Text by Chiew Lin May
Photos by Tee Thye Lim and Chiew Lin May
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​The sun bear is the smallest and least studied of the eight bear species in the world. Unfortunately, the number of sun bears is declining. Their population has decreased by 30 percent over the past 30 years and they are listed as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The causes for this decline are illegal poaching, illegal pet trade and habitat loss, putting their future in jeopardy.​
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This study is supported by the International Association for Bear Research and Management (IBA), Lancaster University (UK) and Sunway University (Malaysia). This is a collaborative project by Sabah Wildlife Department, Sabah Forestry Department and BSBCC.


There are fantastic pictures which have been taken by camera traps during our sun bear study and we will keep you updated on more photos as they come!

http://www.traffic.org/home/2011/5/11/illegal-bear-bile-trade-rampant-in-asia.html
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Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 11th May 2011—Poaching and illegal trade of bears, driven largely by the demand for bile, used in traditional medicine and folk remedies continues unabated across Asia on a large scale, a new report by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, has found.

Bear bile products were found on sale in Traditional Medicine outlets in all but one of the 13 countries/territories surveyed says the report entitled Pills, Powders, Vials & Flakes: The bear bile trade in Asia (PDF, 2 MB). The exception is Macao.
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Products were most frequently observed in mainland China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Myanmar and Viet Nam, where they were recorded in over half of all outlets surveyed. The most frequently encountered products were whole bear gall bladders and pills—found in half of the outlets surveyed.

TRAFFIC’s research suggests a complex and robust trade in bear products. Several of the countries/territories surveyed were either producers or consumers of bear bile products, while in some cases they acted as both.

Mainland China was the most commonly reported place of origin for these products across the region.
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In Myanmar, internationally sourced gall bladders were reported to come solely from Lao PDR; in Hong Kong, in cases where the source was known, products were reported to have originated in Japan and over half of those offered for sale in the South Korea were from wild sources in Russia.

Domestic trade of bear bile is legal under strict regulation within mainland China and Japan but is illegal in Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam. Regardless of the legality of trade within countries, international trade is not allowed.

Asiatic Black Bears (predominant in this trade) and Sun Bears are both listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) which prohibits international commercial trade in the species, its parts and derivatives.
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An analysis of the origin of bear bile products found in these surveys makes it clear that import and export regulations are commonly flouted demonstrating a failure to implement CITES requirements to stop illegal international bear bile trade effectively and protect bears from exploitation.

“Unbridled illegal trade in bear parts and products continues to undermine CITES which should be the world’s most powerful tool to regulate cross-border wildlife trade,” said Kaitlyn-Elizabeth Foley, lead author of the report and Senior Programme Officer of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia.

The study found that the vast majority of the bear farms surveyed in Lao PDR, Myanmar and Viet Nam did not have captive breeding programmes, suggesting they depend on bears captured from the wild.

“The study makes a clear case for authorities to shut down businesses selling illegal bear products and prosecute individuals caught selling, buying, transporting or keeping bears illegally,” said Foley.

“Both the Asiatic Black Bear and the Sun Bear are threatened by poaching and illegal trade. The demand for bile is one of the greatest drivers behind this trade and must be reduced if bear conservation efforts are to succeed,” added Foley.
“Even legal bear bile producers are circumventing domestic and international regulations by exporting products internationally,” said Dr Jill Robinson MBE, Founder and CEO of Animals Asia Foundation, which rescues bears from farms in China and Viet Nam.

“This report, in addition to Animals Asia’s years of research, shows that the bear bile industry is engaging in illegal practices. As pressure mounts on the wild bear population, there are serious questions to be answered on the welfare and pathology of farmed bears, and the risks to human health in those who consume the contaminated bile from such sick and diseased bears,” said Robinson.

