proboscus
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| Sunrise on the Kinabitangan |
We backtracked to Sandakan and connected to Sukau, the launching point for river safaris on the Kinabitangan. The Kinabitangan River offers surprisingly plentiful opportunities to spot wildlife, which has made it one of the great tourist destinations in Sabah. But the sad reality is that the abundance of animals in the surrounding jungle is a result of the unchecked logging and omnipresent palm oil plantations on Borneo. Malaysia is the world's leading palm oil supplier, and few pockets of primary rainforest still exist in Sabah. A flight over or a drive through the countryside reveals endless acres of palm trees, which supposedly offer nothing whatsoever to the environment. So the great animals of Borneo have lost their homes and have been pushed to the secondary rainforest that runs alongside the Kinabitangan, which is where we searched for them.
We spent three days taking river cruises on the crocodile-infested Kinabitangan ("Do people swim here?" we asked our guide: [...] "Ha! NO!"). We departed on sunrise, late afternoon, and night safaris, each time of day offering opportunities to spot different animals. We were particularly lucky to spot a doughy-eyed dominant male orangutan at dawn hanging from and swinging in a tree. Unimaginably powerful arms! Also of note are the magical proboscis monkeys which are found only on Borneo. Known also the monyet balanda ("Dutch monkey" - the Indonesians felt their Dutch colonisers shared the monkey's large belly and long, red nose), the female and non-dominant males have exaggerated, Pinocchio-like noses. They perch in trees picking leaves (which compose over 90% of their diet) looking professionally absurd. The dominant males, however, have what looks basically like an elephantine ball-sack hanging over their nose. They are completely charming, as was the Russian-English inflected speech of our Malay guide: prro-BO-scis. One example of the jungle in action: at nighttime it is easy to spot the proboscis monkeys sleeping perched on the end of branches over the river. This is so that when nighttime predators (such as clouded leopards) stalk them in their trees, the monkeys are awoken by the full vibrations of the branch, gaining precious time to jump down into the river to escape (unlike orangutans who loath the water, proboscis monkeys have webbed feet and are excellent swimmers). A smart adaptation, except the crocodiles know a thing or two themselves and are often waiting underneath the trees for this golden egg!
The almost complete list: Buffy fish owl, Oriental hornbill, rhino hornbill, storm's stork, dominant male orangutan, pig tailed macaque, long tailed macaque, squirrel, crocodile, proboscis monkey, pygmy elephant footprint, pygmy elephant dropping, kite, kingfisher, sea eagle, mushroom growing on pygmy elephant dropping, pigeon, civet, mosquito, monitor lizard, green viper, swallow, leech, gecko, black and red broadbill, and the flying fox (we caught a flying fox - the world's largest bat - battling in the sky with a buffy fish owl, silhouetted by the near-full moon!).
We spent three days taking river cruises on the crocodile-infested Kinabitangan ("Do people swim here?" we asked our guide: [...] "Ha! NO!"). We departed on sunrise, late afternoon, and night safaris, each time of day offering opportunities to spot different animals. We were particularly lucky to spot a doughy-eyed dominant male orangutan at dawn hanging from and swinging in a tree. Unimaginably powerful arms! Also of note are the magical proboscis monkeys which are found only on Borneo. Known also the monyet balanda ("Dutch monkey" - the Indonesians felt their Dutch colonisers shared the monkey's large belly and long, red nose), the female and non-dominant males have exaggerated, Pinocchio-like noses. They perch in trees picking leaves (which compose over 90% of their diet) looking professionally absurd. The dominant males, however, have what looks basically like an elephantine ball-sack hanging over their nose. They are completely charming, as was the Russian-English inflected speech of our Malay guide: prro-BO-scis. One example of the jungle in action: at nighttime it is easy to spot the proboscis monkeys sleeping perched on the end of branches over the river. This is so that when nighttime predators (such as clouded leopards) stalk them in their trees, the monkeys are awoken by the full vibrations of the branch, gaining precious time to jump down into the river to escape (unlike orangutans who loath the water, proboscis monkeys have webbed feet and are excellent swimmers). A smart adaptation, except the crocodiles know a thing or two themselves and are often waiting underneath the trees for this golden egg!
The almost complete list: Buffy fish owl, Oriental hornbill, rhino hornbill, storm's stork, dominant male orangutan, pig tailed macaque, long tailed macaque, squirrel, crocodile, proboscis monkey, pygmy elephant footprint, pygmy elephant dropping, kite, kingfisher, sea eagle, mushroom growing on pygmy elephant dropping, pigeon, civet, mosquito, monitor lizard, green viper, swallow, leech, gecko, black and red broadbill, and the flying fox (we caught a flying fox - the world's largest bat - battling in the sky with a buffy fish owl, silhouetted by the near-full moon!).
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