I am blessed to have been able to work with sun bears and manage the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Center for the past 12 years. Fast forward a few decades where he is currently the proud CEO and founder of a sun bear conservation center in Sabah, the only center in the world that focuses on the welfare of the Bornean sun bears.
Group Visits
It was a fun-filled weekend for children at the Sabah State Library in Kota Kinabalu on Saturday morning with the 'Wild Weekend at the Library' event. Organized by Danau Girang Field Center and Sabah State Library, over 100 children from around Kota Kinabalu attended the event. Various wildlife conservation NGOs and the Sabah Wildlife Department held a series of talks and interactive activities.
It was a great opportunity to share our knowledge about sun bears with the children of Kota Kinabalu. Picture: BSBCC staff Ms. Rebecca and Ms. Gloria were sent to open the exhibition space during the event. BSBCC was visited on 10 November 2019 by a group of 3-5 year old children accompanied by their teachers from Pusat Jagaan Selawat Nabi Childcare Centre, Sandakan.
It was a short but meaningful visit after all; the children were filled with excitement to watch the bears walk around and do their thing in the camps.
List of schools/organizations visited BSBCC November and December 2019
The children, consisting of orphans and recipients of zakat (alms), heard stories and information about sun bears, followed by a tour to observe the bears in the enclosures. Bhd., Sandakan by the plantation's sustainability department in collaboration with Sabah Wildlife Department, HUTAN-KOCP and BSBCC. A series of lectures and interactive activities were conducted throughout the programme, which was held to raise awareness among plantation managers, workers, stakeholders and school children on the importance of protecting wildlife in their surrounding areas.
More than 200 participants were reached during 4 sessions of talks and activities held in different areas within the Wilmar Sapi plantation. Accompanied by HUTAN-KOCP, Sabah Wildlife Department and EMU Barn Owl Conservation Center (EBOC), we were warmly welcomed by Sabahmas Plantation staff as well as community members consisting of staff, officials and students from HUMANA schools on the estate. It was a very engaging session with the community and we hope our messages were successfully communicated to the community.
We would like to thank Wilmar's Sustainability Department team for providing the facilities and opportunities for us to share our knowledge of sun bears with the plantation audience.
Educational Activities
An education outreach program was recently organized on the 27th and 28th of November at Wilmar Sapi Plantations Sdn. BSBCC also honored another invitation from Wilmar Plantation for a community outreach at Sabahmas Plantation Lahad Datu 5 December 2019. Talks were given on orangutans and sun bears, and coloring competition and exhibition took place throughout the program.
Outreach programme
List of schools/organizations BSBCC visited November and December 2019
BSBCC was honored to entertain a visit from Yang Teramat Mulia Raja Dato' Seri Yong Sofia Binti Almarhum Sultan Azlan Muhibbudin Shah Al-Maghfur-Lah together with one of her princes, Yang Mulia Tunku Aznal Shahabudin Tunku Kamel and one of her. Afterwards, they were guided to the viewing platform to see the bears snoozing on the platform in the forest enclosure. We hope the visit provided a good opportunity to educate and open everyone's eyes to the need to preserve our national treasures.
Notable Visitor
Royal Family Members of Perak Visit
IUCN SSC - Asian Elephant Specialist Group Visit
Once captured, sun bears are given enough food and activity each day to promote healthy bear behavior.
BSBCC Volunteer Programme
Internship at BSBCC
BATs group
Volunteers &
Internships
- I hopped on a plane to Borneo for the sake of the world’s smallest (and CUTEST) bears alive! This is my
- I encountered orangutans, elephants, macaques and of course sun bears all within the same day (there
- I visited the centre’s bear cemetery, which is located in a pretty good spot surrounded by the lush
- I made enrichments for the sun bears. This serves as a way for them to cope with the stress or boredom
My name is Saji (short for Sajidah Khadijah) and I am a first year veterinary student from Universiti Putra Malaysia. I could barely contain my excitement and desire to explore everything around me during my 2-week stay and so, I have compiled a list of things I did and experienced during this trip. I hopped on a plane to Borneo for the world's smallest (and CUTEST) living bears.
I met orangutans, elephants, macaques and of course sun bears all in the same day (there and of course sun bears all in the same day (there are other animals worth mentioning but these are the most common creatures you need to meet /hear/ to pee during volunteer hours. I was once doing forest feeding with a ranger friend and a macaque peed on me while sitting on top of a tree. I visited the center's bear cemetery, located in a pretty good spot surrounded by lush, located on a pretty a good place, surrounded by lush forest canopy and unknown to the public.