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Notes:
The study’s main findings are:
•    Bear bile products were observed in traditional medicine outlets in 12 out of 13 Asian countries/territories surveyed
•    Bear bile products were available at 50% or more of traditional medicine outlets surveyed in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Myanmar and Viet Nam.
•    China is the most commonly reported source for bear bile products
A short presentation can be viewed at:
http://prezi.com/y_mqfj2c8acx/the-bear-bile-trade-in-asia/
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For further information:
Kaitlyn Elizabeth-Foley, Senior Programme Officer, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, Tel: ++603 7880 3940, katiefoley7@myjaring.net
Elizabeth John, Senior Communications Officer, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, Tel: ++603 7880 3940, jlizzjohn@yahoo.com
Richard Thomas, Communications Co-ordinator, TRAFFIC. Tel: +44 1223 279068, email: richard.thomas@traffic.org

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN RA
What exactly a field biologist/research assistant (RA) does in the field depends on the nature of the research. When I was an RA conducting wildlife surveys in Taiwan, my typical field day would start early, before 5 AM. I’d prepare breakfast and a packed lunch at the camp site, arrive at the transects at dawn, and start recording all the birds that I saw and heard. After that, I’d check all the live traps I set the day before for any small mammals or service camera traps. After dinner at night, I would go out to look for amphibians and reptiles (yes, frogs and snakes!). Sometimes I was accompanied by other RAs or student; sometimes I worked alone.
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In 1995, I worked as an RA studying birds and bats in West Malaysian rainforest. We start the day at 6 AM opening mist nests in the forest before breakfast. We had our breakfast after all the mist nests were opened to catch birds. Then the rest of the day would be spent going around the net line (2.5 km long), bringing down the birds caught on mist nets, and putting coloured rings and bands on them. We would do this till dusk, then we would close all the bird nets and open the bat traps. After dinner, we would start to check bat traps and process the bats caught. After 12 AM, we would have our shower in the creek beside our forest camp. I was never alone when I bathed in the creek. With the faint light from my head lamp, I could always spot frogs and their predators – snakes, all around me!
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When I studied sun bears in Sabah, my day would start at 7 AM or earlier. We would start the day by checking bear traps. I ‘processed’ the animals, if we caught any target animals in the traps. If not, I tracked down a particular radio-collared bear with radio-telemetry equipment to study what these bears do. After dinner, I would be working with data, doing computer work and making preparations for the next day.
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“The rewarding part is when we’re able to send those bears back into the wild and see them start to reproduce and have a life back in the wild.”

ADVICE FOR ASPIRING CONSERVATIONISTS/WILDLIFE BIOLOGISTS
This field requires many people with different backgrounds and skills. Anyone can do it and get involved as long as they have the passion, which is by far the most important element, although a degree in a related field is an advantage. However, with internet becoming the main source of information these days, anyone can learn a lot from websites. They can get involved with conservation projects to gain the first hand experiences and broaden their knowledge.
Finally, never give up. Everything I am doing and have achieved today is all because of my stubbornness. I identified my course and stayed the course even if it seemed like Mission Impossible at first. We might take detours along the way, but as long as we work hard, we’ll get there.
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WILL I EVER GIVE UP WORKING WITH SUN BEARS?
No. This is it for me – there is so much work to be done especially in Malaysia, and sun bears are my focus, and has been my focus for the last 10 years. Eventually I’d like to work with conserving wildlife and also their habitats in Malaysia and Asia. It’s not going to be easy – it’s a big and optimistic goal, but this is what I want to do. If I can conserve a forest, I’ll do it. If I can save a species from extinction, I’ll do it. If I can change or influence someone’s opinion about conservation, I’ll do it. Life is short; this is my mission. To me, leaving a legacy for future generations to enjoy is worth my effort and worth my life.
 
