Tag Archives: animals

Orangutans in Sarawak, Borneo

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One of the things you have to do while in Borneo is see orangutans in the rainforest. I went on a river rafting trip that included a stop at Semenggoh Wildlife Center (national park) on the way. From my research I believe this was 1 of the 2 good options for seeing wild orangutans near Kuching.

Mother orangutan with baby and bananas

The orangutans are free in the forest. They stop by the viewing points because of the tasty food (many were also brought here for rehabilitation so they are comfortable seeing people – though the rehabilitation is largely moved elsewhere now).

Because the orangutans are free when fruit is in season sometimes few or no orangutans show up. They generally have feeding time in the morning at 9 to 10 AM (when I went) and in the afternoon (3 to 3:30 PM).

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Kuala Lumpur Aquarium

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The Aquaria is located in the Kuala Lumpur City Center (KLCC), near the Petronas towers. It is pretty small and something that can be skipped without missing much. But if you have a bit of extra time it is a fine way to spend an hour or two.

photo of jellys in the KL Aquarium

These are real (which might not be obvious from the photo) jelly fish floating around in the display.

photo of very large fish at the KL aquarium

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Big Lizards in Johor Bahru CBD

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Large lizard (over 1 meter)

Large, thin, lizard (over 1 meter)

Two days ago I saw this big lizard and managed to get a photo. It is at least a meter long from head to tail (probably longer, the tail is really long). Still it isn’t huge since it is very narrow (more like a snake with legs than anything else).

A few months ago I saw a really big lizard 1 block from the CIQ. It was easily 2 meters long (head to end of the tail) and quite large (stout). I was standing for awhile looking at this cool patch of wild greenery. All of a sudden I heard a noise and looked down; this large lizard probably got tired of me standing so and moved quickly into the brush. I hadn’t seen it. I would guess it was sunning itself, before I wandered over. Too bad I didn’t have my camera ready.

close up of the large, thin, lizard

Close up of the large, thin, lizard (shown above)

A few weeks ago I saw one in between the size of those 2 (more like the stout one) that leaped into the undergrowth before I got a good look.

And today I saw another one (like the one in the photo) in a park near KSL Mall. It was maybe 700 cm or so. That is it for my large lizard spotting in Johor Bahru. I do see these little guys in my condo occasionally.

I do wonder what the largest ones eat. People keep chickens and feed neighborhood cats (as far as I can tell they are stray cats). I would think those lizards could get young chickens and cats maybe. I also wonder if the cats get any of the young chicks. I would imagine people wouldn’t like that too much. I guess the adult chickens are pretty good at keeping the cats at bay. They mill around right next to each other and I haven’t seen any cat stalking them. I see the cats stalking each other a fair amount (the young ones).

I haven’t seen lizard or snake on the menu anywhere here. I’m sure it probably is I just haven’t noticed it (in a bunch of places they don’t have menus in English. I have seen frog and deer and wild boar (and of course squid is common and I really like it). When I have had alligator or snake I have liked it. Nice lean meat.

If you know what type of lizards are in the photos (and what the larger one might be) please mention it, in a comment.