A Beary Memorable 10 Weeks of Internship

24/9/2019

Text & Photos by Laurelle Cassandra Rooney


Hello there! I am Laurelle Cassandra Rooney, a 21 year old from Tawau, Sabah. I am a second year Zoology student at University of Malaysia Sarawak.

Why did I choose BSBCC and what have I learnt from doing my internship here for the last 10 weeks?

Being an animal lover, I’ve always dreamt about working with animals not only with domestic animals but the wildlife as well. My passion grew bigger as I grew up and I heard of a conservation centre which is the BSBCC. I ended up doing my internship at the BSBCC and it turned out to be the best decision I have ever made. It iwas my first time working with these wild animals and I got to experience hands-on activities with the sun bears. While doing my internship here, I learned that the sun bears are listed as a vulnerable species in the IUCN Red List and they are the world’s smallest bear species.

When I first arrived, I was amazed at how the whole bear house runs with the bear keepers. My daily work routine consisted of cleaning the cages, food preparation, feeding the bear inside the house as well as around the forest enclosures, making enrichments, fence checking and assists in health checks.  Personally, my favourite part of the day is making enrichments for the bears. Watching the sun bears eat can also make your day.

We treked into the jungle to find logs and sticks. I manually drilled for the first time in my life, collected banana and dry leaves and logs which we used to mimic the environment of being in a forest enclosure. I had the opportunity to design and make some hanging platforms for the bears to rest and play on. I also had the chance to build a ramp for one of the pens to allow the bears to enter the forest enclosure.

Feeding around the forest enclosure

​I would like to say a huge thank you to my buddy, Roger, for always helping me and supporting me throughout my internship here in BSBCC. I would also like to thank the other bear keepers which are Azzry, David (longest working staff in BSBCC), Brandon and Adneen, who have helped me while I did my internship here. These people were there for me during my hard times and they always had their way of cheering me up and I would be stress-free just by working with them. We did a lot of projects together from hanging platforms, to building ramps, and preparing enrichments together. They taught me the correct way of handling the equipment when doing our projects. 

From the left : Roger, Brandon, Azzry, Adneen

Working in the bear house has left me with a bunch of memorable experience in my life. I learnt the diet of the sun bears and from what I saw, different bears have different diets and different personalites which makes them cute in their own way. Watching them play with each other is also the best part of the day.
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I would like to thank the educational staff for giving me the chance to visit two different places which were Sukau, Kinabatangan and around Sandakan area for the outreach programme. I got the chance to share information about the BSBCC itself and also about the sun bears. By joining the outreach programme, I, myself, gained more knowledge on sun bears and the way of conserving the sun bears and other wildlife.

Educational Team : Gloria and Haniff

I want to say thank you to Dr. Wong for the sharing sessions and also for giving me the opportunity to be part of the team even if it is only for 10 weeks.

I came to BSBCC to make a contribution in helping the sun bears in any way possible and I feel like I did. Working with the sun bears made a huge impact in my life and my passion in working and aiding the wildlife grew bigger. I would like to express my gratitude once again to my buddy, the other 3 bear keepers, Azzry, Brandon and Adneen, not to forget David, who helped me throughout my internship here. Thank you so much for the rewarding experience and accepting me as a part of their team. Do forgive me if there were any mistakes that I have done unintentionally. But it is time to say goodbye to the team. Always keep in touch with each other.
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Regards from me, Laurelle.

A Little Journey at BSBCC

22/9/2019

Text By Chen Mu-Xuan
Photos By Chiew Lin May


Hello, I’m Chen Mu-Xuan from Taiwan. I’m studying forestry and natural resources at National Ilan University.

I volunteered at the BSBCC at part of my studies about forestry in the tropical rain forest. When I saw the lovely sun bears, I decided to come back to learn more about them.

If you love a specific type of animal, you want to understand them. At the beginning of the placement. we had to listen to a short presentation by staff who explained what BSBCC is doing. We can ask any questions and then that we started work.

Listen to the short presentation.

The main purpose of our job is to maintain the environment to make the bears live comfortably and create some enrichment to help them learn survival skills. We clean the cages, prepare bear food and feed the bears every day. Sometimes those jobs will make you tired, but when you think about how important this work is for conservation, everything is worth it. I also learned so much about the bear’s behavior and animal management.​

We make a platform for the bear in forest enclosure.

Collect the banana leaves for enrichment.

The journey here is just amazing and I will never forget it. I regret now that I only stayed here for 2 weeks. When I am back in Taiwan, I’ll miss everyone and everything here so much.

Some Days Stay Gold Forever

15/9/2019

Text By Khairunnisa binti Mohd Faisal
Photos By Khairunnisa binti Mohd Faisal, Chiew Lin May & Seng Yen Wah


Hi there! I’m Aniss, an intern student from Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang. Choosing BSBCC as my internship placement is one of the bravest decision I have ever made. A week before I flew to Sandakan, I had a major mental breakdown because I was so anxious since I will be so far away from home and I literally had neither friends nor family in Sandakan. “Will I survive working in the middle of jungle?”, “How if I only managed to make it halfway?”, “How can I go back to Kuala Lumpur if homesick hits me?”, “Who will help me if I’m in a big trouble?”. So many things lingered on my mind and I felt so terrible to leave Peninsular for 2 months.   
         
