Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Rope bridge for orang-utans to migrate at Lower Kinabatangan


KINABATANGAN: A group of volunteers from Asahiyama Zoo, Kyoto City Zoo and Fukuoka Zoo, Japan, with the support from KOPEL Berhad, a community-based tourism cooperative in Lower Kinabatangan, recently constructed a rope bridge crossing Sungai Pin that will enable the orang-utan population to migrate to and from either side of the river.

Coordinated by Mr Nobuo Nakanishi, a director with BCT Japan, this project is part of the programmes developed by Borneo Conservation Trust to assist Sabah Wildlife Department in its ongoing plans to improve habitat connectivity for the orangutan in Lower Kinabatangan.

Borneo Conservation Trust’s Head of Conservation and Research, Raymond Alfred, said that the materials used for this bridge may only last for several years, but at the least, the bridge provides an immediate means for the orang-utan population and other primates in this area to migrate into other isolated forest habitats.

Alfred also emphasised the need to re-establish a long-term biodiversity corridor with the support from land developers such as oil palm plantations and timber companies.

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