 Ah Chong our sweet male bear has left us on the morning of February 15th, 2011 due to Congestive Heart Failure caused by an abnormal heart that associated with genetic abnormality. Ah Chong was sent to Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre from Telupid, interior Sabah on Sep 6, 2001, as an adult pet bear locked up in small cage for years. Ever since he was captured as pet, he never touches soil, climb a tree, nor have any contact to the forest, until he was moved to the BSBCC's first bear house and forest enclosures in April 2010. At his new home, Ah Chong dug the soil, sniffed the forest air, and be like a wild bear. Sometime, he preferred to stay at his indoor den than staying outside in the forest enclosure, because physiologically he thought indoor was safer than in the outdoor as majority of his life was actually spent behind bars on concrete floor. [kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/U4f102762CI" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /] We will remember Ah Chong although he is no longer with us anymore. Om the sun bear, Ah Chong's long time playmate, seem more quite than before, probably grief over the loss of his long time friend. The story of Ah Chong tells the story of a typical caged sun bear. Habitat lost, human encroachment, poaching, female bears being killed, bear cub being captured for pet trade, follows by years and years of living behind bars and confines in small cages for many years until they died from old age, diseases, or mentally breakdown. [kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/7bQ3m-Hr59o" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /] An Chong is finally free from suffering as a sun bear who live in captivity all his life because of human's cruelty, greed, and naivetivity. From of your supports and help, Ah Chong finally got a chance to live like a wild bear at the very end of his life at the BSBCC's forest enclosure.  May you rest in peace Ah Chong, we will always miss you and remember you!  
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Last week on Feb 13th, I finally landed at Kota Kinabalu International Airport at the capital of Sabah. This was the day that I have been long waiting for; the day when I can return to and serve to my home country. I am glad and relieved that I finally finished the prolonged education process in the US at the age of 42. This joy is not only cherished by myself and my family, but also by many friends, colleagues and supporters across the world. Over the following few days my schedule was packed with meeting officials from Sabah Wildlife Department, NGOs and the LEAP team, accompanied by their handshakes. "Wong is back!" However, these warm welcomes were also accompanied by the bad news of more baby sun bears having been confiscated by the Wildlife Department or being kept as pets by villagers. Even worse, was the sad news of the death of Ah Chong on the morning of Feb 15th. Ah Chong was a sweet but old male sun bear who came to us 10 years ago. The necropsy of Ah Chong performed by Dr. Diana Ramirez on the next day indicated that his death was due to Congestive Heart Failure caused by an abnormal heart that associated with genetic abnormality. May you rest in peace Ah Chong! You will be missed in our life always!  On Feb 18th, I finally travelled from Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan where the BSBCC is based. Wai Pak picked me up from the Sandakan airport. We went straight from the airport to the BSBCC to see the sun bears. It was really good to be back again to see that both the facility and the bears are growing. The sun bears greeted me with their curious sniff on my hand, which I think they still recognized my smell except for a few newcomers whom I had never meet who had no idea who I was.   My first meeting with Natalie the baby sun bear was an unforgotten one. Her loveliness and adorableness is something beyond anything human language can possibly describe. Her condition is much more stable now with increased appetite and she is slowly gaining weight. Her diarrhea problem, which was a concern during the first few weeks after her arrival also seem to be under control. She has passed the most vulnerable stage as an infant and starting to eat solid food and growing stronger. Her relatively big eyes, small ears, short but soft hairs really caught my eyes and my heart. Beside the cuteness of her little black hairy body, I really hope that we all can understand the reason she is here because of poaching, illegal logging, pet trade, with high likelihood that her mother had been killed.    During the first few days I am at the centre everyone on the ground was working really hard: Wai Pak the project manager had overseen all of the operations on the ground and was working around the clock; David and Daniel the animal keepers keep busy with their daily routine taking care of the bears with the helps from volunteers Marianne Sim, Paul Clenton, Janine Pickwick, and John Lane; A group of 15 volunteers from Raleigh International working tirelessly to build the perimeter fencing of the outdoor enclosure. Thank you all for all your help! Today marks the first week I am back to Sabah. Over the last seven days, we discussed many plans and events that to be take place in the near future: a fund raising event that will take place in Sepilok that involves local corporate and community; a fund raising event took place on facebook, an ambitious research project using camera trapping data, GIS, and radio-telemetry techniques to study the important of corridors at Kinabatangan River area involving multiple focal wildlife species including sun bears; a phylogenic study on sun bear across SE Asia; and on Feb 24th, I am going to Krau Wildlife Reserve in Peninsula Malaysia to assist a graduate student studying wild sun bears. A busy schedule lies ahead for sure for sun bears and the development of BSBCC. I am finally home. It is good to be home!   