Tunku Abdul Rahman Park
is a State Park created to protect the natural enviroment, including
the coral reefs, marine life, the fauna and flora. This park is
lying from 3km to 8km off Kota Kinabalu which comprises of 5 islands.
They are Gaya Island , Manukan Island , Mamutik Island , Sapi
Island and Sulug Island. During the British rule in 1882
, a trading settlement was set up in Gaya Island by British North
Borneo Chartered Company. This company later shifted to the mainland
Kota Kinabalu. After 92 years , finally in 1974 ,Gaya Island and
the whole of Pulau Sapi was gazetted as the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park
, named after the first Prime Minister of Malaysia.. This gazetted
place covers an area of 8,990acres (3,638 hectares). In 1979 , it
was increased to 12, 185 acres (4,929 hectares) with the inclusion
of the other 3 nearby islands such as Manukan Island, Mamutik Island
and Sulug Island.
All these islands can be visited
all year round. Humidity remains quite high throughout the year.
Temperatures are normally between 23.8 - 29.4 degress Celsius. The
islands are basically made up of sandstones and sedimentary rocks.
According to some experts, about a million years ago during the
Ice Age, major changes in the sea level causes portions of the mainland
being cut off by the sea , thus forming the islands we see today.
Most of the these islands forming cliffs , caves, honeycombs and
deep crevasses along the shore are actually fomation of sandstones.
In all the 5 islands , all types of flora and fauna can be found
here. Along the shoreline , you can see a lot of beautiful shoreline
vegetations such as Pandanus Dubius and Podocarpus Polystachyus.
The tallest of them all are the Keruings with narrow crowns of large
dark green leaves, and their , 2wing fruits that litters the trails.
Human activities in recent years
have replaced the original vegetation on the other island with casuarina
and coconut palms, mango and etc. The most common animals that you
can find here are rats, squirrels,monkeys, pied hornbills, monitor
lizards and various types of snakes.. The hard to find and rarely
seen are bearded pigs and scaly pangolins commonly known
as Anteaters to Asian.