Orang-utan named ‘Christina Liew’

SUKAU: Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Christina Liew toured parts of the Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary on her maiden trip here by boat from Sandakan on Thursday.

She went on a three-hour river cruise, accompanied by Elopura assemblyman Calvin Chong, Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry permanent secretary William Baya, Sabah Wildlife Department director Augustine Tuuga, Sabah Tourism Board (STB) general manager Noredah Othman, and Albert Teo, founder of Borneo Eco Tours which operates the Sukau Rainforest Lodge.

“What a fantastic tour! I am here to see the Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary for myself. I have learned a lot today from the Kinabatangan River Cruise, especially the Big Five,” Liew, who is also Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment said (in apparent reference to the presence of the Borneo pygmy elephant, proboscis monkey, rhinoceros hornbill, crocodile and orang-utan).

Liew also spotted the long-tailed and pig-tailed Macaque, water monitor lizard, oriental darter, oriental pied hornbill and other bird species. More significantly, the minister caught a glimpse of a visiting female orang-utan, estimated to be about 15 to 20 years old, during her stroll on the Attenborough Board Walk at the Sukau Rainforest Lodge.

Teo, who is also the founder of the Lodge, has named the primate ‘Christina Liew’ in honour of the minister’s inaugural visit.

Source: Borneo Post Online