This is Ah Chong, one of the 19 sun bears currently house in BSBCC. Ah Chong is a 12 year old smale sun bear. This is the first time he touches the soil and the forest again after 12 years live in captivity.  Ah Chong did nothing wrong. However, he has been living behind bars in metal cage and cement floor for the past 12 years. During his 12 years of captive life, he NEVER touches soil, smell the grass, sun bathing, and many other more things that a wild sun bear would do. Now, everything changed! Thanks to you and your support, he is doing many things that a wild bear would do: smell the grass, dig the soil, and enjoy the tropical sun! And.. Pikapoo! Now you see me! Now you not!  Thanks to Sabah Forestry Department and Sabah Wildlife Department, his state of the art forest enclosure is the only thing any sun bear would ask for: natural forest with tall trees, thick vegetation, fallen logs, etc., home for this little tropical bear.  In his new home, Ah Chong can FINALLY smells the forest floor and dig the soil with his long curved claws. It may sound irony for a sun bear, but this is what actually happen to An Chong and others captive sun bears at BSBCC.  Ah Chong can also "roam" the forest! Although the "forest" is very small and fenced, he can at least walk like a wild bear! All of the stereotypic behavior he used to have living in cage, ALL GONE!!!  "I am a happy bear now, dude!" say Ah Chong, "I am home, finally home!"  Even more inportant, Ah Chong can finally sleep and nap in a forest, just like what a wild sun bear would do in the forest!  And relex well. Maybe the only bad thing in this new home is too many bugs! Especially too many bugs bug Ah Chong when he tried tp take a nap.  But I don't think Ah Chong would mind about the bugs. After all, he is now live like a wild bear, dig like a wild bear, walk like a wild bear, and sleep like a wild bear! We love you Ah Chong! Enjoy your new home! [kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/U4f102762CI" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
It is all happening. Both of our big boys are enjoying their forest enclosure.
All the hard works from every one finally pay off by seeing them in the forest enclosure. This is their story... [kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/U4f102762CI" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /] By SayLin Ong enhanced enrichments I am into my final week of volunteering in BSBCC. It definitely feels like time is passing by much too quickly. I am hoping to accomplish as much as I can in the remaining days before I fly home with Yuru. It is important to keep our mindsets in line with that of BSBCC. It is after all Phase 1 of the project now, and much needs to be done to prepare the bears for Phase 2. The aim is to empower the bears with the confidence to step out into the outside enclosures, exposing them to their natural habitat. In our first 2 weeks, good enrichment ideas were implemented, much credit to Mark and Yuru. Some of these devices are still being utilized by the bears. It is always an achievement to come up with enrichment devices that the animals do not get bored of easily. From now onwards, we will attempt to implement enrichments with specific goals in mind. 3 bears are of particular concern to us, namely Ah Chong, Bermuda and Manis. Ah Chong is a mature male, somewhat too comfortable in his den. He is definitely the heaviest of the 12 bears in the centre, almost always ground-dwelling, contrary to his species description. Upon being tempted by tasty bananas smeared with honey, his rare display of arboreal skills almost warrant a round of applause from all of us watching.  This here is an unflattering picture of Ah Chong’s rear. The problem with him is that he is curiously afraid of stepping out into the training enclosure, a big area meant for acclimatising bears to the outside enclosures. Our challenge is to try and coax him out, to let him know that everything’s alright outside his comfort zone. More details can be seen in Mark’s post @ http://matahari-bears.tumblr.com/post/644289648/chong-day-one. Today was the 2nd day using the same method for Ah Chong. He showed an improvement in response to the ‘stimulus’. It was evident that he was very frustrated, with both his best friend Om as well as the log stuffed with treats barely beyond his reach. He constantly looked out at Om, paced around impatiently and tugged at the sliding gates much to our amusement. We held our breaths every time he leaned through his doorway. Hopefully in the coming days, he will be tempted enough to venture out and stay out.  