Imbak-Kalabakan

Asia > Malaysia > Imbak-Kalabakan

Français | Português | Español | Bahasa Indonesia | Melayu

Summary

Loading map...

• Northeast Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus morio) are present in the Imbak-Kalabakan landscape.
• It has been estimated that 1,570 (CI: 1,037-2,374) individuals occur in the site.
• The orangutan population trend is unknown.
• The site has a total size of 4,805 km².
• Key threats to orangutans are habitat fragmentation and human-orangutan conflict.
• Conservation activities are not documented.

Site characteristics

The Imabalak-Kalabakan region is located in Malaysian Borneo, in the northeastern state of Sabah. The region comprises 2,175 sq.km of protected and 2,630 of unprotected areas (SWD 2020). The vegetation is characterised by a mixture of heath, lowland and upland mixed dipterocarp forests (Simon, Davis & Ancrenaz 2019). Fragmented forests, such as the Brantian-Tantulit virgin jungle, the Ulu Kalumpang Forest Reserve, and oil palm and industrial tree plantations are found in the Kalabakan landscape, where land use continues to change (Phaik Imm et al. 2021).

Table 1. Basic site information for Imbak-Kalabakan

Species	Pongo pygmaeus morio
Area	4,805 km²
Coordinates	Lat: 5.013665 , Lon: 117.177508
Type of site	Non-protected area
Habitat types	Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest, Agricultural land
Type of governance

Types of sites Governance types Habitat types

Ape status

A 2017 survey revealed an enormous increase in population size in 15 years, from 313 to 1,570 orangutans (Simon, Davis & Ancrenaz 2019). The population has remained sparse and dispersed over a large area. These higher densities may reflect immigration from adjacent land areas where there has been substantial clearance of forest between the two surveys. The larger population estimate was also due to more intensive survey efforts, and a substantial but scattered orangutan population was probably underestimated in the past (Simon, Davis & Ancrenaz 2019).

Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Imbak-Kalabakan

Species	Year	Occurrence	Encounter or vistation rate (nests/km; ind/day)	Density estimate [ind./ km²] (95% CI)	Abundance estimate (95% CI)	Survey area	Sampling method	Analytical framework	Source	Comments	A.P.E.S. database ID
Pongo pygmaeus morio	2002-2003			0.06 (0.02-0.19)	262(80-860)	Imbak-Kalabakan, Production Forest	Aerial (drones/plane/helicopter)		Simon, Davis & Ancrenaz 2019
Pongo pygmaeus morio	2002-2003			0.06 (0.02-0.19)	51 (17-166)	Imbak-Kalabakan, Protected Forest	Aerial (drones/plane/helicopter)		Simon, Davis & Ancrenaz 2019
Pongo pygmaeus morio	2017			0.32 (0.21-0.48)	694 (458-1051)	Imbak-Kalabakan, Protected Forest	Aerial (drones/plane/helicopter)		Simon, Davis & Ancrenaz 2019
Pongo pygmaeus morio	2017			0.33 (0.22-0.50)	876 (579-1323)	Imbak-Kalabakan, Production Forest	Aerial (drones/plane/helicopter)		Simon, Davis & Ancrenaz 2019

Sampling methods Analytical frameworks

Threats

Habitat fragmentation and conflicts with people are the major threats to orangutans in the region (SWD 2020).

Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Imbak-Kalabakan

Category	Specific threats	Threat level	Description	Year of threat
2 Agriculture & aquaculture	2.1 Annual & perennial non-timber crops	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Forest loss and fragmentation due to conversion of forest to agricultural land. In Sabah, palm oil accounted for 60% of forest conversion between 1973 and 2015 (SWD 2020).	Ongoing (2020)
2 Agriculture & aquaculture	2.2 Wood & pulp plantations	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Plantations of Sabah Softwoods Berhad (SSB), an industrial tree plantation and oil palm plantation company, are situated within the Kalabakan landscape (Phaik Imm et al. 2021).	Ongoing (2021)
4 Transportation & service corridors	4.1 Roads & railroads	Present (unknown severity)	Roads, bridges, dams, and railways split populations into smaller subpopulations and give access to poachers and lead to human encroachment (SWD 2020).	Ongoing (2020)
5 Biological resource use	5.1 Hunting & collecting terrestrial animals	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Hunting due to conflict and for bushmeat (SWD 2020).	Ongoing (2020)
5 Biological resource use	5.1.5 Persecution/human wildlife conflict	High (more than 70% of population affected)	Hunting due to conflict and for bushmeat (SWD 2020).	Ongoing (2020)

Threats

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Imbak-Kalabakan

Challenges	Specific challenges	Source	Year(s)
	Not reported

Challenges

Enablers

Table 6. Enablers reported for Imbak-Kalabakan

Enablers	Specific enablers	Source	Year(s)
1 Site management
2 Resources and capacity
3 Engaged community
4 Institutional support
5 Ecological context
6 Safety and stability

Enablers

Documented behaviours

Table 7. Behaviours documented for Imbak-Kalabakan

Category	Behavior	Observation type	Prevalence	Observation dates	Source	Habituation	Species	Comment
	Not reported

Behaviours

References

Simon, D., Davies, G., & Ancrenaz, M. (2019). Changes to Sabah's orangutan population in recent times: 2002-2017. PloS one, 14(7), e0218819. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218819

Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD). (2020). Orangutan Action Plan for Sabah 2020-2029. Kota, Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.

Phaik Imm, C., Pei Hue, K., & Nathan, R. (2021). Can the Oil Palm Industry and Elephant Conservation Be Reconciled? A Case Study in Kalabakan, Sabah. Gajah, 53, 30-38.

Page created by: APES Atlas Team Date: 2021-11-22