Integration Chin with the Adult Female Bear Group

Text and Photos by Chiew Lin May

Chin was rescued from the Tawau district where she was kept at the primary school’s mini zoo. On October 20th, 2014, we relocated Chin to our BSBCC bear house to join a gorgeous group of bears. We started to introduce Chin to other female adult bears so that they can live together. Integrating sun bears is a helpful process through which the bears can develop and learn pertinent skills for survival in the wild.  We hoped the integration would go well.

Chin was introduced to the adult female bears which included Susie, Kuamut, Tokob, Cerah, Jelita and Lawa. Because it would be too overwhelming for Chin to meet all six sun bears at the same time, one by one introduction was started for the first seven days. Through the expressions of Chin’s behaviour, she could not wait to play with other female bears. Five of the female bears were very pleased to have a new playmate, inquisitively sniffing and offering a friendly paw to Chin. Chin is very playful bear! A few months on, they continue to enjoy and learn to understand each other better, and no aggression was noted. They would play chase, climb around and share enrichment with each other. Their friendships blossomed.

Here are couples of photos shows the integration Chin with the other female adult group.


Integration Chin with Cerah

Chin (back) was so excited and she like to displayed a "dancing move" to her friends.

Cerah showed dominance over Chin !!

Integration Chin with Jelita

Jelita (front) tried to show Chin (back) that she has the strength too !!

After tired of play, finally Chin can lying down on ground floor to rest.

Integration Chin with Lawa

Lawa (back) started to accept Chin's (front) presence. Both of them play happily!

Chin (right) sniffed on Lawa (Left) and was very curious.

Integration Chin with Susie

First met with Susie!

All of the strong claws and canines were showed up during the play fight.

Integration Chin with Kuamut

Say "Hi" to Kuamut!

Tired from play fight, both had a rest and were gasping for breath.

Taking rest first! They spends the day with chasing, rolling and play fight together without aggression behavior.

However, Tokob did not welcome the newcomer. Tokob’s reaction toward Chin was very strong, growling and barking on a defensive way. Tokob has a very strong sense of curiosity, but maintains her distance around Chin. Tokob is very alert, and demonstrates a bit more dominance than Chin so we will have to be patient while this integration unfolds. We will continue to monitor these two bears until we are certain that they are good playmates and we will keep you updated on their progress!
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Integration Chin with Tokob

Chin was climb upside down and aware when Tokob did not show interest on her.