SK Binsulung visit (25th Nov 2023)

Thank you SK Binsulung for visiting us today, a total of 24 students, accompanied by their teachers. We hope they are having a good time in gaining new knowledge about the Sun Bear, and helping spread awareness to their friends and family.

BSBCC welcomes group visits to the Centre to encourage awareness about Sun Bears both locally and internationally.

Please send your email to info.bsbcc@gmail.com for inquiries and further information.

Kolej Vokasional Keningau Visit

Thank you, Kolej Vokasional Keningau, for visiting us today! It's such a long journey for this group of students and teachers just to learn more about wildlife and their habitat. We hope you guys had a great time here and gained some new knowledge about sun bears. Together, we spread the word to save the smallest species of bear in the world! See you guys again! 

A Bright Future for Betung!

Text, photos and videos by Jacquelyn Jill Jepiuh

Betung was rescued by Sabah Wildlife Department on the 21st August 2020. Like many of our rescued cubs, she had a similar story whereby a villager claimed to have found her walking alone in the forest and decided to hand raise her since April 2020. Sadly, she was not given proper care which resulted in chronic malnutrition causing her to have stunted growth. She estimated to be 6 months old but only weighed a mere 1.4kg. Whereas, a normal bear cub would easily weigh 10kgs at that age.
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(More on Betung’s origins can be found on our Bear Talk Blog: https://www.bsbcc.org.my/bear-talk-blog/meet-betung)

 

New Dental Machine for BSBCC

We are delighted to share some exciting news with you all! Thanks to the continuous support from the Hasanah Foundation, a leading foundation that promotes Malaysia's global sustainability through solutions that empower communities, encourage social inclusivity, and improve the environment, we have been able to acquire a portable dental machine that will greatly improve our dental care for the rescued sun bears at our center.

Dental health is crucial for the well-being of sun bears, as they use their teeth to crack open hard-shelled fruits and nuts in the wild. Many of the sun bears that we rescue have dental problems due to poor nutrition, trauma, or neglect.

The portable dental machine will enable us to perform dental procedures on the sun bears easily and more efficiently. The machine is fully equipped with a dental drill, scaler, polisher, and suction unit. Today we used it on Wan Wan, one of our older bears with poor dentition, who needs constant checkups and scaling for her teeth. Having this machine is definitely a game-changer!

We are very thankful to the Hasanah Foundation for their generous contribution and their commitment to wildlife conservation. Their donation will make a huge difference in the lives of the sun bears that we care for, and will help us achieve our mission of rehabilitating and releasing them back to their natural habitat.
Thank you, Yayasan Hasanah & Kementerian Kewangan, for being a part of our sun bear family!
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#bsbcc #sunbear #conservation #dentalcare

Tenom Update!

Many of you have seen videos of our bears making nests. Well, this is not one of those videos. This is our silly girl Tenom just making a mess of the nest her keepers worked hard to make for her. Oh Tenom, the road is long but you'll get there eventually

As our Tabin Sun Bear Project is on its way, Tenom has just recently got her bear cub collar fitted to get her ready for the soft release project. The soft release project is about raising Tenom in the forest reserve, to simulate mother-cub relationship. Keepers will walk her every day in the forest, allowing her to develop forest skills naturally until she is ready to leave our care, just like weaning time from her own mother. This project is exciting and we believe this is a milestone in the conservation of this species.
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Thank you to all our supporters that has helped us along this journey -
Yayasan Hasanah
Kementerian Kewangan
Yayasan Sime Darby
With everyone's help we are able to give Tenom the chance to embark on her new adventure and be able to grow into a wild, healthy bear!

#rehabilitation #sunbear #conservation #bsbcc

Exhibition at SK Sepagaya, Lahad Datu

KARNIVAL SEJARAH & 3K . SK SEPAGAYA (18/11/2023) Yesterday, BSBCC was invited to set up exhibition booth at SK Sepagaya, Lahad Datu as a part of the Karnival Sejarah & 3K by the school. There are many interesting exhibitions from various agencies involved, including HUTAN-KOCP, Seratu Aatai, and many more. There were also a traditional dress competition and an interesting traditional dance performance. BSBCC would like to thank you for the invitation by SK Sepagaya.

Sun Bear Adoption by Intan Traffic Engineering

We are pleased to announce that Intan Traffic Engineering Sdn. Bhd. is adopting one of our lovely sun bears under the My Bear Adoption Programme. During the Adopt A Sun Bear Annual Charity Event, Dr. Wong Siew Te received a mock cheque of RM7,200.00 from Mr. Johnny Lo, The Executive Director of Intan Traffic Engineering Sdn. Bhd.

Tabika KEMAS Kg. Kenangan Manis Visit

Is it raining today? Worried no! You can still see the sun bears from our sheltered observation platforms.

​Thank you to Tadika Kemas Kampung Kenangan Manis, Batu 12, Sandakan, for visiting us today. We have so much fun interacting with the students, teachers & parents. Thank you for creating unforgettable moments and chirpy memories here with us!

Rudy and Friends!

Text and photos by Jacquelyn Jill Jepiuh

Rudy has progressed so nicely after being in her forest enclosure. It is time to introduce her to some new friends! The team had decided to introduce her to Kukuton – our sweet, quiet and quirky bear. The team knew that these two would get along just fine but we were not prepared for how close their bond would be. The two complimented each other so well. Rudy is a friendly and mellow bear; while Kukuton is lovable but has a very peculiar personality.

Upon the first cage-by-cage integration session, Kukuton was obviously very excited seeing a different bear other than his usual friends – Kipaku and Betung. He couldn’t contain himself as he climbed up and down and constantly pawed at Rudy through the cage bars. Rudy is generally a very friendly bear, but with Kukuton’s exaggerated excitedness, she was very wary to even go close to him. After a few more cage-by-cage sessions, Kukuton eventually settled and became his more usual calm self. Rudy also became more comfortable and would occasionally sniff and paw at Kukuton too. What an endearing sight to see the friendship between these two starting to come to life!

It was then time to let these two friends meet. Kukuton was so eager to meet Rudy that he immediately ran towards her and started playing. His enthusiasm scared Rudy a little bit and she ran away from him a few times. After a few minutes of chasing each other around, Rudy eventually accepted Kukuton’s friendship offer and they started playing with each other!

As Kukuton’s fence training is still in progress, we notice that Rudy has given him more confidence and he is generally happier with Rudy. Rudy has never had body contact with another bear but has shown great progress in socializing with Kukuton. In the wild, sun bears live alone due to a limited supply of food in the forest. They are only seen together when a mother is with her cub, or during mating seasons. Here at BSBCC, we integrate and let the bears socialize with each other to conserve space and most importantly encourage healthy bear behavior.
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BSBCC would like to thank our supporters – Yayasan Hasanah, Kementerian Kewangan, and Yayasan Sime Darby– for giving us a chance to give bears like Kukuton and Rudy a better quality of life compared to their last. 

If you would like to read up on Kukuton and Rudy’s background story, feel free to read it up on our blog:
https://www.bsbcc.org.my/kukuton.html
https://www.bsbcc.org.my/rudy.html