Logan In The Forest
Text and Photos by Seng Yen Wah
Logan is the youngest male cub (estimated eight months old) that we have here at BSBCC. He was found, abandoned near Lokan River, Kulu-Kulu Village in Sabah. He was surrendered to the Sabah Wildlife Department and sent to BSBCC on the 19th of May, 2018. Once Logan was found, it was evident he was missing his left thumb which left his front paw disformed.
On the 7th of June, 2018 Logan first ventured out into the forest. He is so excited and alert with the surroundings. He is following behind his caretaker and explores around the forest slowly. Our caretakers have brought him out to the forest for just over two months now and he is becoming more at ease with the forest. Logan is no longer following behind but leading the caretaker where they should go that day. If he starts heading back when caretaker is not following his pace, Logan will even try get the caretaker’s attention to take him somewhere else.
A wild animal will always have their wild instinct. Logan has performed well in the forest day by day through his growth in climbing, digging and foraging skills. He has proved his foraging skills through finding many different types of invertebrates, just in one day, including ants and termites! Ants and termites are the most important protein source for sun bears in the forest. He is an expert at finding the termite nests mound; Logan will start by destroying the termite mound, digging into the nest and then consuming as many as possible. Logan is playing his part by being a forest doctor and maintaining the termites and wildlife, keeping the trees safe healthy.
Logan is a great climber. He can climb up to 4 to 5 metres. He is an explorer. He will try out every possible tree branch in order to climb a tree and practice holding his balance, even though he does fail often. It is said that, “Practice makes perfect”, which we can see Logan continuing to do, in order to perfect his climbing skills. Logan is a playful and naughty bear. He loves to climb up to the top of a small tree, so that he can bend the tree down to reach the forest floor. The tree is not the only thing that he loves to climb, with his favourite thing to climb being the lianas.
Logan seems to enjoy being in the water. He knows how to easily find the water and loves to soak his body with the water. Before he goes into the water, he will check and take a look at the water level at the stream side. He will not enter the water when it is too high, as sometimes it is even taller than him! Nonetheless, he attempt to search in another site that will have water ponds or a river for him to enjoy. Soaking his body in water is a must for Logan, for every time he is in the forest. On days that it rains, Logan will become hyperactive with pure enjoyment; water is a simple pleasure that could make a bear happier in the forest.
Many people will ask what a sun bear will do when encountering another animal: Logan has encountered with the macaques before and immediately became alert as well as slightly insecure. He ran to the surrogate mother, which is a natural for a bear cub wanting to get protection from the mother bear. He stayed close to the caretaker and checked the surroundings as he remained close to his surrogate Mother. He gave a warning bark to the macaques when the individuals would come close, as he felt threatened and will try to retreat from them again.
Logan is thriving daily, with his improvement becoming more and more evident. He is more confident in the forest, which is key for the rest of Logan’s journey here at BSBCC. We hope this is the start of the road to Logan’s freedom and eventual reintroduction back into the forest. This is the biggest hope for a bear, to be reintroduced back to their real home where he belongs.
Programme at Politeknik Sandakan
On the 12th September, 2018 our Environmental Education Unit visited Politeknik Sandakan, located four miles from Sepilok, Sandakan. The targeted students were from the Nature Club. The program included sun bear talk, quizzes, and video show. We were pleased to see that the students really enjoyed the program and showed their eagerness by asked a lot of questions about sun bear.
Our huge thanks to Madam Joanna, head of Nature Club Politeknik for the invitation. We are looking forward to meet this group again for their community-service responsibility (CSR) at BSBCC.
A Small Pace to Begin
Text by Ng Kang Yew
Photos by Chiew Lin May & Seng Yen Wah
Hi I'm Ng, a typical Malaysian who lives in a big city known as Petaling Jaya, and also working as landscaper.
Many of my Friends used to travel out of the country to enjoy their vacation time and explore new places. As our leave is so limited, no wonder most of us like to spend this precious time to take a leisure tour and take fancy photos. Hmm. But me, I was looking for some different. What if I was able to contribute some of my time towards helping society? Wow. A hero dream huh? With this idea in mind and great opportunities in front of me, I came across the Sun Bear Programme.
I'm not that strange to Sun Bears as a I have visited ones before in a local zoo. The memory of them is still very vivid; a little sun bear put in a bare steel enclosure and he is all alone. This was my very first experience with a Sun Bear.
Back in Nov 2017, my friend and I come across an eco film fest in Publika, where we had the chance to watch a film from Dr. Audrey as well as talk to her afterwards. She suggested for us to have a look into the Sun Bear Centre, and yes, both of us signed up to the program.
“Do you have a chance to cuddle or pet the Sun Bear?” I believe this question will always be the top pick QnA for every single volunteer who wants to work with Sun Bear Programme.
