RESCUE BEAR 63

KIPAKU
AGE: 5 Month Old

SEX: Male

MEANING OF NAME: Named after the village he was rescued from.

HISTORY: A local resident claimed to have found him wandering alone around the forest fire area that happened a few months ago. He was believed to have been left orphaned and homeless after the fires. He was taken as a house pet in Kampung Kipaku, Tambunan. The villager decided to surrender him to the Sabah Wildlife Department’s Wildlife Rescue Unit on 16th July 2020 and he was sent to BSBCC on 18th July 2020.

PERSONALITY: He is the youngest male bear at BSBCC. When he first arrived at BSBCC, Kipaku appeared dull, with dry hair on his coat and weighed only 7.1kg. Little Kipaku has stolen our hearts with his beautiful chest mark. Stolen from the wild, growing up alone and being kept as a pet has made him habituated to the presence of humans’ which means a lot to Little Kipaku. He will bawl and growl when there are no people at his side.
 
Kipaku is settling into the quarantine dens and receives round-the clock care. His personality has begun to emerge! We found out that Kipaku has strong wild instincts – foraging, climbing and defense skills. We are minimizing the number of caretakers to reduce the habituation to human contact and to keep his wild behaviours. He will decide what to venture during the day - exploring and playing with the enrichment items that have been placed for his enjoyment. He has a deep love for digging and tearing! He will spend time digging and tearing dead logs for ants, and for FUN too! He is a grub eater and has a peculiar way of foraging for his food! He enjoys eating tasty ants, mealworms and milk. He is a great climber; going straight up onto the climbing structure to get a great view and digs till he creates a hole. A sign that he is feeling better and learning to be a bear again! He will never miss a mock fight with his surrogate mother - he is testing his strength! He is a baby and will vocalize his feelings. He always keeps himself busy BUT starts to become grumpy when he feels uncomfortable with something!
 
We will start taking him out for walks in the forest in order to give him a chance of a better future and to train him for return to the wild. Whether on the climbing structure to build up his arboreal skills, exploring dead wood to forage his own grubs or in the swimming bucket to stay cool, Kipaku will slowly gain the confidence and strength to develop the skills necessary to survive on his own in the rainforest home.