Saturday, May 22, 2010

Semenggoh Wildlife Centre Kuching

Semenggoh Wildlife Centre as established in 1975 for the rehabilitation of confiscated and surrendered wild animals. It is located about 20 km south of Kuching and is situated within the beautiful Semengoh Nature Reserve. This is a temporary home for various endangered wildlife of Sarawak, especially orangutans that were rescued from captivity. The orangutans are currently found only in rainforests on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. The Bornean Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), is a species of orangutan native to the island of Borneo. Sharing some of the photos taken there....




Saturday, May 15, 2010

Orchid Garden Kuching

Orchid Garden in Kuching is located behind Dewan Bandaraya Kuching Utara (DBKU), next to Astana, opposite Kuching Waterfront. The orchid garden occupies 2.7ha inside a park. The orchid garden boasts a magnificent collection of thousands of orchid plants, comprising many rare hybrids of orchids.

Operation Hours:
9.30am to 6.00pm (Tuesday to Sunday)

Monday Holiday

Entrance to the park is free.

A small note about Orchids...
Orchids are classified under the family of Orchidaceae, which can be further divided into 6 main sub-families: Apostasioideae, Cypripedioideae, Neottioideae, Orchidoideae, Epidendroideae and Vandoideae. Generally when orchid blooms, inflorescence is formed that may produce single to many flowers, sequentially or in mass.  Orchids can be terrestrial (grow on soil), epiphyte (grow on tree host without parasitizing it), lithophyte (grow on rock) and saprophyte (grow by feeding decomposing organic matter). Some orchid flowers are so small that they are not properly visible with naked eyes. Borneo's orchids are also endangered, a result of the loss of natural habitat from fire, forest damage, and illegal logging.