HELP US, SUPPORT US
Text by Chiew Lin May Photos by Seng Yen Wah & Chiew Lin May On January 10th, 2014 a six month old, male sun bear cub (Rescue No-37), was rescued from a Mini Zoo and Hot Springs in Tawau, South Eastern Sabah. Sunbearo arrived to BSBCC from Lok Kawi Zoo on the 10th of March 2014 Thin and dehydrated. His life at the Tawau Hot Spring was spent in a confinement cage. Like so many other rescued sun bears, his mother had been killed and he had been taken from the forest. Based on his teeth and malnourished appearance, it was likely he was being fed the wrong diet. His weight during the arrival was 11.6kg. Originally he was known as Tan Sri, which was the name of his owner from the Mini Zoo and Hot Spring in Tawau. Sunbearo is a special sun bear cub and has been adopted and re-named by Neways International (Australia) Pty. Huge thanks to the support from Neways International (Australia) Pty, which enables us to protect Sunbearo. Sunbearo has a beautiful tiny crescent sun in the shape of a “V” on his chest! He was placed into quarantine before being introduced to the other cubs of his own age. He seemed very fragile as his muscles were not strong due to his tiny size, and he was nervous when it came to climbing. The bear care team gives him and his friends a chance to play in their dens. He was given new enrichment toys and a healthy diet. He quickly adapted to his new home where he has become more trusting and relishes every fresh fruit. HONEY is not an exception!! On the 24th of April 2014, Sunbearo and Loki were integrated for the first time. He slowly started to build trust with the bears and learnt that bears can be great friends. Loki, Bintang, Montom, Susie2, Damai and Kala are Sunbearo’s bear play friends. They love playing with each other. He enjoys having friends to share freedom experiences with. Slowly, he has put his past behind him and is learning to be a wild bear again. A shining start to the day! On the 28th of December 2015, Sunbearo had finally overcome his fear and took his first step out on the forest soil. It is a great pleasure to see the first glimpses of these rescued sun bears stepping out to forest for their first time! Sunbearo sniffed around the tall trees. He knew that he deserved a better chance to express his natural behavior and learn how to become a wild bear. He is now outside foraging, climbing and enjoying himself. He loves the opportunity and uses all his senses to forage in the soil! Sun bears are the arboreal bear and spend their time in trees. Sunbearo and Montom will immediately climb up and wrestle on top of the trees. His long, sickle curved claws will help him in climbing trees and scraping off tree barks for termites. He has a strong, close bond with Loki. Sunbearo and Loki can be found loving hanging out and spending time up in the trees, watching everything going on around them. After four years of undergoing rehabilitation at our centre, Sunbearo has grown in size, skill and confidence. He is a fussy eater. If there are special sweet treats in the enclosure, Sunbearo usually hoovers everything up and licks every last bit of honey without wasting it! Around feeding time at the bear house, he can often be found growling for food. But most of all, he just loves foraging for extra protein. In regards to nest building, we have not seen any tree nest building behavior from him. He will stay a while in a nest built by Loki or Damai. Sunbearo is doing better and is enjoying life in a natural forest. It is amazing to see a sun bear that was literally suffering from pet trade now looking healthy, free from pain and enjoying life as a sun bear. Sun bears are threatened in Southeast Asia by rapid poaching, illegal wildlife trade and habitat destruction. Please help us fight to free the bears from their major threats. The exploitation of the greed towards this little known bear species must end.
3 Comments
Jeremiah Ho
23/4/2018 10:03:52 pm
Can i use these pictures for my project of loss of biodiversity?
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Wong Siew Te
23/4/2018 10:13:05 pm
write to me wongsiew@hotmail.com Jeremiah.
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Jennifer Logan-Porter
4/6/2018 10:22:09 am
It makes me smile so much seeing the progress the BSBCC demonstrates time and again with all of the darlings who need the extra tender, loving care. Keep up the great work 💙🐻💙🐻
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