Situated on the outskirt of Kuching city along the Matang Road and about 45 minutes’ drive away, this is Kuching’s only semblance of a zoo. Originally the centre served as a halfway house for confiscated or abandoned wild animals illegally caught and kept as pets or some even destined for the dining tables, to be nurture back to health and be returned to their natural habitats. Over the years it had become more like a zoo or sorts as more and more animals were added to its confines. This include the orangutan, the undisputably stars of the centre.
Entrance to the Matang Wildlife Centre
There are about a dozen orangutans in this centres and they are mostly kept in enclosures and cages, unlike their more lucky free-ranging cousins in Semenggoh Wildlife Centre, a more high profile place for the visit of this lovable primate to the south of Kuching.
One of the two playful baby orangutans in her own enclosure.
As of writing there are two baby orangutans, darlings of the centre, and they are caged separately from the rest of the apes. George, the dominant male here is also kept alone in a separate cage after he was moved from Semenggoh after a turf war with Ritchie, the other dominant male there. Apparently the latter won the fight and the right to stay put. The rest of the orangutans live in the largest cement enclosure the size of half a football field and viewing them is via a watch tower beside the enclosure.
George had to be caged alone for he’s quite aggressive
The orangutan enclosure as viewed form the watch tower
The other wildlife here are the fresh and saltwater crocodiles of which there are about a dozen of them large and small. There are alsothe seldom seen false gharials (a specie of the crocodile) lurking in the murky shallow water behind the enclosure. Further on behind wooden fences and wire fencing, some sambar deers are seen contently gnawing on grasses. Moving on one can see the sun bears, peacocks, adjutant storks, bear cats, gibbons, porcupines among others.
The crocodile enclosure
Sambar deers behind the high wooden enclosure
The pros of this place as compared to Semenggoh is that there is usually no big crowd here like in Semenggoh, and there is no fixed feeding time, thus visitors can watch the animals for as long as they like within the visiting hours. For those who relish a close encounter with the orangutan, this is as close as you can get. If the warden is not watching you can even step beyond the fence and steal a handshake with the baby orangutan through the wire fencing!
The lovable baby orangutan up close
Whaddya looking at?
The Matang centre has a programme for volunteers to live and work in its premises and waiting list to get in are quite long. After weeks of hard work in the high humidity and rustic environment, most volunteers (mostly foreigners) recall amazing life experience and fond memories with the animals, particularly the orangutans. Even for the day visitor, an encounter with the orangutans in this centre can be a very emotional affair for some animal lovers and many are known to choke with emotion upon departing.