YOU CAN HELP SAVE THE SUN BEARS!
There are several ways to help: Donate funds. All conservation projects require funding to conduct their conservation programs. You can support and donate funds to the Bornean Sun Bear Censervation Centre. For more information about the centre, visit www.leapspiral.org/new/content/project07.html or http://www.bsbcc.org.my/

• Spread the word:
  - Join the Facebook cause by going to www.apps.facebook.com/causes and typing in ‘Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre’ in the search box.
  - Follow us on Twitter (@BSBCC_SunBear)
  - Help us spread the word about BSBCC
  - Become a volunteer (E-mail wongsiew@hotmail.com for more information)
• Do not support the sale or trade of sun bear body parts. The sun bear is listed as a protected species in all countries where they are found. It is unlawful to sell, trade, kill, or eat sun bear body parts, and to keep sun bears as pets. Report to the authorities when any of these unlawful activities are encountered.
• Refuse to purchase products made from tropical hardwood, or purchase only certified timber products that were harvested sustainably. Sun bears are forest dependent species. They rely on the tropical forest for their survival, but these forests have been harvested to meet the demand for the tropical timber market.
• purchase only palm oil products labeled RSOP to reduce impacts on wildlife and environment. Over the last 20 years, much of the tropical rainforest in Malaysia and Indonesia has been converted to monoculture oil palm plantations to meet the ever-increasing oil demand from the world. The impact of this land conversion is great and irreversible. A Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSOP) initiative has been created to produce sustainable palm oil.
• Help us promote sun bear conservation and spread awareness of their plight. Learn more about sun bears at http://www.bsbcc.org.my/ and tell your friends about them.

Have you seen a sun bear building a tree nest? I bet you have NOT!
Many people not even know about sun bear or seen a sun bear, let alone seeing one of them making a nest high on top of the trees.

Here is a rare opportunity of a lifetime to see a radio-collar sun bear building a nest in the rainforest of Borneo.

Don’t blink and please hold your breath until the end of the video.
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/Vs8wrLqWsWM" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]  

​Tree nest
Sun bears in the wild make nest on tree and sleep on these tree nest like orangutans. However, nest building behavior is more common in forest where human disturbance is higher and large terrestrial predators like tigers, and leopards are presence. It makes sense for sun bears to make such tree nest and sleep on high on tree, some as high as 40 meters (128 feet) because it is much safer and dryer on top of tree. These nests usually consist of a pile of tree branches and twigs that are band over from the surrounding centered at a tree fork that close to the main trunk. The diameter of these tree nests ranges from a 1 to 2 meter. Unlike orangutan nest, sun bear rarely snap branches or break branches close by. I still lack of evident that they reuse these tree nests, and believe that they construct new nest every time they need one because wild sun bears tend to wonder a large range, unless there are important food resources available like a fruiting fig tree in the forest. Under this situation, sun bears tend to hang around the area until the food resource is depleted and they have to move on to forage for food. Although the metal baskets that we provide for our captive bears are very different from the natural nest, these bears still love them because these baskets give them a dry, safe, and cozy bed.

You can read more about the nest building behavior in my earlier blog:

http://www.bsbcc.org.my/bear-talk-blog/part-i-how-do-sun-bears-sleep-in-the-wild​

It all begins at the fall of 1989 when I first came to Taiwan from Malaysia to continue by college education. I recalled it was the second day of my college life in National Pingtung Agriculture College when I saw the poster of Bird Watching Club (BWC), posted at the notice board of the 1st Restaurant, announcing its first meeting of the semester and recruitment for new members. The poster caught my attention because of the word “Bird”. At that time, I never knew there was an activity call “bird watching”. What I did know about birds was keeping cage birds for amusing or bird singing, the hobby that I have been doing for few years at that time-keeping and breeding birds. The first impression after seeing that poster was “what a COOL student club!” As always, the first feeling toward something is always the right of choice: I am going to join them!

In 1994, I quitted Pei’s lab and further continue my education majoring in Wildlife Biology at University of Montana, USA. It was considered as a “difficult task” for many people from ordinary Asian family. The same year, I met my then future academic advisor, Dr. Christopher Servheen, who was looking for a Malaysian student to conduct an ecological study on sun bears. I took the challenge and later became a mission. In 1998, I stated the field work for my M.Sc. project, studying the ecology of Malayan sun bears in Danum Valley, a lowland rainforest of Borneo. For the first time, the study revealed the mysterious life history of this little known bear and many ecological aspects of Bornean rainforest. The study did answered what I plan to answer at the first place. However, it also generated a series of desperate questions and urgent needs to do more conservation and research works for sun bears in Southeast Asia: sun bears remain the least known bears and one of least studied large mammal in Southeast Asia. Their habitat, the lowland tropical forest, is disappearing at alarming rate due to illegal and unsustainable logging, human development, and large-scale conversion to agriculture land, especially into oil-palm plantation in Malaysia and Indonesia. ​

