Sepilok, Sabah, 9 May 2019.

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Unidentified butterfly.

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In the morning we visited the Borneo Sun Bear Conservation Centre.  Each one has a unique chest patch.

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The sun bear is the world’s smallest bear, averaging one metre in length and is endemic to Borneo.

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They are primarily nocturnal, feeding on insects, though they also have a taste for honey.

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Obviously here, they are not in the wild and are feeding on carrots.

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They are listed as vulnerable and their population is declining due to habitat loss.

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Note the formidable claws, presumably for climbing trees.

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Unidentified bees and hive, on the trunk of a tree.

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Unidentified caterpillar.

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In the afternoon we visited the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre.

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Feet and hands are relatively interchangeable.

There are rescued orangutans here, including infants without parents.  Food and care is provided and the centre is open to adjacent rainforest including wild orangutans.

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Orangutans, including the Borneo species, are critically endangered due to habitat loss.  Population in Borneo has declined by about 15% since the middle 20th century and they may become extinct in the wild within ten to twenty years without effective conservation measures.

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This and the preceding three images were taken through glass in an observation building.

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We are now out of the building and in the rainforest.

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There are also some feeding sites out in the open.

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You have to stay back from the orangutans though.  While they are not usually aggressive, they are eight times stronger than a human.

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Orangutans make a nest in a tree each night.  Here some were doing just that.

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You can only take one camera and lens in the see the orangutans and no bags of any kind.  Otherwise, an orangutan might take a fancy to your camera bag (and you’d be well advised not to argue).  I had a 300mm lens (for a full frame body) and a 1.4x teleconverter.  This was too long to be convenient inside the building but came in handy for these last images.

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There was also a plantain squirrel checking out the culinary options on display.

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Black fur but pinkish underneath.

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Much later we went for a night walk.  This is an Island Palm Civet by torchlight.

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Rufous-backed kingfisher.

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Strange unidentified insect.

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Slow Loris (such as you can see – pushing the boundaries to get that much).

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Black and Crimson Pitta, sleeping in a tree.

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A Western Tarsier.

We were very fortunate to encounter a Tarsier, which are rare, nocturnal and hard to find.  It is an ancient primate, little changed for 45 million years.  (Primates include monkeys, lemurs and apes, which in turn include us).  There are several species and all are classified as vulnerable to extinction.  It is tiny, 70-150cm in length and 1 kilogram in weight and each of its giant eyes are as large as its brain.  It is the only carnivorous primate, eating mainly insects but also birds, lizards and bats.  It can take great leaps from one tree to the next, to a distance of around thirty times its body length.  It can also rotate its head 180 degrees.

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