The Star - Freedom for Itam in the wild at last
KOTA KINABALU: The night was still. At exactly midnight, within the quiet confines of the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC), a team carefully loaded Itam, a five-year-old sun bear, into a metal crate, where her journey to freedom would begin.
For the first time in years, Itam was leaving her enclosure – not for another routine check-up this round, but for her real home.
Itam’s story began in June 2020, at the height of the global lockdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
When the world came to a standstill, Sabah’s forests saw an increase in poaching and illegal hunting.
It was during this time that a tiny, frail cub was found alone in an orchard located in Kg Kuala Sabinait, Nabawan.
She was weak, covered in dog bite wounds and far too young to survive without her mother.
The orchard owner, hearing his dogs barking, discovered her and took care of her for three weeks before realising she needed professional care. He then surrendered her to the Sabah Wildlife Department, a decision that likely saved her life.
At BSBCC, Itam relearned the instincts she lost – how to forage, climb trees, build nests and, most importantly, avoid humans.
Some rescued bears struggle with rehabilitation, growing too accustomed to people, but Itam was different.
“One of the best things about Itam is that she doesn’t like people,” said Nealbert Robert, one of her keepers.
“Even us, who have cared for her for years – she keeps her distance from. Unless we bring food, she wants nothing to do with us,” Robert said.
This natural wariness made her an ideal candidate for release.
As midnight approached, the team sedated her for a final health check, ensuring she was strong enough for the transition. Her tracking collar was secured, a crucial tool that will allow conservationists to monitor her movements in the wild.
Itam is the 13th rehabilitated sun bear to be released by BSBCC, marking another milestone in their ongoing conservation efforts.
Her destination: Tabin Wildlife Reserve, one of the last great sanctuaries for Sabah’s wildlife.
Spanning 1,200 sq km or slightly less than twice the size of Singapore, Tabin is home to wild sun bears, Bornean pygmy elephants and clouded leopards, among many others.
To ensure she was placed in the most remote area, a helicopter was chartered to transport Itam’s crate 23km into the heart of Tabin.
“We do this to give her the best chance of survival. The further away from human activity, the better,” said Dr Wong Siew Te, BSBCC’s founder.
Itam’s survival will depend on her ability to find food, establish her own territory and navigate a world she was born in, but one that she has never truly known.
The dense rainforest is filled with fig trees, a crucial food source, but Itam will need to learn how to locate them. She will also need to avoid other bears, as Tabin already has an existing sun bear population.
Itam tasted freedom at 11am yesterday, with her tracking collar providing data for the next 12 months to help conservationists track her movements.
The reality of wildlife rehabilitation is harsh – not every bear makes it, with Wong estimating that only 40% of rehabilitated sun bears survive in the wild in the long run due to predators, competition for food and the challenge of adapting to an unfamiliar environment.
However, as a biologist, he firmly believes that every effort should be made to ensure that wildlife belongs in the wild, free from human threats.
For the team at BSBCC, releasing a bear is never easy, especially after having watched over Itam since she was a cub and knowing they may never see her again.
“It’s always emotional to see them go. But this is what we work for – to see them return to where they belong,” said Robert.
