A not so tiny Tenom
Tiny Tenom is not so tiny anymore!
Tenom currently weighs 12kg! From a mere 4kgs when first arriving here, she was a shy but playful bear. Today, she is a confident bear who enjoys challenging her keepers when play fighting. She is a great climber with monkey-like skills (We think she was a monkey in a past life) and definitely does not like sharing her food or toys with others (Yes, we get it! You’re a princess Tenom). Tenom is full of energy and as she is growing bigger, her keepers sometimes have a hard time keeping up with her. However, the efforts her keepers give to do so are impeccable!
Lately, we have been trying to introduce various fruits and invertebrates to Tenom and keep it as close to what a wild bear’s diet would be. She is not used to the new taste, smell, or textures but does enjoy rubbing the new foods all over her body! Her favourite solid foods at the moment are any type of invertebrates (i.e. ants, termites, beetles, pillbugs). Her keepers would hide them around her cage and she has a blast foraging for them.
Today we tried giving her a local fruit called Jackfruit. It has a very pungent smell and sweet-tasting flesh. It didn’t take long for Tenom to find the hidden fruit with her keen sense of smell but instead of eating it, she’d roll around in it. Within a couple minutes, she is covered head to toe in sticky Jackfruit juices! Even though she hates sharing her things, she still likes to keep close to her keepers while eating or rather ‘playing’ with her food.
We are getting closer to the day Tenom goes to Tabin Forest Reserve. Our Tabin Sun Bear Research Project team members are working hard to ensure the project runs smoothly and is ready for Tenom’s arrival. Big thanks to our sponsors and supporters – Yayasan Hasanah, Kementerian Kewangan and Yayasan Sime Darby for giving us a fighting chance to provide a better life for Tenom.
Tenom when she first arrived with a body full of scabs and only weighing 4kgs! It has been an honour seeing her grow into the beautiful confident girl she is today.
At 12kgs, she is a healthy and active sun bear! Loves to climb, dig, and forage. Soon she will be able to do all that in the forest where she truly belongs.
A different array of fruits and invertebrates for her to try. A delicious buffet to any other resident sun bear at BSBCC but to Tenom a bunch of weird-tasting, smelly things.
This independent girl opens the Jackfruit on her own and sees whether she likes it or not.
Tenom: "Seems like a fun toy!"
Keepers: "Hmm..”
