Hollywood star, Sigourney Weaver in a surprise visit to Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia

Sigourney Weaver became the star of the Alien films, reprising her role as Ripley in four sequels between 1979 and 1997. She did not appear in either of the Alien vs. Predator crossovers of the 2000s, but has expressed interest in doing a fifth Alien film.



Sigourney Weaver is a Hollywood icon. She catapulted into fame by playing the role of Alien buster, Ellen Ripley in 1979 right up to Alien 4th sequel in 1997. She also starred in other blockbusters movies including Ghostbusters and Gorilla in the Mists.


In the 1988 movie Gorillas in the Mist, Sigourney plays the role as the real life American naturalist Dian Fossey and her work in Rwanda with Mountain Gorillas over a period of 18 years.

Sadly, Fossey was found murdered in the bedroom of her cabin in Virunga Mountains, Rwanda on December 26, 1985. The last entry in her diary read:

“ When you realize the value of all life, you dwell less on what is past and concentrate more on the preservation of the future ”

Fossey's skull had been split by a panga (machete), a tool widely used by poachers, which she had confiscated from a poacher years earlier and hung as a decoration on the wall of her living room adjacent to her bedroom. Fossey was found dead beside her bed, with her handgun beside her. She was in the act of loading her weapon, but picked the wrong type of ammunition during the struggle. The cabin showed signs of a struggle as there was broken glass on the floor and tables along with other furniture overturned. All Fossey's valuables were still in the cabin - thousands of dollars in cash, travelers' checks, and photo equipment remained untouched. It remains a mystery.

Now back to Sigourney Weaver surprise visit to Sabah. The visit was so sudden that the local and international media, missed it completely.

Weaver visited the Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary in Sandakan last week between 17 April 2011 to 24th April 2011. After that, her whereabouts remains a mystery. People including the media didn't know her shedules as well as her flight details, leaving out of Sabah and Kuala Lumpur.



Well, the Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary is the largest of its kind in the world. The centre opened in 1964 as the first official orangutan rehabilitation project for rescued orphaned baby orangutans from logging sites, plantations, illegal hunting or kept as pets.

The orphaned orangutans are trained to survive again in the wild and are released as soon as they are ready. The sanctuary is located within the Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve which covers an area of 5529 ha, much of which is virgin rainforest.Today around 60 to 80 orangutans are living free in the reserve. It has become one of Sabah's top tourist attractions.

Altogether, it is estimated that Sabah which is in Borneo island, is the habitat to approximately 12,000 Orang Utans.

Apart from the Orang Utan Sanctuary which Sigourney Weaver visited, she also took some time off to wander around the Borneo Sun Bear Sanctuary, located within the Orang Utan Sanctuary.









All the best Miss Weaver.