Sorenson, J. 2011. Interview with Siew Te Wong. The Brock Review. 12(1): 182-186.
The entire article can be download from:
http://www.brocku.ca/brockreview/index.php/brockreview/article/view/349/349
9/25/11
An Interview with Siew Te Wong – The Brock Review – Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre
An Interview with Siew Te Wong – The Brock Review – Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre
Mary the moon cake sun bear – Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre
Mary the moon cake sun bear – Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre
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WARNING:
Very cute sun bear baby photos.
SUN BEARS ARE PROTECTED BY LAW IN ALL RANGE COUNTRIES.
KEEPING SUN BEARS AS PETS IS A SERIOUS OFFENCE. YOU WILL BE FINE, IMPRESSION, AND CANE IF YOU DO SO!
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September 12, 2011 was the Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Cake festival in Chinese Lunar Calendar. I was informed by the Sabah Wildlife Department in the morning that the Wildlife Rescue Unit will sent a baby sun bear to us at Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre. The rescue unit met us at the junction of Mile 32 of Sandakan Road to deliver the cub. Our team consisted of Wai Pak, Alex, Roshan and me. We left my house at 9 pm, when the neighbors were enjoying their BBQ Moon Cake Festival dinner under the full moon light on their porch.
The first meeting with Mary- in her transportation cage
The female sun bear cub, Mary, was surrendered by her owner from a small village near Ranau two days earlier. According to Mary’s owner, Teresa, her husband and some friends went hunting on the night of June 17, 2011 in an oil palm plantation and “found” Mary at the forest edge. They capture her and brought her back home. The hunting party claimed they did not see the mother bear (do you believe it?). Mary was about 2-3 kg at that time. Teresa fed her with some milk (cow milk powder) the first day but stop giving her the milk because of her diarrhea problem. She was given a variety of fruits, rice, bread, honey, and some meat, but no milk in her diet.
I gave her some milk on the first night. This was her first milk in three months.
Three months later Mary was sent to BSBCC. The first time I saw on Mary I immediately noticed her abnormal looking: she has a relatively mature look relative to her small size. Typically, young sun bear cubs have short and round muzzle. However, Mary has a relatively long and pointy muzzle. Her body was relatively short and small. The next day I weighed her: 8.25 kg. I also noticed that she walks and moves very slowly. Cub her age (estimated 6 months old) should be very agile, playful, and active. Mary is not. Mary also likes to suck her right hind foot like all bear cubs that I have come across. She also likes to seek human fingers and suck them one by one. In addition, Mary’s coat is brown, instead of sleek black, also a sign of abnormality.
Wai Pak used honey to lead Mary standing on the scale. She tipped the scale at 8.25 kg.
Mary has a habit of sucking her hind right foot to seek comfort. Self sucking is a common behavior display by orphan sun bear cubs for obvious reason – they do not have their mother to suckle or to nurse on mother's milk.
We suspect Mary’s abnormal conditions (small body, slow movements, brown coat) are resulted from malnutrition and imbalance diet. She was also being confined in small cage that may restrict her growth. What Mary needs at her age was her mother’s milk that rich in protein, fat, and other trace elements such as calcium, other minerals and vitamins, plus unlimited rooms for her body to grow. Without proper diet and sufficient space, Mary’s growth was restricted and her development was disrupted.
Mary's relatively small body and slow movement may resulted from insufficient nutrients such as calcium in her diet and small space to grow in captivity.
I let Mary to suckle my finger to seek comfort. Suckling is an important part of bear cub development and growing process.
Mary was given dog replacement milk formula and a variety of fruits and dog chow. She is house in a spacious cage. We hope she can catch up with growth under our care. In three weeks time we will integrate her with Fulung, another sun bear cub who is few months older then Mary. We hope both of these cubs can grow normally, healthily, and happily under the care of BSBCC.
Wai Pak give Mary a special treats to gain her trust- honey!
Mary enjoying her new den with many enrichment and toys!
