Today’s Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants will be presented in Malay, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, (Malay,) Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Thai and Spanish.

I think they are more or less like humans. Because of that they are called “orangutan.” Orangutan actually means “man of the forest.”

Orangutans are the largest living tree animals. They build nests with branches and leaves and sleep aloft amidst the greenery at night. On rainy days, these intelligent primates use large leaves as shelter to prevent themselves from getting wet. Scientific research shows that about 97% the orangutan’s genetic makeup is the same as a human’s.

An average orangutan is about 120 to 150 centimeters tall, similar to a human child. Orangutans have enormous arm spans – longer than other Great Apes and even longer than their own height when standing erect! Both male and female orangutans have splendid long reddish-brown hair and have arms, limbs, hands and feet similar to that of a human. Male orangutans grow a beard and moustache when they reach adulthood!

Lively viewers, welcome to Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants. Today we travel to the warm Malaysian state of Sabah in northern Borneo to visit the Nature Reserve. The Reserve’s conservation efforts include a rehabilitation program for our lovely and adorable orangutan friends.

The Nature Reserve at Shangri-La’s Rasa Ria Resort was started in June 1996.

Comprised of over 160 hectares of virgin tropical forest, the Reserve is part of the scenic Shangri-La Rasa Ria Resort in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. The sanctuary is a joint project between the resort and the Sabah State Wildlife Department.

The main objective of establishing the Nature Reserve at Shangri-La’s Rasa Ria Resort was to set up a rehabilitation program for the orangutans and also for the students from other districts nearby to be able to visit Shangri-La’s Rasa Ria Resort as the conservation center in Sepilok is too far away for them to go to from the west coast. Therefore we built a conservation center in Kota Kinabalu so the students can also visit the nature reserve here.

Mr. Sail Jamarudin, Director of Recreation and Conservation at the resort now provides more background on the Reserve and its activities.

The main role of this rehabilitation center is to rehabilitate those orangutans found in Sabah. For example, orangutans have been found in plantations and therefore our duty is to ensure that the orangutan rehabilitation is carried out smoothly.

We make sure that the young orangutans receive proper care such as first teaching the young orangutans how to survive alone and also providing them with forest foods such as fruits. Then these young orangutans will be brought to the forest where they will be taught to hold onto a tree, climb a tree, swing on a tree and also to build their own nests during this period of time.

That is the way we carry out rehabilitation, and then when it is successful or their condition has improved and they have enough confidence to go to the huge forest, the Wildlife Department will bring them to a larger nature reserve like Sepilok (Orang Utan Sanctuary) or Danum Valley. We number each of the orangutans so that after they are released into the large forests. we can monitor whether we have succeeded or not using the chip that we placed in their bodies that can trace the orangutans’ whereabouts.

These cerebral endangered primates are native to the rainforests on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. Because orangutans are very dependent upon trees and hardly ever come down to the ground, they are particularly threatened by logging as well as other human activities such as hunting and commercial planting. Even weather events can cause substantial losses of forest cover. The resort has a tree planting program to replace forest lost due to tropical storm Greg in 1996.

For planting or restoration of plants in this place we have a program called “Tree Planting.” These trees are local fruit trees. Our purpose of planting in this nature reserve is because it is important to the animals in this forest. When the trees bear fruits, they can be given to the animals throughout this60 acres of forest.

Tree planting is not only meant for the animals here but it is also very important to nature because we plant trees and the trees will grow and thus nature will respond. Not only are they fruit trees but the right species of trees that should be here; we have returned them to their original place and we re- planted them accordingly to avoid undesirable changes.

About 12 years have passed and we continue this program because we believe this program is very important to nature, not only to the animals but also to humankind.

Besides orangutans, there are also other wonderful animals that call the Nature Reserve home.

We also have other species of monkey such as the long tailed monkey or we call them the “Long Tailed Macaque.” Other than that species we also have another species called “Slow Loris” or Kongkang.

We also have the Sambar deer, Mouse deer and Barking deer here other than the orangutan. Besides those, we also have animals like the Bear Cat that can be found here, and all of these animals are adopted by us in the beginning when they were injured and through this way we brought them here and treat them because we have a clinic here.

When Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants returns, we take a closer look at the orangutan rehabilitation program at the Nature Reserve located at Shangri-La’s Rasa Ria Resort in Malaysia. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

We humans live in a world shared with wild animals and nature; it is very important that we take care of them and protect them.

