KKWC

The Kota Kinabalu Wetlands Center is a habitat preserve in the heart of the city. The last of the remaining mangrove forests were severely degraded by illegal settlements which caused a terrible pollution problem. The center plays an important role in maintaining the mangrove ecosystem as well as educating the public. It is a remarkable place. A brief walk around the preserve and you are inundated by the sounds of a rich biosystem. Listen carefully to the sound in the attached movie. In addition to the bird calls and cicadas you can hear strange clicks and pops, these sounds come from pistol shrimp firing and air bubbling to the surface from the breathing mangrove roots. There is a huge variety of little hermit crabs of all colors poking their heads through the mud. There are red ants with big jaws everywhere. These are weaver ants and they actually don't live in the ground, they live in ball shaped nests made out of leaves and silk. They are also interesting in that they make large chains to be used as bridges for the ants behind them. The large jaws can give you a decent pinch but the real pain is in the acid they inject with their bite. Luckily none have attacked any of us, despite the massive number of their brothers we must have accidentally crushed under foot. The mosquitoes are ferocious here and citronella just doesn’t cut it. The mosquito in the picture was filmed with its sucker deep in my arm. It’s an aes mosquito which is active throughout the day and can carry dengue fever.

KKWC changed its name from the Kota Kinabalu Bird Sanctuary a few years ago. Their two main problems are funding and promotion. The few people who knew about it as the bird sanctuary are often not aware of the name change, in fact the street signs still say Bird Sanctuary. But in general, very few people really know about it. Arthur and I left the center one afternoon to try to catch a cab at the end of the road. Someone stopped an offered us a ride and in talking we mentioned the wetlands center and the guy, who lived right near it, never heard of it. One of the goals we have is to develop a promotional campaign for them.