Every picture tells a story!

Text and Photos by Maryam Nashrah Binti Ahmad

My name is Maryam Nashrah Binti Ahmad. I came all the way from the University Putra Malaysia Bintulu Campus, to do my internship at BSBCC. It was a fun and exciting journey despite all the hardships I have been through.

BSBCC has taught me a lot of things. In this place I have been taught and been exposed to the awareness and the importance of wild animals in their natural habitat. They are not supposed to be kept, hunted or killed.

I’m so thankful to meet Mr Wong, the great man that risked his life in rescuing wild animals.

Wong Siew Te founded the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre in 2008 and is the drive behind the project.

​In this entry I would like to share about my experience when I was at BSBCC. Enjoy your reading!

"I am determined to help Bornean sun bears. The challenge is huge, and I cannot do this alone. I need help, support and allies. Every voice counts and together we can make a difference."   
Wong Siew Te, CEO & Founder of BSBCC

I hope with the establishment of BSBCC, that people will become more aware about the importance of this animal on Earth. Now, I would like to share about the pleasure of working at BSBCC!
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Every morning I prepared the porridge and fed the bears. Every bear has their own portion of food based on their specific requirements. So we needed to refer to the tabulated amounts of porridge that have to be distributed to the bears.

On our first week we were briefed about so many things. We were still curious about the sun bears and their own history which lead us to ask a lot of questions to the staffs of BSBCC, especially the Bear Keepers.

After we fed the bears we were divided into different places for different duty. Some of us would clean the cages in bear house 1 and bear house 2 and some of us worked in the kitchen.

For second feeding we prepared boiled eggs, vegetables and fruits. As an opportunistic omnivore, they eat food like watermelon, papaya, honey dew, banana, salak, pineapple, coconut, sugar cane, corn and sweet potato.

After we finished with our duty, we would follow the keepers to feed the indoor and outdoor bears.

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After lunch break we would make enrichment for the bears, with the guidance of keepers. Enrichment acts as their toys and it helps to reduce their stereotypic behavior. Different enrichment was given every day to the bears.

This was our activity on the second day of internship. We collected decayed logs, dried leaves and banana leaves. We even constructed new hammocks for them!
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That face we made when we were collecting decayed logs with Ronny and Mizuno

The day we collected dried leaves with Thye Lim.

Making a bamboo feeder for the bears! Mizuno taught us a lot about handling dangerous tools. Look! We were all sweating and muscul

This was the day that we went to collect termites in the forest together with Mizuno, Tommy and Ronny. Even though we look like we had no stamina, we successfully followed them. Just as Mizuno told us, “let’s do it for the bears”. Hahahahahaahaha.

I’m one of the sun bear crew! It was a wonderful experience for me when I got to share different knowledge with visitors. Although, there are still so many things that I need to learn.

This was the day that we worked on the platform with Nick. He taught us a lot about animals. Thanks Nick!

This is Fulung and Mary, which can be seen through the spotting scope prepared at the observation platform. Credit by: Lester Elis (staff BSBCC)

Twilight at Bjorn Hala

Here is the picture of my housemates. They were always patient with our jokes and loudness. Hahahaha! Thank you for taking care of us. We love you housemates! (Missing Kate Bond).

Million thanks to Thye Lim for his help and advice that he gave to us. He has been a good friend to us. InsyaAllah, we won’t forget that.

Selfie with David, the senior keeper, whom shared a lot of his experience with us

These are the staffs that always helped me when I was on the platform. (from left) Faironyntha Pius, Rebecca Kimlaw, Ernie Wahyuni, Lester Elis and Abdul Rahim.

Thank you to all, for giving me this opportunity and for the wonderful moments shared when working with you guys! I love you.