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Keeping sun bears as pets is a serious crime.
Please report to the authority if you see any illegal sun bears being kept as pets.
9/16/11
NO, you cannot keep sun bear as pet! Take 2 – Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre
NO, you cannot keep sun bear as pet! Take 2 – Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre
Recently I am dealing with several cases of pet sun bear cubs. Among them are Fulung, Bunbun, Mary (we rescued this cub 3 days ago, stay tuned for her story), an unknown sun bear cub in West Malaysia, and this morning a reader from my blog asked me “where can I get one of these bears for myself?”. My answer to him was crystal clear: “No! You cannot get a sun bear for yourself!! It is a serious offense if you do. You will be fined, jailed, and caned if you do! Probably burn in hell too!”
No, no one can keep a sun bear as pet! Absolutely no one!
Sun bear is listed as “vulnerable” in the IUCN Red List of Threaten Animals. They are an endangered species. They are protected species by both national and international laws. In all range countries where sun bears are found, there are local and national wildlife protection laws that prohibit any one from killing, capturing, selling, keeping, harassing, etc., of sun bear. In addition, there are international laws like CITES (Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species) prohibit any illegal trade of sun bears and their parts between countries. In short, YOU CANNOT OWN A SUN BEAR AS PET!
Why can’t you t own a sun bear as pet, although they are small, so cute, and super cuddly?
This is why YOU CANNOT OWN A SUN BEAR:
1) Protected by Law: Like I mentioned earlier, they are protected by law no matter where you are! In Malaysia, offenders can be fined up to RM100,000, jailed 5 years or both.
2) Dangerous I: Sun bear is a wild carnivore. They are very strong and equip with large canines and sharp claws that can do a lot of damage. In the wild, they use their strong claws and canines to break termite nests, and bee hives, even the bee hives that are found inside iron wood, one of the hardest wood in the world.
3) Dangerous II: They are wildlife that cannot be tame. The domestication of dogs and cats took thousands of years and generations. If you think you can tame a wild caught sun bear (even if it is a cub), I advise you to think again.
4) Sun bear serve important ecological roles such as seed disperser, ecosystem engineer, forest doctors etc., in the forest ecosystem. By removing a sun bear from the forest to captivity, you eliminate the important roles they will play in the forest.
5) Fuel wildlife market: By buying a sun bear as pet, you fuel (encourage) the wildlife pet trade market. You will encourage more people wanting to keep sun bear as pets. There will be more poachers looking for sun bear cubs in the forest. These poachers often have to kill the mother bears in order to capture her cubs. In addition, there will be more middle man to trade sun bears as it is a lucrative business.
6) Ethically and morally wrong: sun bear is part of the forest ecosystem in SE Asia. They evolve and survive in these forests for the past 5 million years. They have every ethical rights, ecstatic and intrinsic values to be part in the forest ecosystem. Any actions that result the killing, extirpation of the bear from these forests are therefore ethically wrong.
Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre is set up because of many sun bears being kept as pets. (Read more at http://sunbears.wildlifedirect.org/2008/05/07/bsbcc-%e2%80%93-how-did-it-all-begin/). At first it was fun to have a super cute sun bear in your house. However, as a bear, they have to grow fast and grow strong quickly to face all the challenges to survive. After several months, they grow big, become so strong and aggressive to a point their “owner” (they like to be called as a bear lovers) cannot handle them because they become too dangerous to be a “pet”. Al this point, there are often 3 options happen to the bears: a) make some money from the bears by killing the bears and sell their body parts, b) continue to keep them in small cage, and c) surrender to the authority. Regardless of what options, the life and the faith of the bears are mean to be doomed and worst them doomed. They are in hell!
