By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Nov 21: A new 2025 population assessment has revealed a significant rebound of wild orangutans in Ulu Sungai Menyang (USM), Batang Ai, with numbers rising to an estimated 167 individuals—a sharp increase from about 115 recorded in 2014.
The WWF-Malaysia’s Terrestrial Mammals team, which led the latest survey, reported an 82 per cent confidence level that the population has genuinely increased over the past decade, signalling one of Sarawak’s most promising conservation turnarounds.
Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) general manager Abang Arabi Abang Aimran said the encouraging trend reflects years of intensive monitoring, enforcement and habitat protection, backed by close collaboration between SFC, Forest Department Sarawak (FDS), Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Malaysia, Borneo Adventure, WWF-Malaysia and Iban communities.
“While these results are positive, continued vigilance is essential. Orangutans are highly sensitive to habitat changes, and long-term protection must remain a priority,” he said in a statement today.
Located within the Batang Ai region, the USM landscape hosts the only viable orangutan population outside Totally Protected Areas in Sarawak, accounting for roughly 8 per cent of the State’s total wild orangutans, underscoring its strategic conservation importance.
Abang Arabi further said early surveys were jointly undertaken by SFC, FDS, WCS Malaysia and Borneo Adventure, with the latest findings by WWF-Malaysia forming the strongest evidence yet that long-term protection measures are working.
Through ranger schemes, awareness programmes and sustainable livelihood projects—including conservation-linked tourism pioneered by Borneo Adventure since 1987—local communities have helped reduce pressure on USM’s forests while sharing in the benefits of conservation.
Despite this positive trajectory, the Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus) remains classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and continued vigilance is required to ensure that recent gains are not reversed. – DayakDaily
