International Sun Bear Day 2024

The Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre is celebrating its 8th International Sun Bear Day today (16th May 2024) with the theme “Wildlife Protection Starts with Appreciation”. The celebration which is taking place at the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, Sepilok, Sandakan hopes to encourage all nations to appreciate wildlife and support the efforts to conserve them. During the celebration, the Centre is also launching its mutual partnership with Kolej Vokasional Sandakan 2. The industry-institute partnership will benefit both parties through sharing of knowledge and expertise. Some 50 students and teachers from 4 schools; SK Batu 16 Gum-Gum, SK Seri Manis, SK Sakilan Desa, and SM St. Michael, Sandakan are participating in activities organized including Sun Bear Explorace and the Sun Bear Enrichment Making activity.

Prior to the celebration, online contests were posted on BSBCC’s Facebook page to encourage public engagement with BSBCC. These contests which include Caption the Photo contest, Infographic Poster contest, Collage Making contest and Little Sun Bear Video Contest are open for local and international participants.

Pre-event activities were also held on the 11th and 12th May 2024 for walk-in visitors to the Centre where they get to participate in the Sun Bear Challenge activity that promotes better understanding on the sun bears’ ecology, behavior and threats. The Centre also offered a canvas bag coloring activity for children who visited the Centre during that weekend.

Sun bears are the smallest bears among the 8 living bear species in the world. They are listed as Totally Protected species in Sabah under the Sabah Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997. Despite its protection status, the species is continuously poached for their body parts including paws, claws, canine and gallbladders, while sun bear cubs are traded or kept as exotic pets.

The Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre is currently home to 43 sun bears rescued from pets across Sabah. The Centre provides a second chance for these bears to return to the wild through a rehabilitation programme, apart from providing care and an improved long-term living environment for ex-captive sun bears that cannot be released. Since the Centre was established in 2008, a total of 69 sun bears were rescued and 12 individuals has been reintroduced back to the wild.