Summary

Northeast Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus morio) are present in Sabah.
It has been estimated that 9,558 (CI: 6,815-15,129) individuals occur in the site.
The orangutan population trend is decreasing.
The site has a total size of 76,000 km².
Key threats to orangutans are forest conversion and fragmentation.
Conservation activities have focused on orangutan rehabilitation, canopy bridges, patrolling by local community members .

Site characteristics

Sabah is one of the 13 states in Malaysia, situated in the northern part of the island of Borneo. The state covers about 76,000 sq. km.

Table 1. Basic site information for Sabah

Area	76,000 km²
Coordinates	5.212839 N, 116.996555 E
Designation	Unclassified
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical/tropical dry forest, plantations, subtropical/tropical heavily degraded former forest

IUCN habitat categories Site designations

Ape status

In the early 1980s, WWF-Malaysia estimated 4,000 orangutans in 5,000 sq. km. of Sabah’s primary forest in the eastern lowlands and central uplands. In the mid-1980s, the first aerial nest surveys were conducted; combined with habitat assessments, it was estimated that up to 21,000 orangutans inhabited Sabah´s forest reserves and state parks (Simon et al. 2019). Fifteen years later, in 2002-2003, an aerial and ground nest survey identified 16 major orangutan populations in Sabah with a total 11,000 individuals (Ancrenaz et al. 2005). The most recent aerial survey that followed, between 2014 and 2017, estimated 9,558 orangutans (95% CI: 6,815 to 15,129), with separate studies recording a further 800 orangutans in the Lower Kinabatangan region. This results in a conservative population estimate of 10,300 orangutans in Sabah’s Permanent Forest Reserve and wildlife sanctuary (Simon et al. 2019).

Table 2. Ape population estimates in Sabah

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	11,017 (8,317-18,376)			Sabah	Aerial survey and line transects	Ancrenaz et al. 2005
Pongo pygmaeus morio	2014-2017	9,558 (6,815-15,129)			Sabah, 63% of the previously surveyed areas (in 2002-2003).	Aerial survey	Simon et al. 2019

Threats

Forest conversion and fragmentation are the key threats to orangutans in Sabah (Wich et al. 2008). Between 1973 and 2010, 39% of rainforests were lost in Borneo, including more than 98,000 sq. km of suitable orangutan habitat (Simon et al. 2019). Specifically, conversion of natural habitat to oil palm and tree plantations is a major threat (Simon et al. 2019).

Table 3. Threats to apes in Sabah

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Description	Year of threat
1. Residential & commercial development		Unknown
2. Agriculture & aquaculture	2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops	High	Deforestation for agriculture (Wich et al. 2008; Simon et al. 2019).	Ongoing (2019)
3. Energy production & mining		Unknown
4. Transportation & service corridors		Unknown
5. Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	Present, but threat severity is unknown	Hunting pressure, either for meat or human-orangutan conflict situations (Simon et al. 2019).	Ongoing (2019)
	5.3 Logging & wood harvesting	High	Timber extraction (Wich et al. 2008; Simon et al. 2019).	Ongoing (2019)
6. Human intrusion & disturbance		Unknown
7. Natural system modifications		Unknown
8. Invasive & other problematic species, genes, diseases		Unknown
9. Pollution		Unknown
10. Geological Events		Absent
11. Climate change & severe weather	11.1 Habitat shifting & alteration	Present, but threat severity is unknown	Impacts of climate change are likely to reduce suitable orangutan habitat (Simon et al. 2019).	Ongoing (2019)
12. Other options		Absent

IUCN Threats list

Conservation activities

Almost half of Sabah's landmass has been gazetted as Permanent Forest Reserve (PFR), which encompasses 3.54 million ha, of which 1.61 million ha are protected forests, and the remaining 1.93 million are production forests (Simon et al. 2019). In addition to the PFR, state parks, wildlife sanctuaries and conservation areas add another 0.27 million ha of protected forests (Simon et al. 2019). In 1998, with support from the Sabah Wildlife Department, HUTAN established the Kinabatangan Orang-utan Conservation Programme (or KOCP) in the village of Sukau.

Table 4. Conservation activities in Sabah

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	4.2. Install rope or pole (canopy) bridges	HUTAN install orangutan bridges.	Ongoing
5. Biological resource use	5.16. Implement community control of patrolling, banning hunting and removing snares	In 2002, the Sabah Wildlife Department trained and appointed people from the Kinabatangan community to become “Honorary Wildlife Wardens” or HWWs. HWWs are civilians who are given the same legal powers as rangers from the Sabah Wildlife Department to conserve and manage the natural resources of the State and to apprehend offenders when necessary (HUTAN).	Ongoing
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	More than 80% of the current orangutan population in Sabah occurs in fully protected forests (HUTAN).	Ongoing
12. Species Management	12.24. Rehabilitate injured/orphaned primates	Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center is located in Sabah. Established in 1964, the center provides medical care for orphaned and confiscated orangutans.	Ongoing
13. Livelihood; Economic & Other Incentives	Not reported

Conservation activities list (Junker et al. 2017)

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Sabah

Challenge	Source
Not reported

Research activities

Orangutan Action Plan

Documented behaviours

Table 6. Ape behaviors reported for Sabah

Behavior	Source
Not reported

External links

Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center Hutan-Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Programme HUTAN

Relevant datasets

A.P.E.S Portal

References

Ancrenaz M, Gimenez O, Ambu L, Ancrenaz K, Andau P, Goossens B, et al. (2005) Aerial Surveys Give New Estimates for Orangutans in Sabah, Malaysia. PLoS Biol 3(1): e3. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0030003
Simon D, Davies G, Ancrenaz M (2019) Changes to Sabah’s orangutan population in recent times: 2002–2017. PLoS ONE 14(7): e0218819. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218819
Wich, S., Meijaard, E., Marshall, A., Husson, S., Ancrenaz, M., Lacy, R., . . . Singleton, I. (2008). Distribution and conservation status of the orang-utan (Pongo spp.) on Borneo and Sumatra: How many remain? Oryx, 42(3), 329-339. doi:10.1017/S003060530800197X

Page completed by: A.P.E.S. Wiki team Date:05/01/2021

Sabah

Contents