Guest guest Posted July 12, 2007 Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 Monday July 9, 2007-The Star Major research on orang utan KUCHING: Having taken a lead role in orang utan conservation work, Sarawak is moving onto large-scale research on the " wild man of the forest " in Borneo. The recently established Conservation Centre of Excellence for Orangutan Research is spearheading the effort to analyse the apes' behaviour (reproduction, diet, foraging, vocalisation and nesting), and aspects involving ecology, population enhancement, habitat improvement and rehabilitation programmes. The project will also cover an inventory of the orang utan population, and DNA studies and zoonotic diseases (infectious agents that can be transmitted between animals and humans). Orang utans are native to Indonesia and Malaysia and are found only in rainforests on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. The Sarawak Forestry Department said the centre, set up earlier this year in the Batang Ai National Park in Sri Aman Division, had been allocated RM3.65mil to undertake the research The park is part of a 404,000ha trans-boundary biodiversity conservation area, comprising the Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Santuary in Sarawak and Betung Kerihun National Park in Kalimantan. The conservation area has the largest concentration of the Bornean orang utan population. According to the department, the Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Santuary and Batang Ai National Park, covering 232,000ha, has been proposed as a world heritage site. It said the Semenggok and Matang Wildlife Centres were carrying out the orang utan rehabilitation programme. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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