I volunteered at BSBCC on the 20.7.14 for the first time and helped in general animal husbandry by helping to prepare food including 50kg of washed and cut up bananas! Feeding the indoor bears was a matter of skill as we have to fling the food, e.g. sugar cane, coconuts, various fruit, on top of the cages. We were lucky to get so close to them but it was good that the morale within the centre was to respect the bears, so we didn’t spend too much time gawking at them, allowing them to get on with their daily business of climbing, sleeping, eating, drinking and washing. Feeding the outdoor bears was also great, which also involved throwing skills, but this time to avoid hitting the bears and avoid giving the food to wild pig-tailed macaques.
BSBCC is one of the animal charities I have worked with and one, in my opinion, which needs advertising in countries like the UK to continue their excellent and much-needed work. The staff I worked with during my time at BSBCC are why this project survives and are assets to the project. Some of the horrors these bears have endured and the emotional scars are shown through repetitive, abnormal behaviours. However, with some of the TLC that BSBCC offer, I have no doubt that these bears will become fully rehabilitated, make a full recovery, and be released back into the wild.