Debbie the female sun bear cub was rescued by Sabah Wildlife Department on January 6th and sent to us on the following day. Today (Feb 16,) we did the first health check for Debbie since she was sent here about a month ago. The check up is a routine check up for all new bears house in BSBCC to inspect abnormality, potential diseases, and body condition. Debbie was sedated by the Veterinarian from Sabah Wildlife Department and Orangutan Appeal UK Dr. Nigel Hicks and senior ranger Mr. Elis Tambing. All of the handling process went well. We also took body measurements, where she tipped the scale at 13 kg, hair samples, and blood sample. Everything looks pretty good for her. Although we did not weigh her when she first came here, I am sure that she has again few kilograms over the past 5 weeks and deposited some fat on her as well as we found out during the check up. Once the blood test results came back and clear for any diseases, she will join the party of Mary and Fulung to form the sun bear cub gang. For the youngster, there are no better enrichment than the companionship of other cubs when they are in captivity. Together they can interact with each other, play fight with each other, support with each other, and snuggle with each other!
Grow well Debbie! We are glad that you are in our care.
Text by Siew Te Wong; Photo by Pia Sundstrom
Grow well Debbie! We are glad that you are in our care.
The team get ready to sedate Debbie for the health check.
Debbie is a 13 kg sun bear cub now. Good weight for her age.
Dr Nigel and I pay full attention when we handling Debbie.
Debbie unique chest patch. Some say it looks like a roster, some say it look like a wine glass, some say it look like a necklace, what do you think what it look like?
Debbie's front paw- just look like our own hand, but with short hairs growing in between the base of each digits. What are the functions of these hairs? Any guess?
Debbie's feet. Again, very human like, but with short hairs growing between toes.
Debbie's claw- consider small although look big compare with ours. Sun bear's claws are unique: there is a piece of bone inside the claw that keeps growing throughout their lifetime. So an old sun bear will have very large and curved claws.
Checking Debbie's TPR- body temperature, pulse rate, and respiration is important to monitor Debbie's body condition during the anesthesia.
Wai Pak taking body measurements of Debbie. All of these measurements are important information to know about the growth rate of sun bears.
The entire health check is done within 30 minutes. It is time to take Debbie back to her den for recovering.
The recovery process was quick. At 35 minutes after the sedation, she already start recovering from the drug and raised her head up. She is fully recovered after 2 hours and regained her appetite in the afternoon.
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