Beyond Sepilok
Sun Bears and Canopy Walks: Sepilok's Neighbours
What the Bornean Sun Bear Centre and the Rainforest Discovery Centre actually offer, and how these three neighbouring sites fit into one Sandakan wildlife day.
See Sepilok tours on Viator ↗The Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre
Sharing a boundary with Sepilok, this centre exists for the same basic reason Sepilok does: rehabilitating a rescued, endangered Bornean species and, where possible, returning it to the forest. Its focus is the sun bear, the world's smallest bear species, recognisable by its short sleek coat and the pale, often crescent-shaped patch on its chest. Bears here typically arrive after being kept illegally as pets, taken from the bile trade, or displaced by habitat loss, and the centre's forested enclosures are viewed from raised boardwalks rather than cages, echoing Sepilok's own approach to giving rescued animals as natural a setting as possible.
Why sun bears need protecting too
The Bornean sun bear is listed as Vulnerable, threatened by the same deforestation and plantation expansion pressuring orangutans, plus targeted poaching for its gall bladder and bile, used in some traditional medicine markets, and a persistent illegal pet trade drawn to bear cubs. Because sun bears are smaller, more solitary and far less studied than orangutans, reliable population estimates are harder to come by — one reason conservationists treat the species as a priority even though it's less famous. A visit here supports a rehabilitation effort for an animal most travellers have never heard of before arriving in Sabah.
The Rainforest Discovery Centre
A short distance from Sepilok, within the same protected forest reserve, the Rainforest Discovery Centre offers a different way to experience the same rainforest: canopy walkways and viewing towers that lift you up into the tree line rather than keeping you on the forest floor. It's particularly well known among birdwatchers, since the elevated walkways make it far easier to spot hornbills and other canopy-dwelling species than at ground level, and some visitors return for an evening or night walk to see nocturnal wildlife the daytime centres don't show. It rewards a slower pace than the other two sites.
Fitting it into one day — and what to cut if you're short on time
Because Sepilok, the sun bear centre and the Rainforest Discovery Centre all sit within or beside the same forest reserve a short drive from Sandakan, combining two or three into a single day is standard practice for tour operators rather than an ambitious add-on. Most itineraries anchor the day to an orangutan feeding time and add the sun bear centre immediately before or after, since it's essentially next door and delivers a similarly quick, rehabilitation-focused visit. If time is genuinely tight, that's the pairing to keep — the canopy walkways reward a slower, unhurried pace a rushed itinerary won't give them. The one exception: if wildlife photography or birding is your main interest, drop the sun bear centre instead and give the Rainforest Discovery Centre the extra time, ideally with an early morning or dusk slot, when birdlife is most active and the light is easiest to shoot in.