Kubah National Park (Matang Wildlife Centre)

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Summary

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• Northwest Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus) are present in Kubah National Park (Matang Wildlife Centre).
• The population size is unknown.
• The orangutan population trend is decreasing.
• The site has a total size of 22.3 km².
• Key threats to orangutans are hunting and logging.
• Conservation activities have focused on ecotourism and rehabilitation of orangutans.

Site characteristics

Kubah National Park was gazetted in 1989 and opened to the public in 1995 (Abu Bakar et al. 2021). The site is situated on a sandstone plateau, where three mountains, Gunung Serapi, Gunung Selang and Gunung Sendok, are found (STB n.d.). Hardened limestone formations have created numerous waterfalls. The park is mostly covered by mixed dipterocarp forest, but it also holds a wide diversity of palms and orchids (STB n.d.). It is estimated that more than 100 palm species are found in the park and surrounding forests (Abu Bakar et al. 2021). Animal species found here include the bearded pig, mouse deer, black hornbill and many species of amphibians and reptiles. One of the main attractions of the park is the presence of carnivorous pitcher plants. Also located within the park is the Matang Wildlife Centre, which is a large enclosed area of rainforest with captive animal facilities (Mohd Azlan, Pail & Silang 2015). Matang was established to conserve endangered species of wildlife in Sarawak, including orangutans, which are rehabilitated and released (Mohd Azlan, Pail & Silang 2015).

Table 1. Basic site information for Kubah National Park (Matang Wildlife Centre)

Species	'Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus
Area	22.3 km²
Coordinates	Lat: 1.586520 , Lon: 110.172872
Type of site	Protected area (National Park)
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest
Type of governance

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Kubah National Park (Matang Wildlife Centre)

Species	Year	Occurrence	Encounter or vistation rate (nests/km; ind/day)	Density estimate [ind./ km²] (95% CI)	Abundance estimate (95% CI)	Survey area	Sampling method	Analytical framework	Source	Comments	A.P.E.S. database ID
Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus							Unknown

Threats

Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Kubah National Park (Matang Wildlife Centre)

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Description	Year of threat
10 Geological events		Absent
12 Other threat		Absent
5 Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	Present (unknown severity)	Illegal hunting facilitated by the presence of logging roads within the forests (Tisen & Silang 2016).	Ongoing (2016)
5 Biological resource use	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	Present (unknown severity)	Intensive logging in Sarawak started in the early 1970s (Tisen & Silang 2016)	Ongoing (2016)
1 Residential & commercial development		Unknown
2 Agriculture & aquaculture		Unknown
3 Energy production & mining		Unknown
4 Transportation & service corridors		Unknown
6 Human intrusions & disturbance		Unknown
7 Natural system modifications		Unknown
8 Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases		Unknown
9 Pollution		Unknown
11 Climate change & severe weather		Unknown

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

The Matang Wildlife Centre (MWC) was established in 1998. The centre is within the tropical forest of Kubah National Park with a total area of approx. 2,200 ha. Since 1998, the function of orangutan and other wildlife rehabilitation activities have been carried out at the centre. The centre initially started with 4 orangutans transferred from Semenggoh Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre (SWC). Since then, all newly confiscated orangutans have been sent to Matang Wildlife Centre. To date, the centre has trained orangutans and released them to the forest area within the Kubah National Park. Only a few orangutans occasionally return back to the centre for supplementary food; the others have not returned, but signs of them (e.g. old nests) have been seen where they were released (Tisen & Silang 2016).

Table 4. Conservation activities reported for Kubah National Park (Matang Wildlife Centre)

Category	Specific activity	Description	Implementing organization(s)	Year of activity
5 Protection & restoration	5.2 Legally protect ape habitat	The site is designated as a National Park.		Ongoing
6 Species management	6.9 Rehabilitate injured/orphaned apes	Rehabilitation of orphans at Matang Wildlife Centre, found within Kubah National Park. (Tisen & Silang 2016).		Ongoing
8 Permanent presence	8.2 Run tourist projects and ensure permanent human presence at site	Kubah National Park, and the Matang Wildlife Centre located inside the park, receive visitors. and has an adoption programme to raise funds for orangutan conservation (Sarawak Forestry Corporation).		Ongoing

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Kubah National Park (Matang Wildlife Centre)

Challenges	Specific challenges	Source	Year(s)
	Not reported

Enablers

Table 6. Enablers reported for Kubah National Park (Matang Wildlife Centre)

Enablers	Specific enablers	Source	Year(s)
1 Site management
2 Resources and capacity
3 Engaged community
4 Institutional support
5 Ecological context
6 Safety and stability

Research activities

A study on orangutans at Matang Wildlife Centre has shown their importance as both seed dispersers and predators (Mohd Azlan, Pail & Silang 2015).

Documented behaviours

Table 7. Behaviours documented for Kubah National Park (Matang Wildlife Centre)

Behavior	Source
Fruit-processing behavior (swallowing, spitting and masticating)	Mohd Azlan, Pail & Silang 2015

External links

Sarawak Tourism Board

References

STB. (n.d.). Kubah National Park. Online: https://sarawaktourism.com/attraction/matang-wildlife-centre/

Mohd-Azlan, J., Pail, T., & Silang, S. (2015). A preliminary study of fruit handling by captive Borneo orangutans Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus and the effects on seed germination.Asian Primates Journal, 5,40–44.

Abu Bakar, N. A., Marikan, D. A. A., Edman, S., & Ali, D. H. A. (2021). Non-Visitors’ Attitude Towards Kubah National Park’s Roles and Functions. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 11(1), 515–527.

Tisen, O.B. & Silang, S. (2016). Orangutan Conservation in Sarawak, Malaysia.15th National Peat Congress, 2016; Sarawak Forestry Corporation, Sarawak, Malaysia. Abstract No: A-394.

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