As I arrived in Sandakan, I was warmly greeted by BSBCC staff. I felt so happy and safe to be around them. On my first day of working, it was really tiring since I had to digest a lot of things about the working ethics, the bear’s diet, bear’s behavior, pen names in the forest enclosure and the bear’s name. I started to doubt my ability of working in BSBCC as I felt like it’s such a huge responsibility to take care of the bears. 

As time goes by, I never thought that I will be super happy and enjoy working for the bears. BSBCC makes me have a clearer vision of how ‘conservation’ really works. In BSBCC, I got the chance to experience a lot of things that I have never done before. I got to clean the bear house, prepare their daily feeding, make enrichment for the bears, join bear’s health check, go hunt for termite mound, explore the forest while find logs for structural enrichment and join educational program. And I never expect that I’d able to recognize some of the bears after working 2 months in here.

Thank you so much to my Bjorn Hala family (Boboy, Natalie, Becca, Mizuno, Wawa, Dr. Boon, Andy, Laurelle and Saji – including Lin May and Thye Lim). Ever since my first day in here, I’ve always feel like home. I will never forget each of the fond memories that we all had together. I had a wonderful moment of us singing together after work, going around the town during off day, eating steamboat at Sim Sim, food hunting at night, cooking while karaoke-ing together, hiking during off day, watching movies, singing to patriotic songs in the car, chasing the dogs and sharing life experience with each other. Honestly, I believe that these are the people that I’m going to miss the most once I’m back to KL. 

Here’s my buddy, Adrian. On our first met, he didn’t talk much but as time goes by, he’s becoming the most annoying person I’ve ever met hahahaha. Thank you Adrian for taking care of me for these 2 months and taught me a lot of stuffs about sun bears. Honestly, you’re such a really good buddy and I’m really happy to have you as my assigned buddy. I’m sorry for being a clumsy, annoying, mischievous and talk active buddy. I will always remember everything that we have done for the bears throughout my internship in BSBCC. Please don’t miss me when I’m gone HAHAHA.

A week before I’m leaving BSBCC, we built a new ramp for Panda release. A huge thank you to Adrian for helping me out to build this ramp. Without him, I won’t be able to make it happen.  Also, thank you to Ijam and Boboy for being a part of this project as well! J To Ijam and Boboy, you both are the funniest human being I have ever met.  Thank you for cheering me up throughout my stay in here. Even though you both can be really annoying sometimes, I truly enjoyed having you guys around.

I’m sure I’m going to miss the moment we hunt for banana leaves together. It was so fun being in a car ride with you guys. While enjoying the scenery around Sepilok, they shared a lot of stuffs about their childhood. It’s so good to listen how each of us being raised with a different background. 

Farewell party before leaving BSBCC. Thank you Mizuno for helping us out to cook for our farewell party. I feel very reluctant to leave this place. 2 months of internship feels so short for me. I really wish I could extend my internship period in BSBCC. 

ometimes, taking a one brave step could be one of the best things you have ever done in your life. It’s such a blessing to be here. I never regret my decision choosing BSBCC as my internship placement. Even though I don’t really like getting messed up in the middle of jungle, this has turned out to be the best memory I have ever had in my life. To my favourite bear (Jelita), I hope I’ll get to see you again one day. If God wills, one day I’ll come back to Sandakan to take care of the bears again. Thank you so much BSBCC for having me. Love, Aniss Faisal.

Lydia Wheelers Wild Borneo Adventure

10/9/2019

Text By Lydia Wheelers 
Photos By Chiew Lin May


Hi, my name is Lydia and I come from the UK. I currently do volunteering at my local wildlife park but have always been interested in helping other animals. After watching many programmes on Borneo’s wildlife and doing research into one of my favourite animals, my heart was set on the Sunbears and suddenly my time was here to help these gorgeous animals. 

The first thing I noticed was the humidity and instantly started sweating! The weather is A LOT warmer than in the UK. Volunteering in the bear house was hard work but seeing the bears on a daily basis and learning the different characters of each one made it so much fun.  We soon got into a routine of cleaning the cages, preparing the food like professional chefs, feeding the bears and creating enrichments to help stimulate them and make it as similar as possible to being in the wild. Enrichment is very important for these little guys and girls, an example of this was smearing peanut butter on sticks for them to tear apart and lick with their incredibly long tongue! We even got to help create a platform for the bears to climb on and have shelter in the pen. Knowing I have been a part of creating something useful for the bears is such a good feeling.

I was lucky enough to go on two medical checks with Dr Yeoh Boon Nie who cleaned and polished their teeth. The bears also had a physical examination, blood samples taken and even one had their nails clipped. Getting to see the bears up close was surreal but it was truly amazing to be able to assist with making sure they were fit and healthy.
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We were lucky enough to have a weekly talk with Dr Wong Siew Te. This was one of the highlights of the trip as we got to talk about any questions we had. Dr Wong is a very down to earth person and I was at ease straight away. He has so much knowledge to share so I learnt an awful lot in this session. His passion for animals was very infectious and has only made my love for these animals grow. 

My buddy Adrian and Sumira were always around to help when I needed it and made my experience a lot easier. A MASSIVE thank you to the staff, Paganakan Dii and all the other volunteers for making my first time in Borneo two weeks I’ll never forget! 

Sweet tooth Sun Bear!

9/9/2019

Text and Photos by Chiew Lin May


Huge Thanks to Anton Ngui for the generous donation of rambutan fruits to help the rescued sun bears. These enrichment rambutan branches treat makes the bears cherished. They love this surprise moment!