On our third day of Tsdayout Special Edition : Selangor Meets Sarawak, we were brought to Semenggoh Wildlife Centre for orang utan watching, went kayaking at Semadang, Padawan and had dinner at Sarakraf Pavilion, Kuching.
Introduction to Semenggoh Wildlife Centre
For over 30 years, Semenggoh’s staff have trained young orangutans, who had been orphaned or rescued from captivity, how to survive in the wild. The success of the programme has left the surrounding forest reserve with a thriving population of healthy adolescent and young orang utans, who are now breeding in the wild. The orang utans at Semenggoh Wildlife Centre spend most of their time roaming the forest but frequently come back to the Centre during the feeding time. The number of orang utans spotted may be reduced if it is the fruiting season in the forest.
The bus we rode had to stop at the entrance of the Semenggoh Wildlife Centre, therefore we were transferred to the starting point by a minivan. You can also choose to walk to the starting point of the wildlife centre, but be forewarned that the trail is hilly and it takes 20minutes from the gate. As soon as we reached the starting point, we had been warned not to make loud noise because it would scare the orang utans away.
Opening hours are 8 am to 12 pm and 2pm to 4.45pm but visitors ae only allowed into the feeding areas during the feeding time from 9am to 10am and 3pm to 4pm.
There are two feeding areas. The first one is near the entrance to the nature trail. The second one is within 5-10 minutes walking distance from the nature trail entrance.
What you should expect is this : As the orang utans roam the wild freely, you should not be expecting the orang utans are there waiting for you. You have to wait for them to come, that if they wish to come at all. When I was there, we waited for 20 minutes, at least, for the first few orang utans to show up. While we waited, the care takers or feeders were calling the orang utans’ names and making all kinds of noise to attract them to come.
The most striking orang utan is the huge Richie with his large cheek pad.
Richie, 34 years old dominant male.
This one came near to the audience gallery. The care taker or feeder had given clear instruction on exit point if the orang utans came near the audience gallery.
Orang utans are very strong that they could break the coconut shell. Yes, they eat coconut!
I saw atleast 7-8 orang utans; some with baby orang utans.
How to Go to Semenggoh Wildlife Centre?
Tour operators arrange trips, often combined with other local acttractions such as Semadang Kayaking or Fairy Cave & Wind Cave Tour.
Otherwise, you can take a taxi or CPL Bus K6, which stops outside the gate (RM4 one way). Only the 7.20 am and 1 pm bus services from Jln Masjid will arrive in time for feeding, last bus back around 4.20pm.
The trip to Semenggoh Wildlife Centre, Kuching was made possible by Tourism Selangor and Sarawak Tourism Board as part of #tsdayout Special Edition Selangor Meets Sarawak. Airasia flies direct to Kuching from Kuala Lumpur 12 times a day.