Read the 3 parts blogs that I wrote few years ago:
http://sunbears.wildlifedirect.org/2008/06/09/captive-sun-bears-series-i-because-they-are-cute/
http://sunbears.wildlifedirect.org/2008/06/20/captive-sun-bear-series-iii-life-in-hell/
After BSBCC was established 3 years ago, we have rescued 26 caged sun bears. Few days ago one of our volunteer asked me if I was happy to have Mary our latest rescued sun bear cub. I do not know how to answer her. I was not happy at all to see these bears being rescue. How can I possibly be happy if I know their mother was killed, habitat being destroyed, although she was so sweet and cute sucking my finger. I am glad we rescued her and she end up under our care in BSBCC. I can only be glad, not happy, that Mary is here. If you notice, my smiley face has long gone after I set up BSBCC because every day I see these rescued bears in BSBCC. Most of them definitely look happier and are definitely are happier than before. To me, I can only be glad but not happy because I know the sad and sorrow stories behind each and every one of our bears.
Please, do not keep sun bear as pet, if you are mentally normal and warm blooded!
Please, report any unlawful of keeping, killing, and trading of sun bears and its parts to the local authorities!
Please, help us spread the words and raise conservation awareness for this little forgotten bear!
~ Siew Te Wong
The Story of Fulung Part 3 – Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre
The Story of Fulung Part 3 – Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre
Fulung finally arrived at BSBCC at 10 pm on August 15th after a long 7 hours on the road from Lok Kawi Zoo. He appeared to be healthy and active, but a bit skinny and malnourish by weighing only 7.8 kg. He was considered under weight of a male sun bear cub of his age. His forehead has a patch of scar from rubbing against the bamboo and wooden cage where he used to be kept. All of his canines were not grown and other permanent teeth were not fully grown. All of these signs indicated malnourish and imbalanced diet, a common condition among the most of the captive sun bear cubs we have come across. The malnourishment resulted from the lack of sufficient knowledge on caring infants or cubs and most important lack of bear’s milk to feed the bear infant or cub that is high in protein and fat.
Fulung's condition slowly improve on a daily basis. He is a playful sun bear!
Fulung exploring the new climbing structure in his den.
Fulung settle down slowly at BSBCC. We place him at a quarantine cage for 30 days to ensure that he is healthy and free from any diseases. During these 30 days he will have no contact with other bears. The first few days he was showing signs of stress, nerves, and fear in the totally new surroundings. He would calm down when we were around to play and to attain him. However, when we were not around, he would cry out and roar loudly to seek people’s attention. We tried our best to stay with him and play with him as much as we could. After several days, his condition improved. He seems to getting more relax and confidence to the new environment and play a lot by himself with the enrichments and toys that we gave him. He did not cry nor roar like before. His appetite greatly improved and also gained weight on a steady pace.
Fulung enjoying his new bed- a hammock, but he destroyed it few hours 
Well, that's what sun bear do best- destroyed!
Fulung is growing well, very well indeed. He is now 15 kg, almost doubled his weight since he came here almost a month ago. The scar of his head healed and hair slowly growing back. He is very playful and stays active most of the day. He usually plays by himself except when he was taking nap. We hope Fulung will grow healthy and big. Soon we will walk him in the forest.
Fulung eyed on his new bed high up on his den.
New bed! High on top of his den.
Fulung slept on his hammock made from towel when he was in his temporary cage.
This is what he did to me when I woke him up!
The story of Fulung – Part 2 – Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre
The story of Fulung – Part 2 – Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre
Photos credit: Colleen Tan
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WARNING:
Very cute sun bear baby’s photos.
Yes, Fulung the sun bear cub is VERY cute!
NO! You cannot keep a sun bear baby as pet! Please report to the authority if you see any illegal sun bears being kept as pets.
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In the next few days, many phone calls and emails were made among BSBCC, Sabah Wildlife Department, Colleen and her boss Md Eleanor Wong. The plan is to rescue Fulung and bring him to BSBCC. Nooh, the owner of Fulung, also came down to Kota Kinabalu the capital of Sabah, to deal with the surrender of the sun bear cub and the paper work needed for such surrender.
