We have been trying since the 28th February 2012 to obtain answers from the highly secretive Sabah Wildlife Department.

Sent: 28 February 2012 10:22

to: Datuk Masidi Manjun. Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister

Dear Minister,

We came across the details of “TENTEN” below on Facebook.

Please could you arrange for Mr. Laurence Yambu to respond to the following questions? We would like to ask him directly, but experience has shown Mr Yambu does not reply to questions of an enquiring nature.

- why “Tenten” the orphaned orangutan (see below) was sent to a holiday resort rather than retained at Sepilok for rehabilitation? Isn’t Sepilok better able to administer the care and expertise required of such a young orangutan? I imagine donors to Orangutan Appeal UK would be alarmed and very disappointed to discover Sepilok is passing on cute babies to a hotel complex rather than preparing them at Sepilok under expert guidance for return one day to the forest.

- was anyone arrested and prosecuted for the killing of the adult mother?

- what is the money raised through sponsorship at this hotel used for?

- why does Sabah permit an hotel to retain and exhibit orangutans?

- what happens to orangutans at Rasa Ria when they grow too large?

- how many orangutans have died at Rasa Ria in the last five years? In this regard we have received a worrying report.

- how often does the SWD inspect the orangutans and their cages?

- and we are still waiting on details of how many arrests and prosecutions there have been in the last seven years when according to an official report you will be familiar with, some 300 orangutans were ‘lost’ – a politically correct term for killed. If Sabah is, as it claims, really taking care of its wildlife, we feel sure the list of arrests will be made available as something Sabah is proud to disclose.

If only to avoid an escalation in email traffic we sincerely hope Mt. Yambu will acquaint us with the answers and in a timely manner.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Sean Whyte

CEO
Nature Alert – assisting Malaysian NGO’s

“TENTEN, a 3-months old female orang utan was rescued by Sabah Wildlife Department's Wildlife Rescue Unit in the interior areas at Keningau, Sabah. Unfortunately, her mother was killed by poachers. She was then handed over to Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in October 2010. Tenten was named after the date of her being rescued, which was on 10th October 2010. She is now under proper care by Shangri-La’s Rasa Ria Resort Nature Reserve and you may become her foster parents under the "Foster an Animal Programme" initiated by the resort itself. For more information on the programme, please visit our website at www.shangri-la.com”