bornean pygmy elephant and ornagutan... tick, tick!

P

patrick

Well-Known Member
so i just returned from a trip down the kinabatangan river. i was hoping i might see a wild orangutan (sepilok is cheating in my opinion and doesn't count!) and some pygmy elephants, knowing very well i'de be lucky if i saw just one.

well i was lucky. very lucky!

the herd of elephants nearly trampled meabout a dozen times (and i got that on video, although it involves a lot of frantic running and shouting!) and the i saw two orangs, a fully growne male from the river and a mother and baby who came down just a few meters from my head as i stood under the tree.

awesome. and i definately recommend a trip to the kinabatagan by any fellow travelling zoobeaters, who like you animals wild most of all!

in addition i was bitten by a bearded pig, saw a mueller's gibbon (another rarity) as well as heaps of proboscis monkeys, macaques and langurs. the birdlife down there is well worth it for all you bird watchers and i was told the storm's stork is a major rarity that is very hard to spot but nontheless one that bird watchers come from all over for (saw them too!)

oh and monsuer hornbill...

saw the rhinoceros, pied, wrinked and black. the place is full of them.
 
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Thats great news to hear Pat so many wonderful species you have seen, Hope you have some nice pics you can share with us here, I think I can hear young Mr Hornbills bags being packed right now, hehe.

Oh, and Pat I really hope you can get to see A wild Sumatran rhino there my fingers are crossed for you on that, just dont forget the mossie repellant.
 
its too late. i'm bitten to the shithouse from leeches and mosquitoes but it was worth it.

i think spotting a wild rhino is a near imposibility, but if i head in the right direction i'll try.

and another thing, how they never realised these elephants were not a distinct subspecies is beyond me. they are stocky little things that look quite different to me. the bushy tail almost touches the ground for one....
 
The elephants sound real interesting Pat, I bet the new borns look like little rubber toys lol.

I read some years ago that a bloke in the wildlife dept in Malay spent over three months tracking a wild Sumatran rhino and only to get within a few metres of it and NEVER seeing it, he smelt it , he heard it but that was all.
 
Patrick, We've been looking at going to Borneo!

I'd love to see wild storm's stork, Bulwer's pheasant and Hornbills. They are my Favourite bornean species.

What type of view did you have of any of these species?

If we do end up going to Borneo, should I get my hopes high for seeing Storm's Storks, Bulwer's pheasants or hornbills?
 
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patrick said:
and the i saw two orangs, a fully growne male from the river and a mother and baby who came down just a few meters from my head as i stood under the tree.
Click to expand...

um, that's three orangs Patrick......
 
Writhedhornbill said:
Patrick, We've been looking at going to Borneo!

I'd love to see wild storm's stork, Bulwer's pheasant and Hornbills. They are my Favourite bornean species.

What type of view did you have of any of these species?

If we do end up going to Borneo, should I get my hopes high for seeing Storm's Storks, Bulwer's pheasants or hornbills?
Click to expand...


hornbills are easy, especially if you pick the right time of year to go (the fruiting season!). Bulwer's pheasants would be an entirely different proposition. Check out birdtours.co.uk - The Bird Watching Trip and Tour Report collection if you're planning a birding trip anywhere
 
i'll write a full update when i get back (internet here is slow and frustrating), i've had incredible luck,only a few primates have evaded me thus far and have seen an awful lot of little furry things...

been traveling with a keen birdwatcher and the amount of birds is ridiculous. hornbills are one of the easiest to spot Johnathan (i'll return your PM later if thats okay for the above mentioned reason) and you'll be dissapointed to know we now no longer bother even pointing them out to eachother (unless its a species we haven't spotted yet) they are all over the place and in full view.

the storms stork is another story. to be honest i didn't even know what one was, until we saw a flock in the kinabatangan river. the guide told us we were very lucky and that birdwatchers came from all over to the river ust to see this species but that many went home disappointed. my birdwatcher friend was rapt. i was more "oh yeah, cool" and kept looking for gibbons....:)
 
Patrick, do you have any time left to stake out that mudhole for the Sumatran rhino, I know its a long shot but you never know your luck, you have done well so far
 
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