The PROJECT...

Whilst at Sepilok, we lived in the volunteer staff rest house as picture below, which was directly outside the centre.
The placement was separated into rotations, working 9 days on / 3 days off in groups of 3. My placement was structured as below and typically included the following:

Rotation 1 - Clinic & Quarantine:
The first part of the project was spent working in the clinic, caring for the baby Orang-Utans (aged from approx 18 months up to 3-4 years old). This involved food preparation, feeding, cleaning cages and floors, supervising 'play' time outside, teaching to climb etc and bathing the Orang-Utans on a daily basis.
Similarly we also carried out most of these duties in the quarantine area where sick or recently rescued Orang-Utans were cared for until they could be moved onto the next stage of rehabilitation or release.

Rotation 2 - Outdoor Nursery:
As above, the same duties were applied to the outdoor nursery where we cared for the older Orang-Utans in the next stage of their rehabilitation. Here, some of the Orang-Utans who had already been released into the surrounding forest often came back to see us!

Rotation 3 - Trekking, Small Mammals Survey and Sun Bears:

The third part of my placement was spent doing 5 days of jungle trekking where we recorded Orang-Utan nests and any sightings or other observations. We then spent 4 days conducting a small mammals survey in the mornings and working at the neighbouring Sun Bear Centre in the afternoons helping to feed and clean.

Rotation 4 - Nature Interpretation Centre at Rasa Ria Hotel:
The final rotation was spent working in the Nature Interpretation Centre at the Shangri La Rasa Ria Hotel in Kota Kinabalu. For this part of the project we lived in an apartment in nearby Tuaran.
Our duties here were the same as those at Sepilok - caring for the Orang-Utans as well as the goats, ducks, geese and a variety of nocturnal animals.

RASA RIA NATURE INTERPRETATION CENTRE:

Encompassing 64 acres within the Rasa Ria resort, the nature reserve is a conservation effort between the Sabah State Wildlife Department and Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts. The reserve is aimed primarily at nature conservation and Orang-Utan rehabilitation, with research, study and education activities carried out as well.
There are currently 4 Orang-Utans in the care of the nature reserve who works closely with the rehabilitation centre in Sepilok.
Among the activities available within the reserve are nature walks, nocturnal animal watch, bird watching, mini canopy walk and 'In search of Orang-Utans'.
The resort has also implemented a Foster an Animal programme, in which you can foster any of the animals at the nature reserve.
Click here for more information.