Unfortunately, it is a no within this Sun Bear Programme to have contact with any of the bears both for volunteers, and even permanent staff in the bear house. We give no chance to have any body contact with bears. This measure is not cruel, but back with a very solid reason. These bears are meant for wild. Therefore, it will be more appropriate to leave them alone, to learn and be independent and free from human disturbance. We are not to build relationships with bear, who are meant to be released back to wild once they are fit and ready.
What we experience in the Sun Bear Centre is amazing. You have no idea how the staff dedicate their time and effort to ensure this little fragile bear, is eventually able to live within their natural settings and teach them the basic skill to sustain their life in the wild. From day one, we are already asked to remember those tricky names for each bear. You know what? For me they all just look the same. And to be honest, I couldn’t even recognise each of the bears until the end of the programme.
As a volunteer, you should honour yourself as a bear carer. You not only clean their poop, wash the cage, prepare the food, feed them with dedicated diet meal as if you were a mum, you also have to make them enrichments ,or so pet toys, that aim to enhance their skill and stimulate their natural behaviour. The satisfaction that arises when the bear starts to explore and play with your enrichment, is tremendous. And you can tell they are happy with it. I got my opportunity to make two enrichments for the bears and it feels amazing when these bears spend time with your enrichment. Their cuteness will sure dissolve your heart.
The staffs over the Sun Bear Centre are awesome too. You sure do get entertained by them because they will pop out with many spontaneous jokes in no time and thus lighten your days. They have been so helpful the whole time as well. If there are any questions and assists needed, they will help you selflessly. There are too many stories to share and I really am thankful for everything they have done for us to make us as part of their family.
So, will you spend your next vacation for a cause? You choose it.
Ng Kang Yew
Sandakan district Pre-Schools visit
School visits from three Pre-Schools (SK Batu Putih Baru, SK Sg Pertanian, and SK Merpati) around Sandakan district of Sabah to BSBCC this morning, 6th of September 2018. The school children were accompanied by their teachers and they were given a short introduction on Sun Bears, with Sunny our Sun Bear mascot before having a closer look on the real Sun Bears from our observation platform. We hope they had a great time here and gained new knowledge about the Sun Bears, and help us spread the awareness while sharing their experience to their friends and family. ;)
EERace 19
Environmental Education Race (EE Race) is an annual programme held in the Heart of Borneo (HoB) districts in Sabah. It is a brief course for teachers around Sabah, organized by Rainforest Discovery Centre (RDC) under the Sabah Forestry Department and together with many government and non-government organizations. The aim of the programme is to provide first hand experience in environmental issues, especially in HoB areas; featuring 80% outdoor activities, participant-centred learning, group effort, and interesting environment-related assignments. This time around, the focus is given to teachers who are Assistant Principles of Curriculum in schools around Sabah.
This year on 5th of September, EE Race 19 once again chose BSBCC as one of the pit stops for their race. At BSBCC, the participants were given a pre-assignment where they were required to guess which animal is the Sun Bear. After that, they were given a short presentation on the roles of BSBCC and its efforts in Sun Bear conservation. Then, bears were observed from the observation platform. Their next task was to test participant creativity and team work in creating enrichments (Ginger leave balls and Paradox sticks) using only natural materials. The final task was to get inside of one of the rescued bear's empty cages and act like a bear. The purpose of this activity is to allow the participants to experience how it feels when bear welfare is not provided. Before ending their activities in BSBCC, the participants were asked to answer a Kahoot quiz to test their understanding on the entire activity they had experienced as related to the four main objectives of BSBCC - Welfare, Conservation, Education, Research.
It was great to see how cheerful the teachers were and how much fun they had with the activities. We look forward to the next EERace!
State Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment of Sabah Visit to BSBCC
BSBCC was honored to host a visit from Deputy Chief Minister YB Christina Liew, from the State Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment of Sabah and delegates to the Centre on 3rd of September 2018. During the visit, short briefings and introductions were delivered by our CEO and founder of Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, Dr Wong Siew Te. A quick tour to the BSBCC’s viewing platform to observe the Sun Bears and to the damaged platform were enjoyed by all. Thank you for visiting us and we hope that the visit can help us to promote BSBCC and to spread awareness.
Conservation Outreach Programme at IOI Unico 1 Estate
An outreach programme was carried out at the IOI UNICO Plantation, Lahad Datu region on 2nd and 3rd September 2018. The programme was organized by IOI UNICO and Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in partnership with Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, Wildlife Rescue Unit and HUTAN-Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Programme.
The programme aims to raise awareness on protected wildlife in Sabah especially orangutans among plantation communities. Activities carried out highlighted guidelines when encountering with orangutans, list of protected wildlife in Sabah, and importance of conserving the environment.
This was also a great opportunity to share BSBCC's work in sun bear conservation among estate managers and workers and why it is important to conserve sun bears. A sun bear introduction activity with school kids within the plantation was also carried out. A total of 116 plantation managers and workers as well as more than 250 school kids participated in the programme.
