Peter is our returning APE volunteer
Peter is back in Sandakan again! Peter is our returning APE volunteer who has volunteered his time at BSBCC multiple times. The team and the bears are always happy when he is around. Thank you Peter for giving your time and efforts to helping us. We will alwayys welcome you with open arms.
Love, Barks and Big Bear Hugs!
Happy World’s Bear Day
Happy World Bear Day! Today is a special day for 8 different species of bears across the world! Let’s learn more about them and learn how to conserve them so that we all can live harmoniously on the planet we call HOME! @bsbcc #sunbear #bear #worldbearday #worldbearday2024 #beruang #beruangmadu #熊熊 #馬來熊
Enrichment for our handsome Linggam!
Our 6 interns from University Putra Malaysia, decided to choose Linggam to do their enrichment project for. They made a buffet of puzzle feeders to keep Linggam mentally stimulated the whole day. This cleverly designed enrichment challenges Linggam to work for his food, encourage his problem solving skills and engage his senses. It also offers a delightful way to mimic natural foraging behaviours.
Thank you to Wardah, Ain, Anis, Fadlin, Nadia and Stephanie for making this structure for our strong and handsome boy, Linggam.
Collaborating with UPM and UNIMAS for our sun bears’ health screening
Research plays an integral role in the conservation of the least known bear species, the Malayan and Bornean Sun bear. BSBCC is dedicated in the study of sun bears, both in-situ and ex-situ. Only with knowledge we can help saves the species from declining.
On the 26th February to 3rd March was a busy week for BSBCC vet and bear care team. The team showed high commitment and efficiency in the research sampling of all our 43 sun bears. The sampling procedure involved anesthesia, blood and mucosal swab collection, physical and dental examination, recovery monitoring, in house laboratory work, etc. We accomplished this sampling with great success in 5 days. All bears recovered well with no complication.
This research was done in collaboration with UPM and UNIMAS for the health screening of the captive sun bears. A big shout out to Dr. Nabila Sarkawi ( Sabah Wildlife Department), Dr Azalea Hani, Muhammad Farris and Azman Asmat (UPM), and Mr. Lim (Axir Medical) to lend us a hand in the sampling and laboratory procedures. We are grateful to Axir Medical that brought us the hematoanalyzer machine, to facilitate with immediate hematology analysis of the sun bears.
The sampling has been completed but the laboratory analysis of the diseases and blood profile have just begun. There is a lot of work to be done, but all this is worthwhile as this research can give a comprehensive overview of the health status, and hence impact on the health management of the captive sun bears.
Thank you also to all of BSBCC's donors; Yayasan Hasanah, Kementerian Kewangan and Yayasan Sime Darby for supporting our work here at BSBCC that has enabled us to provide the best health care for all our 43 bears:
#rehabilitation #bsbcc #sunbear #conservation
The Star - Brighter days for sun bears
An aerial view of the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC) in Sandakan. — Photos courtesy of BSBCC
A YOUNG Dr Wong Siew Te fell in love with the sun bears of Sabah when, as a 26-year-old Master of Science student of wildlife biology at the University of Montana in the United States, he first came to the state in 1998.
He observed and researched the elusive sun bears in the lush jungles and learned how they were a vital part of the forest ecosystem. It was love at first sight, so to speak.
Then came the horror.He saw massive deforestation, with huge trees being logged.
“In the logging camps, there were all kinds of hunting activities; bears were being poached and eaten, bear cubs were captured and kept as pets,” he said.
Then in 2004, he travelled across Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia to carry out a nationwide survey on captive sun bears.
The entrance into the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre
The experience was pure nightmare.
“The situation was really bad... many were being kept in captivity, in small cages in somebody’s home, in crocodile farms and in mini zoos.
“A bear was even kept in a mini zoo within a primary school. Their (sun bears’) situation was very sad. Some of their claws had been chopped off, some had become crazy,” he said.
“It was horrible,” said the wildlife conservationist, now 55.
One of the modern buildings in the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre
It was then that a fire began to burn in him to help free illegally kept sun bears and to do more for their welfare.
As a PhD student in 2005, he tried convincing some conservation NGOs to look into the plight of the sun bears but despite his dogged insistence, they were not interested.
This was when the idea of establishing a conservation centre for rescued sun bears started.
The Penangite went on to become the founder of the world-renowned Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC) in Sabah’s east coast Sandakan district. He opened the BSBCC, to date the world’s only sun bear sanctuary, on April 1, 2008.
Wong treating a sun bear at the centre
It was a huge task that came with big personal sacrifices and risks, both reputation-wise and financial, but it was a gamble he was willing to take.
“In the end, I said ‘I don’t care, I will have to do it myself’. I did not have much choice if I wanted to help the sun bears,” he said.
There was already a husbandry for sun bears at the time, run by the Sabah Wildlife Department, located in the Kabili-Sepilok forest reserve, next to the more established Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre.
But being a husbandry, it was hardly a sanctuary and the facilities were poor.
Wong said that with the help of Sabah-based NGO Land Empowerment Animals People (LEAP), he took over the husbandry, giving birth to BSBCC in 2008.
The Sabah wildlife and forestry departments are also partners in the project by being virtue of custodians of the some five hectares of land the centre sits on.
When he first took over, there was one old and leaky office building and rusting metal cages, with seven bears.
Now, the BSBCC has two observation platforms, a visitors’ boardwalk and proper bear houses, among others, costing somewhere in the region of RM10mil. There are plans to add more facilities.
There are currently 43 bears in the centre but a total of 69 have been rescued by wildlife authorities and sent to the centre over the last 16 years. So far, 12 have been released back into the wild.
The funds for the centre come from fundraising activities, from the Sabah government, the federal Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry and Sime Darby Foundation as well as local and international bodies and NGOs.
“We first opened for visitors to come in on Jan 16, 2014 so, those are some of the important milestones and fond memories,” said Wong, the centre’s chief executive officer.
He said they were happy with what they have achieved so far, including in raising the level of awareness on sun bears among the public.
Wong (right) briefing tourists on sun bears at the centre
“We have generally managed to stop the illegal keeping of sun bears in Sabah. We have also influenced other states like Sarawak and some in Peninsular Malaysia as well as in Indonesia and other parts of South-East Asia to rescue and enforce the law to help sun bears,” he said.
Wong hoped there will be no more crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic which severely hit the centre.
Wong (right) leading his staff on a mission to release a sun bear back into the wild.
“But there will be no failure for this long-term project. If Plan A doesn’t work, I will try Plan B and if that fails, Plan C and so on.
“This is how I have worked all these years. I believe that as long as I work hard, I will reach my goals,” he said.
It seems the sun bears have a bright future, thanks to Wong.
World Wildlife Day 2024
Happy World Wildlife Day 2024!
On this day, 3rd of March, we are celebrating the World Wildlife Day 2024 with the theme, "Connecting People and Planet: Exploring Digital Innovation in Wildlife Conservation".
Let's hear the words form Dr. Wong Siew Te , on how we apply digital innovation in conserving and rehabilitating the world's smallest bear species, the sun bear.
"We hope through the material and equipment we have in this digital world, we can help the wildlife even faster, effective and finally conserve them and ensure their survival in our forest for long term", Dr. Wong Siew Te, CEO and Founder of Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre.
#WorldWildlifeDay
#WWD2024
#ConnectingPeopleAndPlanet
#DigitalInnovation
#TechForWildlife