KOTA KINABALU: There have been no poaching cases of orangutans reported in Sabah since the last three years, said Datuk Christina Liew.
The state Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister said there were five primates rescued by the Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre this year alone.
“These included orangutans either abandoned by their mothers, injured, or found in remote forests,” she said, during the closing ceremony of the Orangutan Week celebration at the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in the east coast Sandakan district on Monday (Nov 20).
"As such, I sincerely hope that wildlife crime involving orangutans will continue to remain at a zero level.
"Apart from that, I hope that the public can help the Wildlife Department in reducing the incidence of orangutans being bitten by dogs as well as spreading the message of awareness to protect Sabah's treasures," Liew said.
Her speech was delivered by Sabah wildlife director Augustine Tuuga.
The Minister said the centre’s work now was more focused on rescuing orangutans affected by natural causes, conflict and lack of habitat.
She noted that information on the orangutans has been communicated to all stakeholders so that they could monitor the presence of the primates in habitats close to them.
She said this will assist the department in orangutan conservation efforts.
The Orangutan Week celebration is one of the awareness campaign activities as detailed in the Orangutan Action Plan 2020-2029 for Sabah which aims to provide exposure about the animal and their habitats.
This programme started on Nov 13 and ends on Tuesday (Nov 21).
The programme was also celebrated in SK Kota Kinabatangan on Nov 16, a school located close to the orangutan habitat in the Kinabatangan district.
Among the itineraries that have been implemented during the celebration were the "Adopt Orangutan" activity, distribution of posters in the Kinabatangan district and around Sepilok, zumba session, Orangutan Walk and colouring competition for children, among others.
This year, the programme is jointly held by the Wildlife Department, Sandakan Municipal Council, Orangutan UK Appeal and NGO Hutan with the theme "Forest Guardians: Empowering Communities for Conservation".
