Asia > Malaysia > Tabin Wildlife Reserve

Summary

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Northeast Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus morio) are present in Tabin Wildlife Reserve.
It has been estimated that 1,401 (CI: 517-3,796) individuals occur in the site.
The orangutan population trend is unknown.
The site has a total size of 1,200 km².
Key threats to orangutans are logging (1970-1990) and potential road construction.
Conservation activities have focused on natural regeneration of the forest, planting feeding trees in surrounding palm oil plantations, and ecotourism.

Site characteristics

Located in the Malaysian state of Sabah, in Borneo, the reserve was established in 1984. It encompasses approx. 1,200 sq. km of primary and secondary lowland dipterocarp forest. The site is home to endemic species such as the Bornean elephant, the Bornean banteng, and Sunda clouded leopards (WWF-Malaysia 2023).

Table 1. Basic site information for Tabin Wildlife Reserve

Area	1200 km²
Coordinates	5.240902, 118.718404
Designation	Forest reserve
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest, Subtropical/Tropical Heavily Degraded Former Forest

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

Helicopter nest surveys documented a low density of orangutans in the reserve in 1985. In 1995, following the expansion of palm oil plantations in the region, at least 500 rescued orangutans were relocated to Tabin, which led to a higher population density (Payne pers. comm. 2023).

Table 2. Ape population estimates in Tabin Wildlife Reserve

Species	Year	Abundance estimate (95% CI)	Density estimate [ind./ km²] (95% CI)	Encounter rate (nests/km)	Area	Method	Source	Comments	A.P.E.S. database ID
Pongo pygmaeus morio	2002-2003	1401 (517-3,796)	1.26 (0.47-3.42)	3.187	Tabin Wildlife Reserve	Aerial survey	Ancrenaz et al. 2005	1,110 km2 of orangutan habitat in the reserve

Threats

Table 3. Threats to apes in Tabin Wildlife Reserve

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Description	Year of threat
1. Residential & commercial development		Unknown
2. Agriculture & aquaculture		Unknown
3. Energy production & mining		Unknown
4. Transportation & service corridors	4.1 Roads & railroads	Unknown	Planned road bisecting reserve east to west (Payne pers. comm. 2023).	Potential threat
5. Biological resource use	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	High	The forest was selectively logged (Payne pers. comm. 2023).	1970-1990
6. Human intrusion & disturbance		Unknown
7. Natural system modifications		Unknown
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases	8.4 Problematic species/diseases of unknown origin	Unknown	Possible threat of unknown diseases, and possible threat of malaria (Payne pers. comm. 2023).	Ongoing (2023)
9. Pollution		Unknown
10. Geological Events		Absent
11. Climate change & severe weather		Unknown
12. Other options		Absent

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

Tabin was first gazetted as a Wildlife Reserve in 1984; legally it is classified as a Forest Reserve. It is jointly managed by the Sabah Forestry and Sabah Wildlife Departments. BORA is a Malaysian non profit organisation that focuses on improving habitat and food availability for wildlife in Tabin. BORA has also collected over 90 wild fig species in the Sabah Ficus Germplasm Centre at Tabin Wildlife Reserve.

Table 4. Conservation activities in Tabin Wildlife Reserve

Category	Specific activity	Description	Year of activity
1. Residential & commercial development	Not reported
2. Agriculture & aquaculture	Not reported
3. Energy production & mining	Not reported
4. Transportation & service corridors	Not reported
5. Biological resource use	Not reported
6. Human intrusion & disturbance	Not reported
7. Natural system modifications	Not reported
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases	Not reported
9. Pollution	Not reported
10. Education & Awareness	Not reported
11. Habitat Protection	11.2. Legally protect primate habitat	The site is legally classified as a forest reserve.	Ongoing (2023)
	11.4. Create/protect habitat corridors	WWF-Malaysia and Kuala Lumpur Kepong (KLK) Berhad are establishing a wildlife corridor between Tabin and Silabukan Forest Reserve. Fast-growing native pioneer species and fig-plants will be planted to improve food sources for wildlife (WWF-Malaysia 2023).	Ongoing (2023)
	Other	Allow natural regeneration of the forest and plant feeding trees in nearby areas (Payne pers. comm. 2023).	Ongoing (2023)
12. Species Management	12.18. Reintroduce primates into habitat where the species is present	Release of about 500 orangutans into Tabin Wildlife Reserve (Robins et al. 2013, Payne pers. comm. 2023).	1995
13. Livelihood; Economic & Other Incentives	Not reported

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Tabin Wildlife Reserve

Challenge	Source
Lack of political will, which limits management decisions	Payne pers. obs. 2023

Research activities

Documented behaviours

Table 6. Ape behaviors reported for Tabin Wildlife Reserve

Behavior	Source
Not reported

External links

BORA

References

Ancrenaz, M., Gimenez, O., Ambu, L., Ancrenaz, K., Andau, P., Goossens, B., ... & Lackman-Ancrenaz, I. (2005). Aerial surveys give new estimates for orangutans in Sabah, Malaysia. PLoS Biology, 3(1), e3.
Robins, J. G., Ancrenaz, M., Parker, J., Goossens, B., Ambu, L., Walzer, C., ... & Kinabalu, K. (2013). The release of northeast Bornean orangutans to Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia. Global Re-introduction Perspectives: 2013. Further case studies from around the globe, 215.
WWF-Malaysia (2023). Restoring Tabin: WWF-Malaysia and KLK Joined Hands to Establish Bukit Tabin Wildlife Corridor. Online: https://www.wwf.org.my/?31825/Restoring-Tabin-WWF-Malaysia-and-KLK-Joined-Hands-to-Establish-Bukit-Tabin-Wildlife-Corridor

Page completed by: John Payne, A.P.E.S. Wiki Team Date: 30/09/2023

Tabin Wildlife Reserve

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