The conservation history of Taiwan has come from a long way from a country where the word “conservation” and “animal welfare” never seem to exist about 20 years ago when I first came to Taiwan, to a conservation model country in Asia. Like my own experience in conservation, it all begin from bird watching and the efforts of “bird people” growing big and strong. I am honored and proud to be a family member of Bird Watching Club, which celebrates her 30th anniversary last year. Today, bird watching no longer simply a “watching birds” activity. In stead, it has become an important starting point to promote conservation, improve environmental quality, and conserve wildlife and wildlife habitat. So next time when we do bird watching with a pair of binoculars or a spotting scope, make sure that we see more than just the birds in the scope. We should see what lies beyond the pretty birds; we should see the wildlife habitats, the environment, and future of their kind and our own kind and how can we do to bring a better future for ALL of us! Lastly, we all should take actions accordingly. We have only one planet, one life, and one time to make things right.
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Please join me. Together, we can make a difference!

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​To sun bear researchers,

I hope you all agree with me that research on sun bears is seriously lack behind many endangered species and time is running out for sun bears as the habitat and the animal itself are declining in an alarming rate.

Sun bear still remains the least known bear in the world. Over the past few months there have been several students and researchers in Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia contacted me about their plans to study sun bears. This is very good news for all of us who love this animal so much. Over the last 10 years I am one of the very few people who studying sun bear in the wild. Thus, I am so happy to see the change now, as many of you want to study sun bears! I have been in contact with most of you and answered questions and help you with all of the resources I have individually. I am very happy to help you all in whatever way I could.

However, because some of you are studying the same aspects and may have similar questions on your study, I think it is time and good for us to help each other by SHARING information and resources. I strongly believe that this is the way to help our understanding on this species without showing selfishness on individual studies but to open up our heart to seek the best information on sun bear that will eventually aid the conservation and research on sun bear in SE Asia. Therefore, I started a discussion group on “Save the Sun Bear” at http://borneozoology.ning.com/group/savethesunbears.

This site http://borneozoology.ning.com/ is started by Dr. Tajjudin Mohd from University Malaysia Sarawak, in the hope of providing a space for students, teachers, zoologists, etc., to discuss topics of their interest in zoology, biology, ecology and anything that we are interested with. So please join us and start the discussion, NOW.

As usual, I will try to answer your questions with all the resources that I have. I also invite Gabriella Fredriksson and Robert Steinmetz, who also spend a lot of time studying sun bears and other bear biologists to join the discussion to give you the best answers and helps for your study and projects.
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So this is what you should do:
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1) Go to http://borneozoology.ning.com/, then click join us, sign up to be a member,
http://borneozoology.ning.com/main/authorization/signUp?
2) I would like you to tell us about yourself as much as possible: what university or institution, NGOs, level, program, and what is the main focus of your study.
3) You can share any photos of your study and interest to make people know you better.
4) Then you join the “Save the sun bear” group and start the discussion. Feel free to post questions on any of the existing discussion topic, or create your own if you think of one. Gabriella, Rob, or me, will try our best to answer your questions.
Hope this is clear. What I hope to achieve in this site is to have all of the sun bear researchers feel like a big family where we all helping each other, comparing notes and data, sharing information, etc., to help our studies on sun bear that will eventually help saving the sun bears!

Beside Gabriella and me studying sun bear in the wild in 1998-2001, the third student who studied sun bear at the same time was Fuyuki Nomura. Fuyuki was a doctorate student from Hokkaido University, Graduate School of Environmental Science, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. He studied sun bear ecology and sun bear usage of oil plan plantation at Tabin Wildlife Reserve, eastern tip of Sabah. Among three of us, Fuyuki caught and radio-collared the first sun bear in Borneo in early 1999 and successfully caught 2 males and 2 females sun bears for his study:

Nomura, F., S. Higashi, L. Ambu, and M. Mohamed. 2004. Notes on oil palm plantation use and seasonal spatial relationships of sun bears in Sabah, Malaysia. Ursus 15:227–231.

