Borneo's Wildlife Gateway — the Sabah port city where Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre has introduced rehabilitated orangutans back to the rainforest since 1964, the Kinabatangan River runs through one of Asia's richest wildlife corridors, and a WWII death march memorial marks one of the Pacific War's darkest episodes
Sandakan is the second-largest city in Sabah (Malaysian Borneo) and the principal gateway to the wildlife-rich eastern coast of Sabah — a region with some of the world's highest concentration of rainforest megafauna accessible to visitors. Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre (24 km west of Sandakan) is the world's largest orangutan rehabilitation facility, housing some 60–80 semi-wild orangutans who attend twice-daily feedings at elevated platforms in the rainforest; adjacent to Sepilok is the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, the world's only sun bear rehabilitation centre. The Kinab…
Sandakan's name derives from 'Sandakan' in the Suluk/Tausug language ('the place that was pawned'), referring to a transaction between Sulu Sultanate nobles. The area was controlled by the Sultanate of Sulu (a powerful Islamic trading state based in the southern Philippines) before British intervention. Sandakan was established as a British colonial settlement in 1879 by William Clarke Cowie and became the first capital of British North Borneo (the Chartered Company territory, 1881–1963). The city was a major timber and rubber export port and the wealthiest city in British Borneo by 1900. Dur…