From Myth to Memory: Two Historic Orangutan Moments in Tawau Hills Park

Orangutan Tawau Hills Park, Sabah, Malaysia

A Moment Eight Years in the Making

Shavez Cheema, Founder of 1StopBorneo Wildlife leading a night walk in Tawau Hills Park.

24th July 2022. A date that will forever be etched in my memory. After spending eight years based in Tawau Hills Park, living and breathing the forest almost every single day, there was always one experience that eluded me that was SEEING AN ORANGUTAN IN A WILD! People talked about them all the time. Visitors would ask, “Are there orangutans here?” Friends teased me with their own stories, including one who claimed he had once spotted a lone orangutan near Bombalai Hill years ago.

But for me? Nothing. No shadow. No rustle. No silhouette on the canopy.

After so many years of wandering the trails, doing night surveys, sitting quietly at riversides, and trekking into corners of the forest few have stepped into, I began to wonder if orangutans in Tawau Hills Park were just ghost stories or something everyone believed in but no one truly encountered.

Then came that unforgettable morning.

I was having the simplest breakfast with just a coffee and peanuts while resting beside the vegetation and letting the forest wake up around me. As I looked up casually, something flashed at the very edge of my vision!

A shape!

A movement!

And then…....... a MASSIVE RED HAND gripping a branch!

There it was! The first CONFIRMED Orang Utan presence in Tawau Hills Park in recent memory, a species few ever thought existed within its borders.

For a second, everything went silent.

I froze, not daring to blink. Years of waiting, hoping, and half-believing were suddenly rewarded in the most unexpected, heart-stopping way. It wasn’t a myth. It wasn’t a story someone told me. The orangutan was real, alive, and right in front of me.

That moment changed everything and the way I viewed the forest, the way I understood its patience, and the way I respected the quiet mysteries that unfold only when the forest decides you are ready.

Three Years Later: Proof on Camera

Fast forward to 12 April 2025.

The 1StopBorneo Wildlife team achieved another milestone the first-ever camera trap photo of an orangutan in Tawau Hills Park!

And where was it captured?

Right under a fruiting Ficus tinctoria fig tree! a hotspot of forest activity and a paradise for wildlife during peak fruiting season.

To finally document the orangutan on camera, after years of stories and rare sightings, was more than just a scientific achievement. It was a confirmation of the forest’s resilience, a celebration of the species quietly thriving far from human eyes, and a reminder that Tawau Hills Park still guards treasures that can surprise even those who know it best.

A Forest That Reveals Its Secrets Slowly

Some forests announce their wildlife loudly. Tawau Hills Park, on the other hand, whispers. It doesn’t reveal its rarities easily as you must be patient, respectful, and willing to let the forest move at its own rhythm.

These two moments, where one seen by human eyes, another captured by camera does speak to the enduring wildness of this landscape. They remind us that conservation here is not just about protection, but about understanding the pace of the forest, the behaviour of its inhabitants, and the beauty of chance.

Seeing an orangutan once is a PRIVILEGE!