The first scientific paper on sun bear was not published by any three of us who were studying sun bear in the wild in late 90’s. It was a paper published by Kim McConkey in 1999 describing how sun bear play an important role as seed disperser in Bornean rainforest. Kim was at that time doing her doctorate dissertation with University of Cambridge, in rainforest of Barito Ulu, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia Borneo.

McConkey, K., and M. Galetti. 1999. Seed dispersal by the sun bear Helarctos malayanus in Central Borneo. Journal of Tropical Ecology 15:237-241.
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Another important scientist who contributes important publications and one of the very first publications on sun bear in late 90’s and early 2000’s was Erik Meijaard. Although he did not really study sun bear like Gabriella, Fuyuki and me, Erik has been very productive on sun bear publication and has long interest in sun bear and other large mammals in Southeast Asian mammals, especially Indonesia such as orangutan, bearded pigs and many others.  He is a senior ecologist for The Nature Conservancy in Indonesia and the Kalimantan coordinator for the USAID-funded Orangutan Conservation Services Program. He publishes the monthly newsletter Forest Science News and frequently writes for newspapers and scientific journals. 

Meijaard, E. 1998. The Malayan sun bear (Helarctos malayanus ) on Borneo, withspecial emphasis on its conservation status in Kalimantan, Indonesia.
International MOF Tropenbos Kalimantan Project and the World Society of the Protection of Animals. London. 51pp. 

Meijaard, E. 1999a. Ursus (Helarctos) malayanus, the neglected Malayan sun bear.Netherland Commission for International Nature Protection. Mededelingen No.34. 62 pp. 

Meijaard, E. 1999b. Human imposed threads to sun bears in Borneo. Ursus 11:185-192. 

Meijaard, E. 2001. Conservation and trade of sun bears in Kalimantan. In: D. F. Williamson and M. J. Phipps (eds). Proceedings of the third international symposium on the trade in bear parts. pp: 26-37. TRAFFIC East Asia, Hong Kong.

Meijaard, E. 2004. Craniometric differences among Malayan sun bears (Ursusmalayanus); evolutionary and taxonomic implications. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 52:665-672.


​To be continue..  

I was holding a radio-collared male Formosan Reeve’s muntjac at Little Ghost Lake Forest Reserve  some 2000 m above sea level. I was about to release this muntjac or barking deer after our aborigines guide caught him and I fitted him with a radio-collar. The study was the first radio-telemetry study of this species in the mountainous forest of Taiwan. It was the beginning of my life working in the forest and working with wildlife. The project pretty much changed my life and career. From then onward, I was doing nothing but to study wildlife and working closely with wild animals for the following 16 years until now. 

I know what you are thinking. Yes, it was me in the photo!

Looking back at my long list of resume, I was young once, doing what I love and doing what I believe to be the right thing to do. 
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You can read more about the study at:
McCullough, D. R., K. C. J. Pei, and Y. Wang. 2000. Home range, activity patterns, and habitat relations of Reeves' muntjacs in Taiwan . Journal Wildlife Management 64(2): 430-441.

Today is already the first day of December 2008. Sun bear still remains the least know bear in the world. Almost everyone know about bears. They know polar bears, grizzly bears, American black bears and giant pandas because these are the bears that they seen in the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, National Geographic Channel, movies, advertisements, bill board, news articles or any kind of mass media you can think of. A small portion of the people know Andean or spectacle bears from South American, sloth bears from India, and Asiatic black bears from Asia. However, only very few people know about sun bears. This is a sad fact.

One of the biggest reasons for sun bear remains so little known is the lack of biological studies on this species. Until now, there are only 3 ecological studies that involved trapping and radio-collaring of wild sun bear in the world. One of them is my study base in Danum Valley Field Center and Ulu Segama Forest Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo. I did my Master of Science (MSc) project on studying the ecology of sun bear from 1998 – 2000, and then continued the study, by looking at the effects of logging on sun bear and bearded pigs for my doctorate degree.

