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The launching of the Art Exhibition and Coffee Experience fundraising event for the sun bears took place today at 3pm at The LUMA Hotel, Kota Kinabalu. Dr. Wong, Mr. Alan Wong (Executive Director, The LUMA Hotel) and Wayne Liew Executive Director, Crack Inc.) gave their respective speeches to the audiences present which included partners, friends, supporters, media, social media influencers, and the artists that contributed their talents for the event. A total of 5 paintings were sold today and we hope to see more visitors to the art display at The LUMA Hotel during the next few days. The exhibition will continue until the 4th December 2022. We would like to take the opportunity to thank The LUMA Hotel and Crack Inc. for exclusively adopting our sun bears and the amazing efforts to make this event happen. Not forgetting all talented artists that have contributed their time and efforts to produce stunning sun bear themed artworks for this event. Proceeds from each artwork sold will be contributed to the BSBCC.
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We are glad to be part of the North Borneo Rainforest Festival 2022. The two-day event that was held at Heritage Village Phase II, Sabah State Museum, gave us the chance to raise public awareness on nature and wildlife conservation as well as introduce BSBCC's efforts on conserving the world's smallest bear, the sun bear. Activities were done to introduce the sun bears to the public, such as a talk about BSBCC from Dr. Wong Siew Te, booth exhibitions, wildlife face mask colouring, quizzes, and a forest animal magnet card. Other than that, there are cultural arts activities, musical performances, and traditional food trucks that promote the diversity of Sabah's culture and nature. It’s been a busy week for us this week as we have received big group visits 2 days in a row after our outreach programme to SK. Nunuyan last Monday. These group visits are Girl Guides group, SK. Simpangan group and SMK Telupid group. The Girl Guides group consisted of 223 pax that were not only from Malaysia but also from Philipines, Sri Langka, Singapore, Cambodia and Maldives. SK. Simpangan and SMK Telupid groups consisted of 53 and 34 pax of students and teachers, respectively. The groups are given a short briefing about our Centre, followed by a guided tour to the observation platform to observe the rescued sun bears in their natural forest enclosures. We are honoured to receive these group visits as they travelled from distant locations just to experience the nature and wildlife. We are also glad that we can spread the word about our efforts to save sunbears and raise their awareness about nature and wildlife conservation. We hope they had a great time here and gained new knowledge about sun bears and their habitat. Thank you! #schoolvisit #bsbcc #savesunbear #beruangmadu On the 19th October 2022, BSBCC organised a Wildlife Conservation Awareness and Education Programme to Kampung Bambangan, Sandakan, which lies at the vicinity of Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve. This is the first programme of such organised by BSBCC targeting the community, and more will be coming soon. The programme aimed to reach the community living near to forest reserve to raise the awareness on conservation and providing a platform for state departments, NGOs and related agencies to exchange information on relevent issues. The programme was preceded by a school outreach programme in SK Bambangan, targeting the school students and teachers in the morning. A total of 187 students and 17 teachers reached in this programme. At the same time, community members and students were visiting the exhibition booths prepared by BSBCC, Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD), HUTAN-Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Programme (HUTAN-KOCP), Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre (SORC), Orangutan Appeal UK, Tropical Rainforest Conservation and Research Centre (TRCRC). This was followed with mini sports games to foster good relationship between the community and the organiser. At night, the community attended talks given by Sabah Wildlife Department, TRCRC, HUTAN-KOCP and BSBCC. An estimated number of around 150 community members attended the talks (exceeding the expected number!) with several issues related to wildlife conflict and legals were discussed. With this, it is hoped that the issues were clarified for suitable future actions and will lead to a better environment for human, wildlife and nature. BSBCC would love to extend the biggest gratitude to Ministry of Finance (MOF) for the funding of this programme and all the participations from state department, agencies, NGOs, Kampung Bambangan's Development and Safety Committee and SK Bambangan in making this programme a success. Thank you! As part of our efforts to raise public awareness about sun bear conservation, the BSBCC Environmental Education Unit organised a Wildlife Conservation Awareness and Education Programme in October for schools in Sandakan District together with Sabah Wildlife Department, HUTAN-Kinabatangan Orang Utan Conservation Programme (KOCP), Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre, Orang Utan UK Appeal and Seratu Aatai. Today, we reached out to the first school, which is SMK Tinusa. Educational booths were set up, with activities such as presentations and mini-games were done to spread awareness about nature and wildlife conservation to the students. #environmentaleducation #awareness #wildlife #conservation #sunbear #bsbcc A big thank you to the lovely hearts of Harper and Evy, who did fundraising to support BSBCC. They have visited BSBCC in the past summer and since then, Harper has decided to do fundraising to help BSBCC in her town, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA. Harper and Evy set up a booth during their school carnival, named "Kisses for Sun Bears." They sold little bags of Hershey's Kisses for a donation to the sun bears and educated people about the Bornean Sun Bears. They have raised about $542 USD (2513.53 MYR) and are donating the money to BSBCC. Dear Harper and Evy, Thank you for your generous donation to support BSBCC. We are very grateful to have the young fundraiser like you. People like you are such an inspiration to all. They say that money can’t buy you love, and that’s a fact. However, you have shown your love through your donation. Thank you for creating a way to help the sun bears.    