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Text by Chiew Lin May Photos by Dawn Serene Tukalan, Gloria Ganang, Tee Thye Lim and Chiew Lin May Last year 5th November, a tiny female sun bear cub named Damai, meaning “peace” in Malay, was brought to the BSBCC. She was rescued from a residential area in Damai, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. When we first received Damai, she only weighed 5kg and was about 4 months old. She has been in the BSBCC now for an entire year, and just turned 16 months old. Over the past year she has grown extremely fast. When Damai turned five months old we began taking her out into the forest for walks. She was extremely curious about her new forest environment, and began to explore. Despite the fact that she has very small paws, she has used her keen sense of smell, and other thriving abilities, to explore the forest as a wild sun bear. Last 5th November, 2012 a tiny female sun bear cub named Damai, meaning “peace” in Malay, was brought to the BSBCC. She was rescued from a residential area in Damai, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. When we first received Damai, she only weighed 5kg and was about 4 months old. She has been in the BSBCC now for an entire year, and just turned 16 months old. Over the past year she has grown extremely fast. When Damai turned five months old we began taking her out into the forest for walks. She was extremely curious about her new forest environment, and began to explore. Despite the fact that she has very small paws, she has used her keen sense of smell, and other thriving abilities, to explore the forest as a wild sun bear. She roams around the forest foraging for food including termites, beetles, larva, and other forest invertebrates. When she is not searching the forest floor for food you can find her high up in the trees sitting, resting, or escaping the danger of predators below. On July 30, 2013 Damai surprised us all when she built a nest in her favourite tree! The surprising part was that she built the nest without ever being taught by a mother bear. I felt very fortunate that I had the opportunity to watch how sun bears build their nests in trees. Day after day, Damai demonstrated good progress in building her strength and developing the skills that she would need to survive in the wild. Every time we walked her in the forest we could tell she was becoming braver, more independent, and was enjoying the forest more and more. When Damai reached one year old we stopped walking her out into the forest due to potential safety hazards. However, we continued to walk her through the rehabilitation process which included introduction to natural foods, such as termites, tractor millipedes, pile millipedes, and local fruits. We also introduced her to activities that simulated natural behaviors such as digging, foraging, and climbing. She has definitely not forgotten her skills from the wild! Damai is very sensitive to new people though, and remains very cautious of unfamiliar people. Damai is a lovely sun bear cub and a clever little girl. She is remaining active, eating fruits and vegetables, and enjoying her daily playtime with the enrichment provided by our bear staffs. She’s actually enjoying eating a bit too much, and is becoming a bit tubby. Here are couples of photos shows Damai digging, climbing tree, playing, sleeping at the Kabili- Sepilok Forest Reserve. We may never know the fate of her mother, or Damai’s mysterious true story, but we are glad she is now under our care. We will keep on observing Damai, both physically and behaviorally, with hopes that one day she can be released back where she belongs.
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