On August 10th, a rescue operation was organized by the Wildlife Rescue Unit of the Sabah Wildlife Department. Colleen, Nooh and the Sabah Wildlife Department Veterinarial, Dr Rosa, were in the team. They started their journey from Lok Kawi Zoological Garden near Kota Kinabalu around 10 am to Long Pasia. After a quick lunch at Sipitang, a small cowboy town closest to Long Pasir, the team continued their journey. While at Sipitang, Nooh heard from his brother saying that Fulung nearly die in Long Pasia because Fulung “missed” his owner so much to a point that was not eating any food for 3 days. Nooh’s son who was in Long Pasia told Fulung, “father in KK and fulung eat a bit, a bit 
. The father in KK always woke up at 4am thinking of Fulung” This was real story I was told !!!
The journey from Kota Kinabalu to Long Pasir took about 6 hours on bad dirt road that was bumpy and slow.
The team arrived at Long Pasia around 5.30 pm, Coleen witnessed the entire process. According to Coleen, it was “so touching……..kind of feeling, Fulung & Nooh. I don’t believe that happen to a bear and a man until I saw in real when Nooh took and hug Fulung at the little house in the paddy field & walk together, end in the trans-location cage. Attached photos tell more 
“
After a quick rest at Nooh’s homestay for hot coffee and chit chat, the rescue team and Coleen left Long Pasia around 8 pm. Nooh said good bye to Fulung and told Fulung to be a good bear when he moved to the new place soon. There will be a new owner taking care of him. The rescue team rested at Sipitang town at 11.45 pm. Fulung has 2 pack soya drink. Finally Fulung and the rescue team reached Lok Kawi Zoo at 2 am where he stayed for few days to do some medical check up and observation before he was sent to BSBCC.
Nooh say goodbye to Fulung
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Again, YOU CANNOT KEEP A SUN BEAR AS PET!
SUN BEARS ARE PROTECTED BY LAW IN ALL RANGE COUNTRIES. KEEPING SUN BEARS AS PETS IS A SERIOUS OFFENCE. YOU WILL BE FINE, IMPRESSION, AND CANE IF YOU DO SO!
To be continue…
Stay tuned!
The story of Fulung – Part I – Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre
The story of Fulung – Part I – Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre
Photos credit: Colleen Tan
**************************************************************
WARNING:
Very cute sun bear baby’s photos.
Yes, Fulung the sun bear cub is VERY cute!
NO! You cannot keep a sun bear baby as pet! Please report to the authority if you see any illegal sun bears being kept as pets.
******************************************************************
In early August I was informed that there was a sun bear baby being kept as a pet by a villager in Long Pasir, a remote small village located at southern most Sabah, close to the Sarawak boarder. After several phone calls, I was managed to communicate with Colleen Tan, a tourism coordinator for Long Pasir who visited the village on a regular basis. From her conversation and emails, I got to know the story of Fulung a lot better. Here is what Colleen wrote to me about Fulung the sun bear cub:
“An interesting story about a male sun bear from Long Pasia named FULUNG (Lundayeh Language) which mean “hutan” in Malay or forest. Last year 01 December 2010, I was there at the homestay first saw the baby sun bear (age 2 months) I was told that the sun bear was rescued from the hunting dog in the Long Pasia jungle. The baby sun bear was seriously injured. The hunter brought back to home and feed it, care it, maybe they use traditional medicine, until recovery today, as you can see from the photos i took & attached herewith.
The baby sun bear is very cute and roar at midnight, morning, afternoon & evening for milk, During his 3 months, can run and chase people in the family and very naughty. Not always in the cage but free to run outside in the house, play, and bath. It roars at stranger (visitor) for a while but then friendly. It seem that he knew the family member. The family called him FULUNG he recognized 
During my visit to Long Pasia in January, February & May 2011, I took many photos of FULUNG. The sun bear is growing bigger and bigger and need more food. He will complaint if the porridge mixed with normal water and no sugar added in. He wanted rice + warm water + sugar, just like honey rice. They feed the baby sun bear with Dutch Lady & Nespray powder milk, banana, rice + warm water + sugar. I gave him mandarin orange and feed him banana. He plays the ball and sleep well and roar again when hungry. What a cute sun bear, living happily with the family?! But still belong to the forest.