International Sun Bear Day 2022 has been a success! The celebration was informally started two days before with the mask coloring activity with the children coming to BSBCC starting from 14th May until 16th May, followed by the Zumba Dance Fundraiser on the 15th May. On the 16th of May, the event was formally launched with the opening speech from Yayasan Sime Darby Excellence Scholars and followed by a virtual tour from Dr. Wong Siew Te. The tour was filled with interactive Q&A session between Dr. Wong and the audience, sharing them with stories and personal experience about the sun bears with the emphasize on the event’s theme, “Healthy Forest, Happy Wildlife”. At the same time, Sandakan Vocational College students were doing paintings based on the event’s theme. Soon after, the Kahoot Quiz was carried out by the YSD Excellence Scholars, testing participants comprehension about the sun bears. The birthday celebration and cake cutting ceremony for Dr. Wong’s birthday was done shortly after the lunchtime. It was indeed a memorable moment for Dr. Wong, whose birthday coincided with the release of Natalie back in 2015, in which the first Sun Bear Day was celebrated in 2017 to commemorate Natalie’s release. After the ceremony, the students were guided by the Bear Care Unit to create enrichment for the bears. The enrichment consist of ginger leaves tied tightly with vines and dipped into a solution of shrimp paste, producing a strong smell to attract the bears. The students got the chance to see the bears enjoying their treat by throwing the enrichment into the forest enclosures. The event wrapped up with the announcement for the winners for the essay, story telling, and the painting competitions, personally announced by Dr. Wong. We would like to thanks to Life Water Industries Sdn Bhd, Sepilok Jungle Resorts, Sepilok Nature Resort and Sabah Hotel for sponsoring the Zumba Dance Fundraiser and Kuwait Finance House Berhad for sponsoring the tickets for Malaysian kids coming to BSBCC during the past three days from 14-16th May 2022, and not forgetting all the participants and all parties involved in making this event a success. See you guys again next year! In conjunction to the International Sun Bear Day 2022, BSBCC collaborated with Fay's Studio, a local Zumba Dance instructors group to fund raise by organizing Zumba Dance at Sepilok Multipurpose Hall. The event was sponsored by Life Water Industries Sdn Bhd (known for the local K2 Mineral Water product), Sepilok Jungle Resorts, Sepilok Nature Resort and Sabah Hotel. The dance event, led by Mrs. Fay De Vera and several other Zumba instructors and coaches manage to gather 180 participants around to enjoy an energetic 2-hours of almost-non-stop dance session. In the end of the day, the event is a success, thanks to all parties involved. See you all on the next international Sun Bear Day! Text By Seng Yen Wah Photos By Jude Ailton George, Julamih bin Jainuddin & Seng Yen Wah  Our little Luna is growing up! Luna is a captive-born sun bear cub born on 20th May 2021 in BSBCC. Her mother, Bintang, is a seven year old adult female bear. On day 8, we noticed that Luna was less active than had previously been observed. After a quick check, we found Luna had a low body temperature, severe ear injuries and a skin infection. Due to this, we decided to separate Luna from her mother. We started to hand raise her and she only weighed 0.353kg at this time. After eleven months of day and night care, she had finally grown to weigh 18.85kg ! Luna has come a long way. We take Luna for a walk in the forest every day, where she learns and acquires skills. Luna shows her bear instinct and great potential like a wild sun bear. At the same time, Luna also has a deep bond with her surrogate mothers (cub keepers). And hence, we started introducing Kipaku, Itam, Betung, and Kukuton to Luna, as they could be her companions later. In the wild, sun bears are mainly solitary. However, integration can encourage positive behaviour in bears as they learn from each other.  “Who’s behind the door?” - Luna It was not easy for Luna because that was the first time Luna had met other bears. Kipaku, Itam and Betung are sub adult bears. But three of them have different personalities. As a result, their friendship turned into a different outcome.  Itam, Betung and Kipaku can’t wait to meet their new bear friends!  "How do I say hello?" – Luna  Kipaku Kipaku is the youngest male sun bear in BSBCC. He is a playful and cheeky bear. He likes to wrestle with others, and he always wins with his size and weight. When Kipaku first saw Luna, he was full of curiosity and chased after Luna. But his excess passion makes Luna feel he is rough which Luna does not like. When Kipaku plays with her and she will continue growling and huffing. Kipaku would initiate a play fight with her by sniffing, chasing, soft biting her but she cannot stand any of them. So there is always a chase and a run happens every time they meet.  Itam Itam is the largest but friendliest bear in the group. When we first started integrating Luna and Itam, Itam showed her interest in getting to know little Luna and was always looking for and sniffing her. She approached Luna tenderly. However, Luna began to greet Itam, pawing at Itam's face several times. But Itam remained patient and tried to get close to her. But Luna is too shy and ran around to avoid Itam.  