A sms that I received on the evening of the June 28th sent my excitement to the roof. The text message was from Joe Pontecorvo, the Director and Producer of Beartrek, that he was in Kota Kinabalu and he was on his way to Sandakan to visit me and Cerah the sun bear.
For those of you who do not know BEARTREK, please click here or visit http://wildlifemedia.org/the-movie/watch-clips/.
“BEARTREK is Wildlife Media’s first feature-length film. It takes you on a global motorcycle quest with insatiable adventurer and biologist Chris Morgan. Chris traverses the wildest places on Earth seeking out the rarest bear species and the dedicated people racing to save them from extinction. Movie profits will fund bear conservation, including projects highlighted in the film. Watch the clips below, explore this website, then support wildlife and wild places“
Joe taking photos of Keningau the female sun bear in BSBCC forest enclosure.
Joe is not ordinary film director. He is THE director and producer that produced several wildlife documentaries, BEARTREK and also the latest highly acclaimed PBS Nature documentary, “Bears of The Last Frontier.” In 2007, Joe together with Chris Morgan and their team from the Wildlife Media visited me in Danum Valley when I was conducting a 3 years field work studying wild sun bears and bearded pigs. We completed the filming for the sun bear section for BEARTREK with Chris, who is the host and the narrator of the movie. After almost 4 years since Joe left Borneo, he was back to this part of the world for a new mission. I am so glad to meet him, to catch up with him, and we discussed potential corroboration works for us in the future.
Joe and me beside the BSBCC's forest enclosure
BEARTREK is not just another wildlife documentary about bears. It will be the first wildlife movie that show case the little known sun bear and the plights of their survival on the island of Borneo. It will for sure create a huge positive force to raise awareness and enlighten millions of audiences across the world about the uniqueness, preciousness, and the beautifulness of sun bears that live in the dense tropical rainforest of Borneo. Over the last four years the promos of Beartrek and a tailor-made video of sun bear from Wildlife Media has instrumental the success of several fund raising events for BSBCC. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Joe, Chris and their team in Wildlife Media to making all of these possible.
Thank you guys!
Please read more about BEARTREK:
http://sunbears.wildlifedirect.org/2008/05/18/beartrek-the-movie/
Keningau climbed down from a tree while Lawa the sun bear has been trying to break a coconut for hours.
