Matang Wildlife Centre In Borneo - All You Need To Know

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Last Updated: March 1 2021

We visited Matang wildlife centre as a day trip from Kuching, and definitely recommend it. The centre gives you a real experience of the problems that Malaysia are facing at the moment. This includes animals being stolen from the wild, sold and then kept illegally as pets. We found it to be an educational visit, as well as a day trip. This post will go through all the information you need to know about the Matang wildlife centre.

If you are wanting to see wild orangutans, then this centre isn’t for you. However, if you choose to visit you won’t be disappointed.

Table of Contents

Where is Matang Wildlife Centre in Borneo?

Matang wildlife centre is located within Kubah national park, and is about 35km from Kuching. It takes about 45 minutes to reach the wildlife centre from Kuching, so doesn’t take long at all.

About Matang wildlife centre:

Matang Wildlife Centre is a rescue centre which works at rescuing and rehabilitating animals that have been kept illegally as pets or orphaned. The whole point of this centre is to teach the animals to fend for themselves and eventually release them back into the wild if possible.

The Centre is home to many animals including orangutan, sun bears, gibbons, crocodiles, sambar deer, civets and many more. There are plenty of animals to see at Matang Wildlife Centre. Along with the animals in the centre the walk around the centre goes into the National Park where there is a small possibility you could see some of the orangutans that have previously been released. However this is a rare occurrence and we didn’t see any on our trip to Matang.

The centre is a truly wonderful place, where the focus isn’t tourists for once. It is clear to see they are trying their best to provide the animals with a better life, even with a lack of funding. It took us around an hour to walk around, or slightly longer so make time for this. The biggest areas of the centre are the orangutan enclosure, and the sun bear enclosure which are located at the end of the trail. We spent quite a lot of time there!

Although visiting Matang Centre is definitely a must whilst staying in Kuching, it can be quite upsetting. As the centre is located in Kubah national park, it is surrounded by rain forest. It is sad that some of these animals may never be able to be released due to medical and behavioral issues. These animals should be roaming free, and it is all down to the individuals who have captured and kept them illegally.

The entrance price:

As Matang Wildlife Centre is located within Kubah National Park, you only have to pay for your national park ticket. This means that as well as visiting the centre, you can also hike some of the trails if you would like to.

The ticket costs 20rm per person (about £3.80), and can be purchased from the ticket booth at the entrance. At this booth you will give your details. This includes your first name, surname and passport number. They take these details so they have a record of who is entering the national park.

General tips for visiting Matang:

Here are some things to remember and general tips for your visit to Matang wildlife centre.

Don’t be noisy: These animals have either been caught illegally or brought up as pets, so may have some pretty traumatic experiences. There are signs everywhere to keep the noise down, yet so many people ignore it. Whilst we were here, a family were shouting and laughing really loudly whilst standing in front of one of the orangutan enclosures. The orangutan became really scared, and retreated to the corner of his enclosure with his head in his hands. Absolutely heart breaking and completely avoidable!
Be wary of wildlife: As mentioned before, semi-wild animals can be found along the paths at Matang wildlife centre. We read that orangutans tend to come back after they have initially been released, meaning you may cross their path. Be very cautious, as you don’t want to be messing with orangutans!
Keep your rubbish to yourself: Of course this is generally a given, but some people find it ok to just dump their rubbish anywhere. Please don’t be one of those people!
Visit the visitor centre: Make sure you pay a visit to the visitor centre to look at all the information there. They have information on the Kubah national park and the animals that can be found here. They also have lots of information on the growth of this wildlife centre, and the problems the animals are facing. The aim of the centre is to educate people on the issues that these charities are facing.
Remember to bring your passport: As mentioned before when you purchase your ticket, they will ask for personal details. Most national parks we have been to have done this, so its nothing to be wary about. However, make sure you have your passport with you, or at least a picture so you know your passport number.

When is Matang wildlife centre open?

Matang wildlife centre is open Monday – Sunday: 8am – 5pm. However some of the opening times might be affected by Malaysian public holidays. It may be best to check with your accommodation owner first.

How to get to Matang wildlife centre:

There are no public transport links to Matang Wildlife Centre, however you can get a taxi to the centre. We visited Matang wildlife centre as a day trip from Kuching. By using the Grab taxi app, it was easy to book a taxi driver and find out the prices. We found the prices to be very reasonable.

The ticket office advised us to get our driver to wait, or to come back for us at a specific time. This is because the centre is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, and the centre only takes around an hour to walk around. We organised with our taxi driver to come back 1.5 hours later. The journey to the centre and back, with a 1.5 hour wait in between cost us about 95rm (about £18).

If you are looking to stay in Kuching, you can find accommodation options here.

The Orangutan Adoption Program:

One of the main attractions here is the orangutan adoption programme. This is where young orangutans are taught how to survive in the wild, after being kept illegally as pets or orphaned.

The adoption packages aim to help raise funds for orangutan conservation and rehabiliation. 100% of the revenue off these adoptions is used to do just that. To adopt an orangutan for a year it costs 200 rm (about £37), and you will receive a certificate of adoption, as well as quarterly updates about the orangutans at Matang as well as Semenggoh nature reserve. This is because these two wildlife centres work closely together.

It is a great way to help the orangutans here, and your money will be going to a great cause.

More information about this programme can be found here.

Volunteering at Matang wildlife centre:

It is possible to volunteer at Matang wildlife centre, and make a difference. You either do a two week period or a four week period, with more details being found here. Prices will vary depending on how long you decide to volunteer for, but the majority of your payment will go straight back into the project. Just under 70% of the project fee goes back to the work they do with Orangutans, and the Sarawak Foresty Corporation.

We really enjoyed visiting Matang Wildlife Centre, and think that anybody staying in Kuching shouldn’t miss out on the opportunity to come here. There is also a visitor centre located at the front, which is a good place to find out information about the local area.

It would be incredible to live in a world where animals aren’t kept as pets illegally, killed by poachers or harmed during deforestation. However for the moment sadly that is not the case. How we wish it was though! For now it is a relief to see centre’s like this trying their best to help the wildlife.

Thank you for reading this post. We hope it has encouraged you to add Matang wildlife centre to your Borneo itinerary. We had been planning to visit Borneo for so long, because its nature always drew us in. You can find our other blog posts on Borneo just below!

Have you ever been to Borneo? Or is it still on your bucket list? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

P.S If you want to follow more of our journey, follow our Instagram here.

Thanks,

Jack & Abbie.

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Jack Bolton

I’m one half of Acouplescalling. I'm passionate about all things travel and photography and I love sharing my experiences with others. I've seen a lot of the world already and I want to help as many people as I can do the same thing!

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