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“It definitely was a perfectly cozy day for my Tuesday sunbathe time!” ❤️ The warm weather makes Kipaku ready to take a nap in the forest. There are many who still want to destroy their forest for their own greed.Please take a stand to protect the remaining rainforest! Follow the link to learn more about sun bears and our work here: https://www.bsbcc.org.my
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Day 166: A guardian of this little bear! She is one of the survivors of the illegal house pet whom lost her mother since in young age. Sun bear cubs remain dependent on their mother for 2 to 3 years. She was weak and vulnerable and in desperate need of our help. After 5 months of the rehabilitation process, Little Betung is fulfilled in the forest home! She enjoys learning the life in the forest - enjoyment of lives with many small pleasures! Slowly, she realized that nothing bad was going to happen to her anymore. She is now a happy, well-adjusted bear cub. She requires lifelong care and deserves a future that will be a bright one. To make her dream a reality –buy a special gift (nutritious food, health care, enrichment treats & love). Please be a guardian of this little Betung! You are made a world of difference for her! To buy a GIFT - https://www.bsbcc.org.my/gifts-with-meaning.html
Morning dip, anyone? Little Kipaku enjoying a dip on a sunny day. He always will stop by and take a dip in his chilly stream. "Despite the many important functions that sun bears serve, their long term survival in the wild depends on the continuous existence of natural forests” –Dr Wong Siew Te Sun bears play a vital role in maintaining the forest ecosystem – fruit seeds dispersal, nutrient cycling, and termite pest control. But their forests are under threat from illegal logging and the expansion of palm oil plantations. We need to act fast before this magnificent wildlife disappears from our planet. Let’s protect our forests so we can save their life and ecosystem. Adopt Little Kipaku 💚 Find us: Website: https://www.bsbcc.org.my/
Subscribe to the newsletter: http://www.bsbcc.org.my/newsletter Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sunbear.bsbcc Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bsbcc Twitter: https://twitter.com/BSBCC_Sunbear Day 153: Agenda of the day – Be a “Forest Doctor”! The feeding ecology of the sun bear is “opportunistic omnivorous”. Little Kipaku act as a “Forest Doctor” that helps control the forest pests such as termites. He keeps busy by digging and tearing dead log in search of yummy termites. He has an exceptionally superb long tongue which is used for extracting termites! Today, Kipaku turns 10 months old and weighs 19.50kg. Video by Chiew Lin May Day 108: It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas 🎅 "Dear Santa, I love having a little cozy forest filled with branches, honey bees, tall trees, and termites! I am so excited for Christmas!” –Little Betung It is going to be her first Christmas! Text & Photos by Chiew Lin May Wildlife traffickers are breaking away at the dwindling populations of Sun bears that have pushed these smallest bears to the brink of extinction. Keeping a sun bear as a pet is illegal in Malaysia. Little Betung is one of the victims of illegal pet possession. She was rescued at the age of 5 months old. She had been found by a villager’s dog in an orchard at Kampung Betung, Ranau district in April 2020 and was kept in a tiny chicken mesh cage – in unfamiliar surroundings with no one to comfort her. She would have spent the rest of her life behind metal bars. During the rescue, she had severe malnutrition, was growth stunted, weak, and had a skin problem. She weighed just 1.4kg. Thanks to the Wildlife Rescue Unit of Sabah Wildlife Department, Betung was saved and brought to a new home at BSBCC. Such a young cub needs special attention since she survives the trauma of being snatched from her mother. We did not give up and knew that a miracle will come to bring this bear back to being a healthy bear. Her appetite has come roaring back as well. Her balanced diet consists of a combination of milk, fruits, vegetables and vitamins. With her nutritious diet, she not only gains weight, her hair is also starting to grow! She now weighs 7.45kg. The chart below shows the growth curve of Betung as a cub (updated 01 December 2020). A real reward, slowly she began to make good progress and a steady recovery. She grows sweeter every day and is becoming more energetic and active. On September 5th 2020, she is relearning to be a wild bear – getting a second chance at life! She lacks the skills to survive in the forest because she was separated from her mother when she was far too young. During the ‘walk bear cub’, her surrogate mother will guide Betung during the development stages and teach her how to survive in the wild. Betung learns how to do and practice every day. Betung now lives a free and happy life like she would have had in the wild. 3 months later, she has made excellent progress in the forest. Little Betung will use her strong claws to dig into soil to search for tasty snacks such as the trace elements or decayed logs in search of termites. She has plenty of opportunities to forage naturally. She is always enthusiastic about exploring new things around the forest and will lead us the way through her favourite trees! She is picking out some favourite spots. She shows to us she is an arboreal bear! She loves climbing tall trees and travelling through the lianas. She finds the bigger trees to hug! This will help strengthen her muscles. She looks incredibly excited. She is perfectly suited to life in the forest! Sometimes she will be cheeky towards her surrogate mothers. She loves blind play fighting, running or rolling about on the forest floor! She keeps up her adventurous and playful behaviour. We will let the photos speak for themselves! Throughout her life, Betung has only known a world of trauma. Love and patient care has given Little Betung the confidence and bravery she needs. The round-the-clock care will help her to survive from the trauma she has been through. She has realised she is safe and no one can hurt her again. The transformation we have seen in Little Betung has been simply amazing! Go Betung Go! It will be a long road to recovery and she is slowly putting her past behind her. We all need to do everything we can to keep them safe. Little Betung can be adopted here: https://www.bsbcc.org.my/share-bear-adoption-thanksgiving-and-christmas-special-promotion.html