Here are lists of publications with PDF from my M.Sc. studies:

Masters Thesis: 

• The Ecology of Malayan Sun Bears (Helarctos malayanus) in the Lowland Tropical Rainforest of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo.  153 pp.

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Publications: 

• Wong, S.T., C. Servheen, L. Ambu, and a. Norhayati.  2005.  Impacts of fruit production cycles on Malayan sun bears and bearded pigs in lowland tropical forest of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo.  Journal of Tropical Ecology 21:627-639. 13pp.  
• Wong, S.T., C.W. Servheen, and L. Ambu.  2004.  Home range, movement and activity patterns, and bedding sites of Malayan sun bears Helarctos malayanus in the Rainforest of Borneo.  Biological Conservation 119:169-181.
• Wong, S.T., C.W. Servheen, and L. Ambu.  2002.  Food Habits of Malayan Sun Bears in Lowland Tropical Forests of Borneo.  Ursus 13:127-136.

Other publications, reports and articles from my sun bear works: 

• Wong, S.T. 2006. The status of Malayan sun bear in Malaysia. Pp 66-72 in Japan Bear Network (compiler). 2006. Understanding Asian bears to secure their future. Japan Bear Network, Ibakari, Japan 145 pp.
• Wong, S.T and C. Servheen.  2007.  Sun Bear and Bearded Pig Research and Conservation Project: 4th Progress Report.  16pp.
• The Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leaders, Wong S.T. & Gabriella Fredriksson.  2006. Sun Bear Adventure Journals. EWCL. 34 pp.

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The second person who studied sun bear and know more about sun bear than anyone on earth is Gabriella Fredriksson. She is the co-chair of the sun bear expert team of the Bear Specialist Group/IUCN, has been working for many years on sun bear conservation issues in Kalimantan, Indonesia and has been involved with the development of the first sun bear education center in the region.

Currently Gabriella is assisting with the redesign of forest and conservation management for the province of Aceh (Sumatra), in a team established by the Governor of Aceh. Aceh with 3 million ha of contiguous forest has probably the most viable habitat and populations of sun bears and many other threatened species in Indonesia (orangutans, elephants and tigers).
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I found this newspaper article written some 10 years ago when she first attempted to reintroduce 5 adult sun bears into the wild: “In Borneo's Fading Jungles, a Grim Tale of Wildlife.”

Here is a list of her publications on sun bears:

• Fredriksson, G. 2005. Predation on Sun Bears by Reticulated Python in East Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. 53: 165-168. 
• Fredriksson G. (2005) Human–sun bear conflicts in East Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. Ursus, 16 (1): 130 - 137. 
• Schwarzenberger, F., Fredriksson, G., Schallerc, K. and Kolter, L. (2004) Fecal steroid analysis for monitoring reproduction in the sun bear (Helarctos malayanus). Theriogenology, 62: 1677 - 1692. 
• Fredriksson, G.M., Danielsen, L.S. and Swenson, J.E. (2007) Impacts of El Nino related drought and forest fires on sun bear fruit resources in lowland dipterocarp forest of East Borneo. Biodiversity and Conservation, 16 (6): 1823 - 1838. 
• Fredriksson, G.M., Wich, S.A. and Trisno. (2006) Frugivory in sun bears (Helarctosmalayanus) is linked to El Niño-related fluctuations in fruiting phenology, East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 89: 489 - 508.
• Tumbelaka, L., Fredriksson, G.M. 2006. The status of sun bear in Indonesia. Pp 73-78 in Japan Bear Network (compiler). 2006. Understanding Asian bears to secure their future. Japan Bear Network, Ibakari, Japan 145 pp.
• Fredriksson, G., Steinmetz, R. 2007. Bear sign survey training course- Phnom Tamao & Bokor National Park, Cambodia. 23rd – 27th April 2007. Unpublished report.