Adult male Orangutan eats Nipa palm fruits at Kinabatangan Wetland Resort

Nipa Palms Nypa fructans grow in muddy river estuaries  throughout the hot wet tropics along the line of the equator.

Nipa Palms are ubiquitous bushy palms with no trunk growing in brackish water at the mouths of Bornean rivers, including the deltas of the Kinabatangan and Segama Rivers in N.E.Borneo where there are relatively large populations of orangutans. Recent records indicate that large male orangutans have learnt to break open and eat both the very hard fruits and the  growing bud of Nipa Palms in the Kinabatangan River delta.

The Kinabatangan Wetland Resort  (KWR) is located in virgin peat swamp forest within the river mouth delta of  the Kinabatangan River  in East Sabah. The surrounding peat swamp forest is rich in wildlife. The KWR location is at the ecotone between fresh and brackish water.

Thanks to our guides Dido and Andis  for information and photographs.