Kudat

History

The original inhabitants of Kudat are the native Rungus people, a sub-group of the Dusun people, who traditionally lived inland in longhouse communities to stay beyond the reach of the pirates who frequented the coastline. In the late 19th century, Franz Witti, an explorer in the employ of the British North Borneo Chartered Company, discovered oil 26 km outside the present-day Kudat town. This may have been a reason why the Company chose Kudat as the site for their first settlement in British North Borneo. The town of Kudat was officially founded on 7 December 1881. Company officers began clearing the land with the aid of several Brunei Malays in preparation for the declaration of Kudat as the first capital of British North Borneo. This was eventually made official in 1882. The British settlers ensured that they would live in peace with their native neighbours by signing a peace agreement with Temenggung Kurantud (then Chieftain of the Rungus people) and Datu Harun (then leader of the Muslim community of Kudat). British colonial officers in Kudat were quick to ensure that their recreational needs were satisfied by creating the Kudat Golf Club, which is the first golf club in Sabah. The original nine-hole, 3075m course was completed in the early 1900s. It is recognised as a challenging course due to the close proximity of roads and buildings around it. The Company's next step was to bring in Chinese migrants to work the land. It resorted to bringing in foreign workers for the purpose because it felt that "the productive and industrial value of the alien races is... far greater than that of the natives of Borneo... it will be a very long time before the natives become, individually, as valuable assets to the State as the alien races". In 1882, the then Governor…

Most-observed species

• Zebra Dove

  Geopelia striata (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  28
• Asian Glossy Starling

  Aplonis panayensis (Scopoli, 1786) · Aves
  21
• Spotted Dove

  Spilopelia chinensis (Scopoli, 1786) · Aves
  20
• Pacific Swallow

  Hirundo javanica Sparrman, 1789 · Aves
  18
• Collared Kingfisher

  Todiramphus chloris (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  18
• brownbanded bambooshark

  Chiloscyllium punctatum Müller & Henle, 1838 · Elasmobranchii
  16
• Malaysian Pied-Fantail

  Rhipidura javanica (Sparrman, 1788) · Aves
  16
• Artamus leucorhynchos

  Artamus leucorhynchos · Aves
  15

Most recent

• M 7.1 — 2026-02-22
  57 km NNW of Kota Belud, Malaysia
• M 4.3 — 2025-07-22
  26 km SSW of Kudat, Malaysia
• M 4.9 — 2020-06-30
  48 km W of Kudat, Malaysia
• M 4.5 — 2019-08-03
  68 km ENE of Ranau, Malaysia
• M 5.2 — 2018-03-08
  16 km NNW of Ranau, Malaysia
• M 4.6 — 2015-07-26
  41 km NNE of Ranau, Malaysia