Some of the bears here will never be released because they have found safety only within the walls of the bear house.
Volunteer Stories
This serves as a way for them to cope with the stress or boredom, as a way for them to cope with the stress or boredom of being in captivity for a long time. They are afraid and reluctant to step out of their comfort zone and so it is crucial that we provide that for them.
Aboriginal Adventure Time :)
- I assisted a team of veterinarians performing a health check on Logan, one of the trio of youngest
- I extracted incisors from a dead dog! This was one of the most exciting things I’ve experienced as
- I learnt to become more competent in the kitchen
- My buddy taught me how to saw wood!! It was frustrating at first because I wasn’t getting through
- I went cave hiking and cruising on the
Each of the bears has their own personality and as for Amaco, he is the typical "orang tua" or old man in the bear house. I assisted a team of vets who did a health check on Logan, one of the three youngest health checks on Logan, one of the three youngest bears in the bear house. Some of the male bears also get porridge with animal proteins, such as cooked chicken, egg, etc.
Image: Presentation by Natalie, one of the interns about the Sun Bears. . they grow bigger and stronger as they mature. Some cages have leaves, logs and enrichments, all made/brought by the staff. In one of the cages they had to build a platform for the bears to cool down under, play on and use for enrichment.
During week 2 and part of week 3, I was able to train and observe one of the bears, Sigalung. With the permission of our volunteer coordinator, it was extremely satisfying to be able to sit down for a while in the afternoons to finish them off, refreshing that area of the center for the bears and workers to enjoy throughout their time there. My typical day started with weighing the amount of fruit first and then cleaning the bear's house.
My daily duties at BSBCC are food preparation, animal husbandry and bear enrichment. To make enrichment more difficult, we also put leaves and egg cartons in the balls of the Australian dog to make it harder for the bears to get apples and honey. On the other hand, I was worried that I wouldn't memorize the characteristics of each bear in just 2 weeks.
I am not exaggerating when I say this environment feels very much like 'home away from home', I missed all the familiar faces, be it the staff, the bears or even the dogs in Bjorn Hala. In addition to understanding the dental examinations she performs on the bears, and hopefully can perform on the bears annually. It was really fun to understand and pick up the dogs and the molars among the bears.
Not to mention all the enrichments we do daily to occupy and keep our bears happy.
Second Time Around by Nithisha Nair
Food distribution is now more detailed and complex than before, meeting the bears' diverse nutritional needs. Amaco and Wan-Wan have their own soft food tray, only a handful of bears get porridge and some get boiled chicken, while the rest of the bears get fruits, vegetables and sprouted mung beans. It's called 'Rolling Log' and is constructed by holding up two inverted 'V's and pushing a long metal rod through the tree trunk.
Place the log with the metal rod on the inverted 'V' to make it spin when grabbed and rolled by the bears. Mizuno and I spread some peanut butter on the log so the bears could use their strong long claws to roll the log. I figured it was because the trunk of the trunk was soaked and could easily fall apart.
Image: Behind me are 'Bit' and Adneen, who also help distribute the enrichments to the bears.
Bearful Experience Blog Part 3 by Alicia Paula
Surprisingly, both bears completely demolished the tree trunk from the metal bar in less than three days. I was first instructed to measure and record the bear's temperature every five minutes and was told to notify him of any drastic temperature changes. Lin May wanted me to learn how to use the stethoscope to measure the bear's heart rate.
Pradeep and Lin May assured me that it is difficult to determine a bear's heartbeat in a room filled with the beeping and sound of a small polishing machine on a bear's tooth. Having your hands and eyes glued to your laptop and phone most of the time is really tiring and I don't think electronics are a great way to spend your free time. I was able to carry a bag of sweet potatoes in each hand from outside the bear house and walk all the way to the kitchen without dropping the bag or dragging it on the floor.
For some examples, Kala is still sensitive and does not want to return to her night den. One of the employees found a blood python near the quarantine area, young.
Adoption Programme
Welcome a Sun Bear into your family, classroom, club or corporation by adopting a Sun Bear or purchasing a gift of Sun Bear medicine, food or toys to show your care and support for BSBCC's valuable work.
Bear Shop
Donors & Contributors 31 Donors & Contributors
