Launch! Discussion group for sun bear researchers!
To sun bear researchers,
I hope you all agree with me that research on sun bears is seriously lack behind many endangered species and time is running out for sun bears as the habitat and the animal itself are declining in an alarming rate.
Sun bear still remains the least known bear in the world. Over the past few months there have been several students and researchers in Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia contacted me about their plans to study sun bears. This is very good news for all of us who love this animal so much. Over the last 10 years I am one of the very few people who studying sun bear in the wild. Thus, I am so happy to see the change now, as many of you want to study sun bears! I have been in contact with most of you and answered questions and help you with all of the resources I have individually. I am very happy to help you all in whatever way I could.
However, because some of you are studying the same aspects and may have similar questions on your study, I think it is time and good for us to help each other by SHARING information and resources. I strongly believe that this is the way to help our understanding on this species without showing selfishness on individual studies but to open up our heart to seek the best information on sun bear that will eventually aid the conservation and research on sun bear in SE Asia. Therefore, I started a discussion group on “Save the Sun Bear” at http://borneozoology.ning.com/group/savethesunbears.
This site http://borneozoology.ning.com/ is started by Dr. Tajjudin Mohd from University Malaysia Sarawak, in the hope of providing a space for students, teachers, zoologists, etc., to discuss topics of their interest in zoology, biology, ecology and anything that we are interested with. So please join us and start the discussion, NOW.
As usual, I will try to answer your questions with all the resources that I have. I also invite Gabriella Fredriksson and Robert Steinmetz, who also spend a lot of time studying sun bears and other bear biologists to join the discussion to give you the best answers and helps for your study and projects.
So this is what you should do:
1) Go to http://borneozoology.ning.com/, then click join us, sign up to be a member,
http://borneozoology.ning.com/main/authorization/signUp?
2) I would like you to tell us about yourself as much as possible: what university or institution, NGOs, level, program, and what is the main focus of your study.
3) You can share any photos of your study and interest to make people know you better.
4) Then you join the “Save the sun bear” group and start the discussion. Feel free to post questions on any of the existing discussion topic, or create your own if you think of one. Gabriella, Rob, or me, will try our best to answer your questions.
Hope this is clear. What I hope to achieve in this site is to have all of the sun bear researchers feel like a big family where we all helping each other, comparing notes and data, sharing information, etc., to help our studies on sun bear that will eventually help saving the sun bears!
