During our week of quarantine to ensure that we didn’t have any viruses that we could pass on to the OrangUtans, we took a trip to a Proboscis Monkey sanctuary. This privately-owned sanctuary is located within a palm oil estate and it gives people the chance to observe these monkeys very closely. We could walk right past them and they were very chilled out.
They often sit as if they are posing for the camera, with their hands placed very neatly on their feet.
And it was very amusing to see one stretching after a nap, just as we do.
They are strange two toned creatures, with ginger and grey fur.The males have big dangling noses, reddish flat-top hairstyles and pot bellies. The females are much smaller and have smaller and more pointed noses.and of course the babies are just downright cute!
Wild proboscis monkeys are only found in Borneo and are classed as endangered. Their total population has decreased by more than 50% in the past 36–40 years due to ongoing habitat loss because of logging and oil palm plantations, and hunting in some areas due to the species being treated as a delicacy, as well as its use in traditional Chinese medicine. We went through acres of palm oil trees to get there, but at least somebody has created this sanctuary right in the middle of their habitat and it was another animal that I’d never seen before 🙂