International Save Bears Day Febuary 21st – Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre

International Save Bears Day Febuary 21st – Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre

“February 21st is International Save Bear Day” dont forget to mark it on your callenders it was started by a great friend of mine Abel Saenz we are just asking for samll donations to be made on this day to diferent organizations that help bears to give you an idea Bornean Sun Bear Centre, Animals Asia, Wspa, Polar Bears International, Panda Bears International, World Wildlife funds, Wild Aid and the North American Bear Center and plenty more please help raise awarness and make 2011 a better year for the bears thank you so much!”

Time: February 21, 2011 all day
Location: worldwide
Street: every street in the world
City/Town: every village, town and city on Earth
Phone: N/A
Event Type: awareness
Organized By: Abel and everyone who cares about bears

Comment by Jeanette McDermott at http://ursafreedomproject.ning.com/events/event/show?id=2859061%3AEvent%3A51596&xg_source=msg_invite_event

Since 2007 Abel has been asking Bear Lovers to make a Donation on February 21st to an organization that helps bears. Please make a donation to your favorite organization or cause of your choice that is helping bears. Abel says, “By setting aside one day a year to donate allows us to save and give what we can together.” I couldn’t agree more. Let’s do it! The Donate button at UFP is designated for funds for the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre. If you want to donate to BSBCC for International Save Bear Days, please use the donate button here. If you want to make a donation to a different bear organization, you will need to visit individual websites to make your donation.

Make donation to BSBCC here!

Update of Natalie the sun bear cub – Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre

Update of Natalie the sun bear cub – Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre

Text and Photos by Wai Pak Ng, Acting Project Manager, BSBCC

Happy New Year! This is what I want to wish my fellow readers / supporters / sun bear lovers and friends. I know a lot of people, including you, want to read more about Natalie, the latest rescue bear cub. I am sorry to keep you all waiting.

Natalie arrived at BSBCC on the 23^rd Dec 2010. Since then, she got use to our centre very fast. The bonding between me and Natalie grow stronger day by day. It is much easier to handle her now compare to her first week where she bitten me with her sharp milk teeth if I make her uncomfortable due to my clumsiness.

In the wild, sun bear cubs follow their mother up to two years. Unfortunately, little Natalie is now an orphan and she is totally depends on us. It is a great responsibility for us to make sure Natalie is healthy and ready to get back to the forest where she truly belongs.

Milk is still the main food for her. Her front teeth were just erupted, and we will slowly introduce her with some soft solid food. Besides feed her five times a day, I also walk her around the centre regularly. Very soon, I will bring her into the forest enclosure.

With all your support, the entire BSBCC team and volunteers will continue giving Natalie the optimum care to make sure she is fit and ready to be released into the wild in the future.

New Year, New Plans, and New Hopes for BSBCC – Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre

New Year, New Plans, and New Hopes for BSBCC – Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre

By: Siew Te Wong

Happy belated New Year to all readers, fans and supporters of the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre. As we officially say goodbye to the year 2010, we are also welcoming the new year of 2011 with new plans, new hopes and new dreams at the same time!

I have kept my promise that I made in 2004 to the caged sun bears by founding the BSBCC with proper facilities and care for the sun bears. At that time, the situation for the captive sun bears in Sabah was very poor and help was needed urgently to improve the desperate condition of these animals. However, this “help”- funding, human resources, government permits, etc., were not easy to come by. I am most grateful to Sabah Wildlife Department, Sabah Forestry Department, and LEAP who gave me the full support to conduct this ambitious project. With the help from these three key agencies and organizations, plus the enormous help from so many parties and individuals, the lone crusade to help sun bears grew to become a team of forces to save the sun bear. Together, we made the impossible become possible.

Helpless, hopeless, caged sun bears are victims of human greed and needs for more natural resources.

BSBCC achieved its first goal last year by completing the construction of the first bear house and 4 forest enclosures. We moved the existing 12 bears from our old bear house to the new bear house with forest enclosures. All of these bears finally have the chance to walk in the forest, dig the soil, climb the trees, feed on termites, things that sun bears do in the wild. We later rescued an additional 9 bears, filling up our carrying capacity quickly.

Suria resting peacefully on tree in her forest enclosure.

Fortunately, our good works continue to receive recognition and support. Last November, the Malaysia Federal Government decided to fund the construction of Phase 2 and Phase 3 through help from the Sabah Wildlife Department. This great news means that we now have the full funding to complete the construction of the second bear house, additional 4 forest enclosures, visitor facilities (forest broad walk, visitor gallery, & observation platform) and refurbishment of the office and staff room. In short, we WILL set up the centre according to our ambitious plan and we WILL continue our hard work to save and help more sun bears and continue to let the world know about this little bear species that needs help. The preparation for Phases 2 and 3 has been ongoing over the last two months and hopefully the construction itself can begin soon. The plan is to have the construction completed by early 2012 and officially open to the public soon after.

Construction building plan for 2011 (blue) and new forest enclosures (green)

Schematic diagrams of the observation platform for visitors to view sun bears

Besides the construction to complete the building phase of BSBCC, several important missions will be underway in 2011. I will report for duty and manage BSBCC on site as my full time job on February 14th. My presence on site will reduce the heavy burden on Wai Pak and let him take a breath. We will begin plans for the reintroduction stage of a few of our rescued bears- surveying potential release sites, recruit field crews, and fund raising (as the reintroduction of sun bears back to the forest is very costly and time consuming). We will also continue to rescue and help more caged sun bears, conduct more studies on sun bears, and continue to educate people about the plight of sun bears locally, nationally and internationally. These tasks may sound ambitious. However, looking at the desperate situation faced by these bears, we have no choice but to lay out an ambitious plan and continue to work very hard to achieve our tasks.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your support in many ways over the past two years. Many of you have helped us raise funds, spread the word, raise awareness, take care of our bears, volunteering at BSBCC, and in many other ways. Bit by bit, piece by piece, there is no better example to show other than the combination of your help has made this project possible and create a better future for the sun bears.

