By Wilfred Pilo
KUCHING, April 14: Wildlife conservationist Lim Tze Tshen shares the remains of many orangutans captured from Sarawak in the past have become parts of the collections of museums worldwide now serve as ambassadors for environmental and wildlife conservation.
Lim added these remains are now a form of educational exhibition items in museums and are also being highlighted as a subject of the biodiversity crisis faced by the world today.
“Many are preserved in professionally well-curated collections reserved for scientific studies by international teams of biologists to gain a better understanding of this great ape,” he said during his talk titled ‘Bornean Orangutans in Museums—Historical Collections from Alfred Russel Wallace to Odoardo Beccari’ held at Telang Usan Hotel here today.
Lim, who has an academic background in biology and zoology and conducts research in vertebrate palaeontology, zooarchaeology, and biodiversity conservation also pointed out that the orangutan is a charismatic species of tropical Asia.
“It is almost symbolic of the unique biodiversity of Borneo,” he said.
He highlighted Sarawak is home to one of the three recognised geographic subspecies known in Borneo, the Northwest Bornean Orangutan, scientifically known as Pongo pygmaeus.
During the course of his palaeontological and zooarchaeological research, Lim shared, he had consulted some of the major collections of orangutans from Sarawak kept in overseas museums and research institutes.
These include animals observed and collected by remarkable Sarawak-related historical figures such as Sir James Brooke, Alfred Russel Wallace, Alfred Hart Everett, Charles Hose, and Odoardo Beccari.
According to Lim, he is perhaps one of the few Malaysian scientists, if not the only one, who has conducted a comprehensive study on these past orangutan specimens collected from Sarawak.
He shared that in his study as a whole, the collections have helped him tremendously in revealing the fascinating and tantalizing prehistoric history of the orangutans in both Peninsular Malaysia (where the animals no longer exist) and Sarawak.
Lim added he hoped the results are able to expand current knowledge about these unique evolutionary relatives of humans and to shed light on the present plight of the orangutans in Southeast Asia.
“I strongly believe this will pave a better way for the long-term survival of the species in harmony with human existence,” he said.
Also present is Friend of Sarawak Museum (FoSM) chairman Dato Ose Murang. — DayakDaily
