Kinabatangan River

Kinabatangan with source and tributaries (dark blue color )

Kinabatangan at the bridge near Batu Tugul

Template: Infobox River / Obsolete

The Kinabatangan is the largest river in the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo. It rises in the country's center of Sabah and runs strong meandering from the highlands to its mouth in the Sulu Sea. The Kinabatangan with its source and tributaries drains an area of 16,800 km ² - about a quarter of the state of Sabah. In the lowlands of the Kinabatangan is an approximately 4000 square kilometers of floodplain of the 26,000 hectares as Sanktuari Hidupan Liar di Hilir Kinabatangan (English " Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary " ) are protected.

Geology

The environment in the headwaters of the river consists of mountains and mountain peaks with elevations ranging from 500 to 1500 m. The catchment area consists mostly layers of mudstone, silt, sandstone and limestone. The sandstone and silts are generally less solidified. The soils are sandy to loamy and in the mountains in thin layers of fine to coarse sand.

Flora and Fauna

The area includes tropical lowland forests, oxbow lakes, wetlands and mangrove forests and is considered a region of particularly high biodiversity. Animals such orangutans, proboscis monkeys, Bornean pygmy elephants and numerous species of birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish.

Due to the increasing population of the riverbank these habitats are considered to be threatened.