This here is Bermuda, showing off his powerful frame. He was practically in that position for at least 15 minutes trying to tackle his enrichment device. A simple concept designed by myself to encourage Bermuda to be more constructive. I was surprised that he didn’t destroy everything in minutes, the positioning might have made things difficult for him. Bermuda has the tendency to be reclusive, often not bothering with the leaves and branches that we provide in his den. After meals, he’d regurgitate and eat up the liquid expulsion repeatedly, a sign of boredom that captive animals display. I hope to provide enough enrichments to interest him and hopefully pry him away from his bad habits. He still went back to his rather unsightly habit today after last feeding, hopefully we’ll have better luck tomorrow.  Above: Bermuda seen from another angle, with us looking on in awe. We can clearly see how strong his muscles are, stretching from his arm to the neck area. Manis is a special little girl whom everyone has a soft spot for as well. She has the tendency to display the typical pacing behaviour that would make all caretakers worried. She was taken in from a zoo, probably one that did not provide much space nor enrichment for her, thus leading to her pacing behaviour. When she is not socialising with the rest of the females, she would usually be walking in circles in an anti-clockwise direction. It is heartbreaking to see that even her head is tilting in that particular direction while she circles. She also ranks the lowest in her group hierarchy, often not able to participate in enrichments provided to sharing.  This was the device Amanda, Mark and Yuru came up with, an adaptation from the Macaw enrichments back in Night Safari. We managed to confine her to a single den of her own, thus giving her a chance to enjoy her enrichment without competition from the other 3 girls. Manis was so occupied that she left her dinner half eaten!  She did however go back to her pacing habit shortly after. We plan to continue such enrichments for all 3 bears in the hope that they will respond better in time to come.
Posted May 30, 2010 at 12:24pm The trouble with hotwires.http://matahari-bears.tumblr.com/post/644289648/chong-day-one By Mark Rusli Conditioning captive animals requires a great deal of patience, as any experienced animal handler should know. Domestic animals are relatively easier - they’ve had decades of history working with humans. Sun bears? An entirely different ballgame. There are many factors involved when it comes to conditioning: you can’t force situations, for example, because that would destroy whatever trust and rapport you’ve established with the animal. And you also have to note that not all animals behave the same way: like humans, each of them have their own characters, and you need to approach them accordingly. Here’s a tricky situation we currently have: Chong refuses to enter the exercise yard because he was shocked during his first visit in there. He hasn’t associated the hotwires with the shocks yet, so he probably thinks some invisible lightning monster exists within the yard. The yard’s used to teach the bears about the hotwires, before they are exposed to the outdoor pens: these have fences secured with hotwires, in case the bears decide to make a break for it. In my opinion, I don’t think they’re really concerned about public safety if a bear escapes; it’s what the people will do to the bears that they’re worried about. So far, no tactic has been successfully employed to rid Chong of his fear. Today we roped in Om, Chong’s best friend to help us out. Om’s already learnt to stay away from hotwires, and he normally crosses the training yard to get to Om’s den where they have short wrestling matches.  We recycled yesterday’s enrichment that we used for the females, securing it inside the yard, complete with honey and mashed banana trails leading to it from his den. Chong showed a lot of interest, but he still kept his hind legs firmly planted inside his den:  We gave Chong about half an hour to make a decision, but with no further development, Om was then released into the yard:  Om, who had been watching these proceedings very closely, attacked the log immediately. The plan is for Chong to watch and learn from another bear that the yard isn’t that scary….. it’s just the hotwires. We’re going to repeat this for the next few days. Today’s results? Chong did a lot of watching, a little bit annoyed that Om was getting all the treats hidden within the log. We could tell fear still prevented him from venturing out, but with a little patience, he’ll get over it soon. (And hopefully it’s before I leave!) Sunday, May 30th 2010 1:54am ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chong, day two. I wish I could say Chong finally went out today, but it’s wistful thinking. Sometimes our impatient selves make unnecessary decisions to rush an outcome, but when it comes to animals you always have to constantly remind yourself that these are living things. Recklessness may cause you to move a few steps back, losing whatever you’ve already accomplished. Even worse - there’s a zoological term I heard before: a “lost cause”, which is self-explanatory. The animal completely disregards any form of captive interaction, and depending on the situation, the animal may even be euthanized. So today it was more of this:   What the pictures don’t express is his clearly increased agitation, as compared to yesterday. We did the same thing - gave Chong half an hour to decide if the assortment of treats hidden in the log was worth crossing the yard for, and then releasing Om, who stuffed his face in front of Chong.