The family wanted to put back to the forest after few months but think of him will be back to home looking for them, and worried about others hunter, so they decided to treat him as a pet for the time being. Although other visitor offer to buy the sun bear for what purpose I don’t know, but the family don’t want to sell, worried if the sun bear being killed for certain part of the body.”
To be continue…
Stay tuned!
Again, YOU CANNOT KEEP A SUN BEAR AS PET!
SUN BEARS ARE PROTECTED BY LAW IN ALL RANGE COUNTRIES. KEEPING SUN BEARS AS PETS IS A SERIOUS OFFENCE. YOU WILL BE FINE, IMPRESSION, AND CANE IF YOU DO SO!
Is time for a health check! – Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre
Is time for a health check! – Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre
It is time for an annual health check for the sun bears in Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre. On October 7th and 8th, Dr Diana Ramirez from Wildlife Rescue Unit, Sabah Wildlife Department performed a general health check on 8 of our bears- Susie, Keningau, Takob, Manis, Cerah, Jelita, Lawa and Om. This health check is a routine annual medical checkup for all of our bears to assess health, potential sickness, function of the internal organs, and physical condition.
During the checking, the bears were first being sedated with sedative so that we can handle them safely. Once they were unconscious, Dr Diana took blood samples, give deworming and multivitamin injections, while Elis (senior ranger of SORC), Wai Pak, Roshan and me were busy monitoring TPR (temperatures, pulse rate, and respiration rate), taking body measurements and photos, colleting hair samples (for future DNA studies). This was also a good opportunity to show Roshan, who will start his MSc project studying wild sun bear next year, on the procedures of handling and taking data on the wild sun bear in the future.
The checking and handling procedures went smoothly without any complication. The team took about 30 minutes to complete all the tasks. After that, the sedated bears were placed in their den to recover from the sedative, which usually took an hour or less. We will conduct the medical check on more of our bears in the coming week. Thanks for the hard work for all staff and especially Dr Diana! Gracias!
Wai Pak and me were working on Susie, an adult female sun bear
Dr Diana took blood sample of the sedated sun bear with Elis's help. I observed.
The next generation of sun bear biologists: Roshan on the left taking measurements of the bear; Wai Pak was the recorder.
This is also a good opportunity to study their chest marking. The pattern of the chest marking is unique to individual, no two bears share the same pattern is what we have learn. Also, these patterns tend to remain the same throughout their life time.
Manis the old female sun bear is having more and more yellow hairs as she gets older. This is an interesting observation because I have heard hunters mentioned about a second "kind" of sun bear in the forest which is not black but yellowish. Is this what they mean?
When compressing the dorsal skin of Manis the sun bear, her loose skin (like a shar-pei dog) folded into several flips and exposed her yellow furs. Now Manis look like a "banded" sun bear!
This is the first time Roshan handed a sun bear. This health check and handling procedure was for sure very benefit to Roshan, a student who will conduct study on sun bear in the wild.
With the detailed instruction from Dr. Diana, Wai Pak also learned during this handling procedure. Here he is giving a multivitamin injection to Jelita the sun bear.
The chest marking of Cerah the sun bear was the most symmetrical among all of our bears. The black dots on the chest patch stay on throughout their life.
Sun bears are the smallest among the 8 living bear species. However, relative to their small size, their canines are largest among these bear species. Here is a close up photo of the canines from Om, a 6 year male sun bear in his prime age. Note the lower right canine was broken. Wild sun bear usually suffered from broken or chipped canines as a result of biting and breaking into hard wood to find bee nest.
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