A ‘Paws’ For Thought - 2 Weeks at the BSBCC

Text by Laura and Daniel Bowtell

Photos by Jacquelyn Jill Jepiuh & Jude Ailton George

We are Laura and Dan, a couple of 12 years, on a 3-month trip exploring South East Asia. We have been fortunate enough to travel all over the world, and have had the opportunity to see animals in the wild. As part of our trip we wanted to visit Borneo and felt a volunteering project with the wildlife would be an incredible experience.

We came to BSBCC with no knowledge of the Sun Bear, other than this was the world’s smallest bear and it was classified as vulnerable under the IUCN. We had no experience in animal management or conservation and only a perceived idea of what is possible to achieve with an animal in captivity. However, we were open minded, willing to work hard and excited to learn.  
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We were greeted by a team of keepers who were engaging, informative and so passionate and caring to each of the bears. We were each assigned a bear keeper as a buddy, who we shadowed daily in all duties. This gave us real insight into the day to day role of a bear keeper.

The bears have unique, rich and quirky personalities. When interacting with them via feeding, building enrichment and providing medical care; we were able to experience these rare, precious and endangered animals in a way that is not possible anywhere else in the world.
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Additionally, we were privileged to spend time with Dr Wong, the CEO and Founder of the BSBCC and Pradeep Aggi Gunasegaran, the Bear Care Operations Executive. These sessions gave us a fuller understanding of sun bears, as well as the wider mission and project to preserve these incredible animals.
As part of your time as a volunteer, you are able to build a larger enrichment for a bear or a group of bears of your choosing. One bear, Ronnie Boy, loved to sleep up high therefore we repurposed a structure to create a platform for him to sleep on. It was exciting to see him using this and gave us a true sense of achievement which is a lasting memory. 

Spending time with these bears was an amazing experience however we hadn’t anticipated how inspiring it would be working with local people employed at the centre. Eating, and socializing with the team gave us an insight into Malay culture, as well as the ability to learn some of the language. By the end of the 2 weeks we felt part of the team and part of the BSBCC family. 

Whether studying the topic of animal management or conservation, looking to make a difference in todays challenging world or simply want to try something engaging and new… volunteering at the BSBCC is for you! It has certainly changed us both personally and professionally for the better!!