Video by Chiew Lin May Day 93: Being able to be an Arboreal bear! Sun bear is the smallest and most arboreal bear. They have unique adaptions for their arboreal lifestyle: large paws, naked soles and long, curved claws that aid them in climbing trees. They spend most of their time in trees. Little Kipaku is a very active sun bear who enjoys climbing trees. The first time he was taken to a strangler fig tree he climbed as high as he can- there is nothing like it! Just look at the cheeky look in his eyes! You can read his full story on our blog https://www.bsbcc.org.my/bear-talk-blog/category/kipaku.html
Show some love by ADOPT Little Kipaku today and help us give him the life deserve here https://www.bsbcc.org.my/share-bear-adoption.html Every action helps enrich their lives. Find us: Website: http://www.bsbcc.com Subscribe to the newsletter: http://www.bsbcc.org.my/newsletter Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sunbear.bsbcc Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bsbcc Twitter: https://twitter.com/BSBCC_Sunbear Text and Photos by Chiew Lin May Sun bear cubs are extremely adorable. The rescued bears we have received were taken from the wild and became victims of the illegal pet trade. To obtain the cubs, their mothers are usually killed before their young are snatched. Kipaku’s story begins from a lifetime of being a house pet. Kipaku had been kept for three months by a family in Tambunan, after they claimed they had found the cub wandering alone around the forest fire area. He was fed with fried fish, milk and rice – an inappropriate diet! The owner decided to surrender the cub to the Sabah Wildlife Department’s Wildlife Rescue Unit on 16th July 2020, and he was sent to BSBCC on 18th July 2020. Kipaku quickly adjusted to life in his new home. Kipaku’s health is improving gradually. He now weighs 10.60 kg. Sun bears of his age in the wild would be reliant on their mother, but he has already lost his mother and his home. Without his mother’s guidance, the chances of survival in the forest are slim. Here in BSBCC, the first step of rehabilitation for Kipaku was starting a daily forest walk with a surrogate mother. On the 6th of August 2020, Little Kipaku got a second chance to learn as a wild bear. He found the courage to set his paws on the forest floor! His surrogate mother will accompany and assist Kipaku to develop his survival skills, the knowledge he needs to thrive in the wild and ensure he receives the best possible care. During the walk, daily behaviour and ecology is recorded. We found out he has strong instincts – like climbing, resting high up in the tree canopy and looking for wild food. He remembers tall trees and rivers! He is quickly practicing the skills and is exhibiting good natural behaviour which he has not known since he was stolen from the wild as a cub. But there was some concern with Little Kipaku, is he too habituated to human presence. Sun bears are being susceptible to poachers upon release. Therefore, cubs will be exposed to minimal contact with humans during the rehabilitation process. Sun bears are opportunistic and will eat almost anything – small vertebrates, termites, earthworms, larvae and their eggs. He has an incredible sense of smell. Once he locates his favourite grubs, he will quickly use his claws to tear open tree bark then slurps out the food using his long tongue. Every day has a new tree bark to satisfy his curiosity! He can spend hours in a day foraging on the bark. He is very smart! He is always keen on trying out new things. He will check out every corner of the forest. Kipaku loves to snack on soil too – high with mineral nutrient! Being the youngest male bear at BSBCC, he enjoys getting into mischief and exploring around - beginning his new life where he really belongs! It is important to keep him psychologically and physically fit. “Climb, climb and climb higher!” – His most favourite activity when he is in the forest! He is an agile and tree loving little bear! He shows confidence when he climbs! He has strongly curved, pointed claws and naked soles – adaptations to the arboreal lifestyle. He is busy in the canopy searching for food. Sometimes, he does not care whether the tree branches can support his body weight. He just climbs through the branches and munches on leaves or tears the tree bark. When he misjudges a branch which snaps under his grasp, he will quickly grab it or fall to the ground. He can perform a full range of natural behaviour. Doing what bears do…!! He is free to do whatever he wants –FREEDOM! He enjoys rolling around and taking a nap in the forest canopy. He will stop by the river for a swim.  First time step on river- Learn Swim!  Whew! Take a DIP in the river to beat the heat! After a few weeks of outings, he has become more and more adventurous and active. He has left his past behind and continued to develop his forest skills during the forest outings.  An entire day of joyous - Climbing trees, Explore, Tearing tree barks, Digging wood and Sleep on a tree!  So excited he can practicing his survival skills in the forest - he miss his forest home!  Little Kipaku is ready for the life he was meant to live! The little bear is doing so well. It is remarkable to watch Little Kipaku explore free into the depths of the jungle. He certainly has the instincts for a future in the wild. Please keep fighting to stop poaching and the illegal wildlife trade. Let them stay where they belong to – the wild! 
Video by Chiew Lin May Save sun bear. Save the Forest Ecosystem. The little things in bear life that give us so much joy and love. Let's learn the important ecological roles of sun bears in the forest ecosystem. Video by Chiew Lin May Remember her? A three months old female bear cub was rescued by someone nearby Maliau Basin with the intention of saving her then surrender to the Sabah Wildlife Department. Since her arrival, she has stolen our hearts. Pet trade is one of the threats to the sun bear. Kala had a rough start life stolen from the wild. Check out this video what Kala is trying to speak out. Kala and her friends need your help to give them a brighter future – a future with a pot of honey, a healthy diet, love, and medical care that they can get their paws on! Please consider a donation to help give the care of one sun bear today. Please share her story! |
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