide and it could get congested at times. I'd prefer to trail behind the crowd than to be sandwiched in between. 

At this feeding area, we saw another orangutan with darker hair swinging down from the trees for a free handout of fruit. He was shy and turned its back while eating at first, much to visitors' dismay. 

But he did turn around after some time. He was chilling out at the wooden platform when the ranger alerted us that another orangutan was approaching. 

A moment later, we saw another orangutan with lighter hair swinging down the guide rope from a different direction. This one was a bit of a show-off as it took its own sweet time to hang on the rope and get down from the trees. I'm guessing this one is a female orangutan which is also smaller in size.

This time, the shy orangutan only took a comb of bananas and went up to the trees again to eat. I was not told the names of these two orangutans. They didn't seem like a family to me as they came separately and even ate separately. 

We left before the crowd did. In total, we saw three orangutans that day, so our luck wasn't too bad.

We were told that when food are aplenty in the forest during fruiting season, they might not come down for the handouts at all. So sighting of these semi-wild orangutans is not guaranteed during your visit. If you're really, really lucky like our driver, Shamsul, you could see up to eleven orangutans at one time! Overall, it was worthwhile and definitely a highlight of our Kuching trip.

Semenggoh Wildlife Centre