Text and Photos by Chiew Lin May
Kudat, a seven year old adult male bear came into BSBCC in July 2010, after he and a female sun bear, named Panda were rescued from a private zoo in Kampung Perapat, Kudat, Malaysia called Victory Mini Zoo.
Kudat spent more than two years of his life in the forest enclosure. The majority of his daily activity is exploring, digging for food, and eating and resting. He is halfway to his new life as a wild forest dweller but is not quite confident when it comes to climbing trees.
What is done inside the forest enclosure though can make a world of difference to Kudat. There is really no limit to enrichment either. On January 8th, 2015, Thye Lim, our Centre Operation Executive, and our bear team had an idea that we could achieve a significant change in Kudat’s behaviour through creative and consistent enrichment which encouraged Kudat to learn to climb a tree.
Azzry and David, our bear keepers help setting up the enrichment – PVC feeder on top of the tree.
Kudat found himself a treat.
Kudat ready for his adventure at the forest enclosure! It is hard work to get up there! He is really a great climber!
Once climbs up, reaching for the enrichment.
We are delighted to report that Kudat is now climbing high in the trees. He started practicing his climbing skills by heading straight to the tops of the trees to explore the enrichments. We.We found that he was not aware he was climbing trees like true wild sun bears do. Sun bears have long, curve claws which help them to climb trees. It was no surprise that Kudat became confident and has adapted to arboreal life in the forest.
This news of Kudat learning to climb trees in the forest brought us all great joy and is a good example for the other adult male bears!
Kudat spend a great deal of his time in trees.
No comments:
Post a Comment