On the 29th September 2017, BSBCC was invited to SJK (C) Chi Hwa, Sandakan to set up an educational booth during their sports carnival. Besides BSBCC, other organizations and local companies in Sandakan such as WWF, Rainforest Discovery Centre, Artlex Centre, Maybank, and a few more were also invited to participated in this event. During this carnival, all of the students, teachers and parents have the chance to visit all the booths from participating organizations and companies. There were also activities held in each booth such as answering quizzes. All of the students enjoyed in this carnival and we hope that they learned more about sun bears today!

Text by Chiew Lin May
Photos by Seng Yen Wah & Chiew Lin May
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The sad part of each rescued orphan sun bear that arrive at Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC) is that they come from having lived through a bitter past. As sun bears grow into fully grown adult, they become dangerous and difficult to handle which will end up their lives in a tiny cage or seeking out sun bear rehabilitation centre to take their sun bear pet in.

​This is what happens to our recently rescued a three years old sub adult female bear, Soo (Rescued bear No.56). It was so shock when we received a video showing that the person was playing with this bear (who is fully grown bear). She was purchased from Karamatoi village in Sook Keningau market when she was still cub and kept as a pet by a family in Nambayan village in Tambunan, located in the interior Division of Sabah for almost three years. She was rescued by Sabah Wildlife Department and she arrives at BSBCC on 8th September 2017. Soo was fed with rice, cucumber and milk. Undoubtedly her mother had been killed; she is sold illegally throughout Borneo and kept in private home. Sadly many of these orphaned sun bears will never fully learn their natural way of life and lose their ability to survive in the wild. 

Text by Batrisyia Binti Teepol
Photos by Seng Yen Wah, Chiew Lin May & Batrisyia Binti Teepol

Hi, I'm Batrisyia, I’m 21 years old and I was born and raised in Miri, Sarawak. By the time I'm writing this story, I'm about to enter my final year in Animal Resource Science and Management in Universiti Malaysia Sarawak.

Applying as an intern in Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre is definitely a random process that turns out to be the best 10 weeks of my life. I think I was blessed and lucky enough to be given the opportunity to complete my internship in BSBCC.

First off, the centre itself is definitely well planned, from facilities to everyday tasks. Having the forest enclosures for the bears are definitely a bonus for this centre.
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The run down to my everyday job is mostly animal husbandry which includes cleaning the cages, preparing food, feeding, making enrichments, fence checking, etc. Honestly, the jobs are quite physical but somehow I definitely enjoyed doing them. I think the most memorable time would have to be when we were looking for termite's nest (and made a quick stop getting ourselves wet), random maintenance works, and so much more. Dr. Wong also taught us a lot during our weekly volunteer session and I definitely gained so much input (forever grateful). Here in the centre I was exposed to a lot of new things, from hand sawing to visiting schools for outreach. Basically my communication skills and other soft skills definitely received an upgrade thanks to the opportunities I was given. The best part of my internship was probably the part where I was assigned to observe Nano and Noah for their integration with other bears. I am now even more intrigued in learning about bears (especially the smallest bear species)! 

​The bears, I can’t fathom how lucky I am to be able to learn about them, care for them and basically just being able to look at them. I personally think sun bears are beautiful and I do hope these rescued bears will be able to feel and enjoy the nature of their home, the forest. 

All of the staffs here especially the ones in Bear Care Team are people that have touched my heart. Their sincerity and passion in helping the sun bears are definitely to be acknowledged. Working in conservation is a hard task but what I saw from working with them for the past 10 weeks was that they are all full of love and joy. Despite working so hard during the day, every day on the way back, everyone will always be full of laughter and happiness.
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Thank you for all your guidance, help, mentor, kindness, hospitality, jokes, laughter, opportunities, love, and all of your presences. You all are beyond amazing! So much memories were made thus some more pictures to reminisce the time.

A school group from SK Sungai Tiram, Sandakan visited BSBCC on the 21st September 2017. During their visit, we assigned the students to answer a set of questions about sun bears in the Sun Bear Explorer Book and on the the same time they enjoyed to watch the sun bears activities in the forest enclosure. Through this activity, they were able to learn and understand better about sun bears! Thank you for visiting our Centre!

KINABATANGAN, 19th September 2017: Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC) was invited to attend an event at SMK Sukau, Kinabatangan, a high school in Kinabatangan district which is about 2 hours drive from Sepilok, Sandakan.

In conjunction with the launching and closing ceremony of the Malaysia's Independence month, we were invited to the school and our education team set up an educational booth for the students and teachers to visit. It was also their Co-curriculum Carnival on that day. Besides BSBCC, other organizations also participated in this event.