Today Chong was banging at the race door, picking fights with Om, climbing all over his den….. you could clearly see his frustration. And it’s a postive sign, because he’s weighing his options and turning those risk-calculating gears in his head. I’m sure we’re going to get increasingly stronger reactions from him over the next couple of days. Monday, May 31st 2010 12:46am  Sun bear generally is a solitary animal in the wild. The only times when wild sun bears are not solitary is during the breeding season when male and female bears travel together for several days until mating takes place, and female sun bear with their cubs. These bear cubs can live with their mother for at least two years until they reach adulthood and are as big as their mother. Different male sun bears overlap their territory at a minimum level. They are territorial and defense their territory from other bears. Six out of the 7 adult male sun bears that I caught in the wild had bite marks and scars on their body especially neck resulting from severe fights with other bears. One male adult bear was known to kill a young female bear known as “Little one”, the sun bear that appears in the logo of BSBCC. Little one was a 10-month old female sun bear that was killed by a 3-year old male sun bear in the forest. The territorial and aggressive behavior of sun bear is a result of competition in a habitat where food is a limited resource and the male bears compete for access to female bears. Compared to other sun bear habitat in SE Asia, the rainforest of Borneo has the lowest productivity, which intensifies competition among the bear population. Sun bears are also known to be more aggressive to each other as compared to Asiatic black bears in captivity. Sun bears can live in groups in most captive situations where food is not a limiting resource and competition for mates is not an issue. However, the initial stage of integration or introduction of non-familiar bears can be the most stressful events that a bear can experience in captivity. In the wild, a bear can have the choice of interact with a strange bear based on environmental, familiarity, and safety conditions. In captivity, such choices may be limited.  At BSBCC, Om and Ah Chong are two male bears that we would like to integrate so that they can live together because we simply do not have enough enclosures for individual bear. This is the first integration for male bears at our centre and we hope the integration go well. We would like to pair them up as they have been live in adjacent cages for years with no aggression behavior in our old bear house and both of them have similar size. So finally on April 10th, we integrate them for the first time. This is what happen over the next two hours:
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/7bQ3m-Hr59o" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /] [youtube Om Chong http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bQ3m-Hr59o] The integration of Om and Ah Chong Today marked history of BSBCC as we are starting to move the 12 bears in the old bear house to the state of the art new bear house 1. Our plan today is to move Om, Ah Chong and Suria in the morning but the move have to delay because we have found a problem with the locking device of the bear den’s door in the new bear den during our final checking an hour before the move. Luckily, the issue has been solved immediately and everything went according to plan.  This is the last day for Jelita and Cerah to stay in their old bear house.  We start the entire procedure with Om, one of our three males bear in the centre. Om is a 5 year old bears who was confiscated by the Wildlife Department from private owner some 5 years ago. I have the privilege to witness his growth over the past 5 years and have been taking good care of him over the past 5 years.  We sedated the bears for the moving. We took this opportunity to perform a complete physical check on the bears. Om’s teeth showing a healthy adult tooth growth. The canines of sun bears are particular huge. In fact, their teeth is the biggest proportionally among all other species of bears.  The sun bear medical team. From left to right: Veterinarian Dr Cecelia Boklin from Sabah Wildlife Department who station at Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre and BSBCC, me, Annemarie from Animal Asia Foundation, and Maria from Oakland Zoo.  Dr. Cecilia and senior Ranger Elis taking blood from Om.  Om recovered very well after the sedation. It was very interesting to see how he carefully checked his new home by sniffing every single inch of his cage and genteelly tapped with his claws, just like aye-aye use their finger tapping on tree trunk to pin point the location of the beetle larvae.  The next bear we moved was Suria. A bit more than one year old, she is the youngest female bear in our centre, weighing 25 kg.  She had a wound on her body and Dr. Cecilia is treating her.  Volunteers Audrey and Howard come from Australia to help us documenting the entire process with video camera and still photo shots.  Suria’s front paw.  Suria’s hind paw. Is their feet human like or what??  Ah Chong is the last bear we moved today. He top the scale at 65 kg, the fattest bear in our centre and the biggest I have ever seen for the Bornean subspecies. He is just huge!  At the end of the day, Om manage to settle down in his new basket.  Like everyone who work really hard today, Om too was tired and sleep in his basket like a baby!  Suria also recovering well from her sedation and exploring her new home after she recovered from her sedation. It has been a very good day. 3 moved, 9 to go!
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