If we can live together we will have a good future because we respect each other.

Welcome back to Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants. The Nature Reserve operated by Shangri-La’s Rasa Ria Resort in collaboration with the Sabah State Wildlife Department is located in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. The Reserve was established to conserve the native species of the region, particularly the orangutans, by rehabilitating them and then releasing them back into larger natural habitats.

Dr. Ir. Aldrianto Priadjat is Executive Director of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, a non-profit organization partnering with the Indonesian government, communities, and like-minded individuals and entities around the world to save this noble species. He comments on the endangered status of these apes.

There are four types of Great Apes in the world. We have the gorilla, chimpanzee, bonobo, and orangutan. By chance, three species of Great Apes are in Africa. The only Great Ape that exists in Asia, is the orangutan. Previously orangutans existed in Vietnam (Au Lac) and Thailand, and the Malay Peninsula, but unfortunately they have gone extinct, and now they only exist in Sumatra and Borneo Islands. What is special about them?

Of course, number one, they are almost extinct. Number two, the role of orangutans in balancing nature, is very important, because orangutans eat and spread seeds. Orangutans serve as proof whether the forest is healthy or not. So we can categorize whether the forest is healthy enough. It is like an umbrella species.

The existence of orangutans protects some other animals. When there is one orangutan, it means there are other wild animals over there and some forest trees.

Tony Muni, the conservation manager at the Nature Reserve now explains how rangers help orangutans to feel at home at the sanctuary.

Rangers play a role of a mother or father to the orangutan where they provide much love, and spend much time with the orangutan because the orangutan, especially the young ones, they need love and friends. So the rangers will come every morning and try to play with them or encourage the orangutan to climb trees and to search for food, just like being their friends.

Fruits typically makes up almost 90 percent of an orangutan’s diet. Fruits like banana, mango, sometimes durian, etc. Banana is one of the favorite foods for the orangutan.

Through years of experience working with these intelligent primates, Mr. Muni has discovered they possess many human-like characteristics.

Orangutans’ behaviors and character are very similar to humans. They have feelings. They are like babies or young children. They cry when they are hungry, they have a way to show that they are hungry. If they are in pain, they show the pain and sometimes act naughty like a child who is in the early stages of growing up. Sometimes they like to play.

They can become ill like us such as getting a stomach ache, fever, or diarrhea. The orangutan rehabilitation center has a clinic. So we have prepared medicine such as for diarrhea or for fever. In our nature reserve, we have a veterinarian or animal doctor. So if the orangutan becomes ill, we refer them to the animal doctor.

In closing, Mr. Tony encourages everyone to take part in caring for our animal co-inhabitants as well as conserving the precious trees.

It is very important for each individual to protect the wildlife and also to continue what our government has implemented with things such as rehabilitation efforts which involves not only protecting wild animals but forest as well. Forests are also very important because if there are no forests, there are no wildlife. Therefore they are interrelated.

So together let us play a role in protecting wildlife and nature. We as humans who live on Earth, have the responsibility to join together to take care of our wildlife. Together we should stop activities that can cause the extinction of our wildlife.

Wildlife such as the orangutans, elephants, and bears are animals that need shelter or the forests. They need forests. Therefore by protecting their shelter these animals will be able to breed and our generations to come, like our grandchildren, will be able to see these animals.

We would like to thank Mr. Sail Jamarudin and Mr. Tony Muni as well as all the other staff and volunteers at the Nature Reserve for helping to safeguard the endangered orangutans and for creating a paradise where humans and animals can co-exist in joy and harmony. Due to their steadfast efforts and care, the Nature Reserve is a true Shangri-la for all beings.

For more information on the Nature Reserve, please visit

Eco-sensitive viewers, thank you for joining us on Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants. Coming up next is Enlightening Entertainment after Noteworthy News. May our world only know peace.

Fowl Play, an eye-opening film by animal advocacy group Mercy for Animals, exposes the horrors faced by hens in egg production facilities.

If you look at the red jungle fowl, the wild ancestor of today’s domesticated chicken, they laid about 25 eggs per year. Of course, the industry wasn’t satisfied with that. Today’s birds now lay an average of 260 eggs per year. The amount of calcium required to produce that many eggs is tremendous. And as a result, they’re suffering from osteoporosis, broken bones, etc.

Please watch Part 2 of “Fowl Play – An Award-Winning Documentary by Mercy for Animals,” this Tuesday, January 5, on Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants.