Part I: Story of the sun bear keeper
Text by Ng Wai Pak
It seems that the blog was silent for some times. Thus, I was told to write some bears’ stories in Sepilok while Wong is away for a while at the moment. Of course I am more than willing to share my experiences that I learnt from the bears with our dearest readers. Before I go any further, I think I should give a brief self-introduction to every one who read this blog. I am Wai Pak, from Perak, one of the states that located in West Malaysia. I have been followed Mr. Wong for one and a half year, worked as a field assistant under his Bornean Sun Bear and Bearded Pig Research and Conservation Project in Danum Valley Field Centre, Sabah.
In the end of April this year, I followed Wong to Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre where there are some bears keep in enclosures, (and also the place where BSBCC going to be set up). To be honest, for someone who does not taking care of any pets before, and now have to deal with sun bears, which are big carnivore with long sharp claws and canines, no doubt is a real big challenge for me! However, as I promised to Wong, I am willing to learn from the beginning. So, I will not give up easily without trying my best.
Thanks to the staffs in Sepilok, Mr. Elis and Mr. Rosley. With their patient and guidance, I managed to overcome my tedious period and now I am getting used to the daily chores in the existing bear house. Cleaning feces and making sure the cleanliness of the enclosures is one of the most important duties (although it is a shitty, sweaty and tiring job, I should admit). Each time I finished the cleaning, I feel so great as I know the bears can have a cleaner place to hang around. Preparing bear food is another interesting part in the bear house. Besides the essential food sources such as rice porridge and dog food, it is all depend on our creativity to prepare a delicious and balance meal for the bears. Hmm, I think this is a very big topic to share with you, so I decided to talk about it in the future.
I am glad that I am lucky enough to be given the chance to work with the sun bears. This is something that I have never worked before and it is absolutely a meaningful thing that had enriched my life. After three months living together with the bears, I have had built up a closer relation to every sun bears in Sepilok. We do have communications. They do not bark at me anymore compare to the first week I reached. I know we had build up trust to each other. Since this is my first post in this blog, I hope you enjoy reading and please kindly leave your comments or suggestions here. If you want to know more about the stories between our lovely bears and me, please wait for my next post: Story of the sun bear keeper part II.
