The Sugut River (Malay: Sungai Sugut) is a river in Sandakan Division, northeastern Sabah of Malaysia. It has a total length of 178 km (111 mi) from its headwaters in the mountains of northwest Sabah to its outlet at the Sulu Sea, northeastern of Beluran town. Its source is originated from the mountains in the eastern slopes of Mount Kinabalu National Park in Ranau District, which part of the Mount Kinabalu system.[3][4]
Sugut River | |
---|---|
![]() View of the river. | |
Native name | Sungai Sugut (Malay) |
Location | |
Country | ![]() |
State | ![]() |
Division | Sandakan Division |
Precise location | Northeastern Borneo |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | |
• location | From the eastern slopes of Mount Kinabalu National Park in Ranau District |
Mouth | |
• location | At Beluran District into Sulu Sea |
• coordinates | 6°26′22.5″N 117°43′43.6″E |
• elevation | Sea level |
Length | 178 km (111 mi)[1] |
Basin size | 3,094 km2 (1,195 sq mi)[2] |
Basin features | |
River system | Mount Kinabalu National Park[3][4] |
Some of the distinctive features of the Sugut River landscape include the dry land forest on sandstone hills, riverine forests and oxbow lakes, where it become the natural breeding ground for an abundance of wildlife, including macaques, mousedeer, muntjac, orangutan, proboscis monkeys, sambar deer, silvered langurs, sun bear, wild pig as well as variety of bird species, including 43 species of freshwater fish.[1] The Trusan Sugut of the river mouth is part of the Sugut Conservation Area (SCA), which was initially gazetted as a Class II commercial forest and later reclassified as a Class I Protection Forest on 24 December 2014.[5][6] In 2015, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) recording the importance of the waterway for villagers as part of a three-year freshwater ecosystem conservation project of the WWF.[7]
The river flows from the Mount Kinabalu system through an extensive alluvial plain before arriving at the Sulu Sea. Along the river also located the Trusan Sugut Forest Reserve.[1][6]
The Sugut (approximately 178 km long) is the largest river in northeast Sabah. From its high altitude origins in the Kinabalu Range, it flows through an extensive alluvial plain before arriving at the Sulu Sea. At the coast, there is a tidal swamp (stretching for about 8 km of the river course) with the banks lined by a growth of nipah palms and mangrove trees.
Mount Kinabalu is a major contributor to ecosystems in Sabah with several major river systems originating from this region, namely Labuk River, Sugut River & Kadamaian River.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires |journal=
(help)
Physical geography of Sabah | |||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Coastal features |
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Interior and water features |
|