Betung Betung is a curious and observant bear. She likes to observe what is happening around her. But Betung is not keen on playing with others. So when she met Luna, she just came over and sniffed her, then she started to explore the environment and enrichment. As a summary of the story of Luna making new friends, Luna prefers to be alone. She does not mind being around others, but it is okay to leave her alone. Her friends are getting to know her more and more, so they will give her space, and carry on with their own businesses. Sometimes they also get naughty with Luna. When Luna does not want to put up with that, she would warn them and stay away from them. Luna may need more time to make new friends. Perhaps, one day she can become good friends with them.  Bear with Luna and give her some time to figure out how to make friends with others. As well as Luna making friends with Kipaku, Itam and Betung,Kukuton also joined the group. Here is the story about Kukuton. Kukuton is a seven years old adult male bear. From 2015 to 2019, he was kept as a house pet in Kampung Taginambur, Jalan Belud, Ranau in Kota Belud. The owner claimed that she wanted to save Kukuton from being sold, and she had no intention of keeping him as a pet, but, as she was busy with her family, it took her four years to hand Kukuton over to the authorities. During that time, Kukuton was confined in a small cage. He was officially handed over to SWD on 13 September 2019. She paid the fine two years later when she admitted the offence under the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 and was fined RM15,000 rather than be jailed for four months. Kukuton arrived at the BSBCC on 8 January 2022. Compared to his age, his body is small. He weighs just 18kg. The prolonged captivity has led to Kukuton exhibiting self-inflicted stereotypic behaviour. Integration is best for Kukuton to help reduce this negative behaviour. This is because the best enrichment of a bear is another bear.  Kukuton has shown a positive side in making new friends. He was usually timid and stayed in the corner, but he bravely took a step to get closer to others in the integration. He approached the others slowly and carefully. Kukuton can often be seen sniffing the others secretly. He usually starts to play fight with others. But the way he plays is rough, and only Kipaku could hold on. Sometimes, Itam and Betung also join the fight. As the days passed, the others slowly embraced him. And now, he seems to get along just fine with everyone else.  “Will they like me?” - Kukuton  Kukuton is wrestling with Kipaku. It is a "boy" thing!  Have fun with Itam, it gives Kukuton on a big smile  Sniff, sniff, sniff Betung. So lovely to see Luna and Kukuton finally have a group of companions. Luna and Kukuton can now be seen wandering around in the exercise pen with Itam, Kipaku, Betung. Their integration is fantastic. Now, they share their historical moment! We hope they will grow and learn all together. They are not too far from the next stage of the rehabilitation programme in the bear house. They are absolutely looking forward to moving to the bear house soon and seeing the forest again!
Text & photos by Seng Yen Wah  The story begins from... One day, a person found a bear cub alone in the forest at Kg. Kipaku, Tambunan. He was just three months old. The person sent him to Lok Kawi Wildlife Park on the 12th of April, 2018 and he arrived at BSBCC on the 22nd of January, 2019. This cub was named Joe. When he arrived he was in a healthy condition. He is four years old now. Due to the long periods of being kept in captivity, Joe appeared tame and attached to humans. He suckles his hind paws when he requires attention and does it more frequently when he sees humans. When kept in captivity, wild animals cannot behave as they do in the wild, leading them to develop negative stereotype behaviour. Fortunately, Joe meet Logan and Romolina and they grew up together. This has been important for Joe to help him recover from trauma, put his past behind him and reduce his stereotype behaviour. From the beginning, Joe was a shy bear. Logan is the playful bear who always takes the initiative to play fight with Joe. Once they start to play, they can be playing non-stop! Compared with Logan, Romolina seems less interested in joining their play. Sometimes she will play too, and it is entirely up to Romolina. Integrating with Logan and Romolina enriched Joe’s life. He is no longer alone and now has friends! Joe has become open and clear. He knows how to make friends with others. Now he takes the initiative to play fight with his playmates. Joe has a good personality bear and is always tolerant of others.  Integration with Logan and Romolina enriched Joe’s life. Joe has friends now!  Joe and Logan are foraging together.  “Joe, wake up! Time to play!” - Logan On the 30th of April, 2019, Joe took his first step into the forest with Logan and Romolina. It was the first time Joe saw the forest outside. He was hesitant and afraid to go out. After the keepers encouraged him with treats he slowly explored the forest. He has adapted well to his forest home and has made good progress slowly learning and developing the skills needed for survival in the wild. Joe seems to know how to enjoy the forest’s life. He spends most of his day foraging. He searches every corner of the forest so that he never misses out on any food. After being busy foraging, he will choose a place to rest and sunbathe! Any place will become his favourite place to sunbathe. He likes to cover up his face when he rests. Even though he is covering his face you still can easily spot him!!  This is the first time Joe has stepped his foot outside.  He explore the forest slowly.  Joe is playing with soil.  Joe adapts well in the forest.  Joe is so good at foraging. He searches every corner of the forest so that he never misses out on any food.  After a busy day, why not take a nap?  Enjoying life in the forest.  It is heartwarming to see Joe is improving every day. He is always bright and alert. With his kind character and innocent eyes, Joe can easily grab your heart. We hope Joe will gain more skills in the forest and become like a wild bear.  |
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