I hope all of you can continue to help us in this coming year!

Wong

Siew Te Wong, M.Sc.
CEO and Founder,
Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre
email: wongsiew@hotmail.com

http://sunbears.wildlifedirect.org/
http://www.leapspiral.org/content/project07.php
http://wongsiewte.blogspot.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/BSBCC

http://www.causes.com/causes/95651

http://twitter.com/BSBCC_SunBear

Natalie- the Christ’s birthday sun bear – Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre

Natalie- the Christ’s birthday sun bear – Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre

Text: Siew Te Wong; Photos: Wai Pak Ng

Two days before Christmas day on the 23rd, Wai Pak received a call from the Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD), saying that a sun bear cub was on its way to be sent to BSBCC. Hour later, a SWD officer from Lahad Datu delivered this baby sun bear at BSBCC.

We did not know what the story behind this sun bear cub was. What we knew was someone surrendered this sun bear cub to the SWD Lahad Datu office, and the SWD office immediately sent this cub to us. We name this female sun bear “Natalie”. She marks the 21 sun bears we currently house at BSBCC. Weighing just a bit over 5 kg and probably 3-4 month old, Natalie appeared to be healthy although suffered from a bit of malnutrition. Wai Pak and I had a long skype conversation to talk about the care and husbandry of Natalie, as taking care of baby sun bear could be challenging because we are not a sun bear mother after all.

Natalie is active and playful over the past few days since she was with us. She also attaches and bonds with Wai Pak well and quickly. Wai Pak walks her around the centre and Natalie follows Wai Pak closely without wondering away. At this age, Natalie is still heavily depends on her mother for survival. It is no surprise to see Natalie’s attaching behavior to Wai Pak because all sun bear cubs at this age need the tender loving care and adequate nursing from their mother.

Natalie is both unfortunate and fortunate. She is unfortunate because she is a victim of habitat loss, poaching and pet trade (although we do know the story behind Natalie at this point, investigation is ongoing but slow due to the holiday season). However, she is fortunate because she was sent to Sabah Wildlife Department and the care of Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre. We will try our best to take good care of her for sure.

The BBC documentary “The Orangutan Diary” told the moment of truth and desperate dilemma of hundreds if not thousands of adults and infant orangutans being homeless, killed, and orphanized due to logging, habitat destruction, oil palm plantation development, poaching, and pet trade; in short, “human activities” on this once pristine island of Borneo. The same faith applies to other wildlife species, such as sun bears. Many sun bears like the orangutans show in The Orangutan Diary being killed, babies being orphanized and kept as pets, because of these “human activities” on this landscape. Over the past three months, there were about a dozen cases of sun bear infants being captured as pets, many end up in orangutan rescue centres, seek my advices on care, medical attention, husbandry and rehabilitation of the orphan sun bear cubs they have rescued. The numbers of these orphaned sun bear cubs concern me as I believe there are many more unreported cases. The case like Natalie represents a tip of an iceberg.

I am glad that Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre has been established thanks to enormous efforts and helps from many parties, especially Sabah Wildlife Department, Sabah Forestry Department, LEAP and many generous donors to make this project possible. BSBCC is essential to provide adequate cares, halfway and permanent home for many rescued sun bears. BSBCC is also crucial to raise conservation awareness and to conserve sun bears in many ways.

Please help us. We need your help to help sun bears like Natalie!

Wong’s Christmas message – Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre

Wong’s Christmas message – Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre

A picture worth a thousand words.

The photos of Suria the sun bear tell the story of one of 21 rescued sun bears currently house in Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre. From the traumatic early life, Suria been through a lot since she was a little sun bear cub: her mother being poached, she was being captured, kept as a pet in a small filthy metal cage. Suria is now lives in her new bear house and spend time in her primary forest enclosure climbing trees and digging soil. Her life literally transformed from one end to the other after she was sent to BSBCC.

Beside Suria, there are 20 more sun bears: Cerah, Kuamut, Manis, Om, An Chong, etc., all been through similar experiences, but are now living in a better environment and receiving adequate care at BSBCC. Just few hours before I write this message, a baby sun bear was sent to BSBCC, another victim from habitat loss, poaching, and pet trade. We name this latest rescued sun bear cub, “Natalie”.

All of our rescued bears have a new life because your helps and supports to make BSBCC a success. The establishment of BSBCC is what we believe as the first step to help and save sun bears: starting from rescuing caged sun bears, follow by educating people about the plight of sun bears and their vulnerable habitat, and finally conserve the species across its range in SE Asia. This year, we have overcome many challenges for this ambitious project. We have completed the construction of our new bear house and forest enclosures, and have our initial 12 bears moved to their new home. Soon after, we have rescued another nine more sun bears, filling up our carrying capacity quickly, including our latest rescuee Natalie. With your generous donation, we managed to pay for the bear food, staff’s salaries, the constructions and maintenance costs, and run the centre as planned. Last month, the Malaysian federal government agreed to provide funding for the construction of additional bear house, forest enclosures, and visitor facilities to complete the construction phase of this project! In other words, we have the full funding for the construction of the entire centre!

Our successes so far are not because of pure luck, but a lot of hard works from many people, locally and internationally. We have success because of your believes, helps, and supports. We have success because of the great team works joining forces and make the impossible become possible! With your helps and supports, we have a fruitful year in 2010 to bring a better life for our rescued sun bears and to raise the awareness on sun bear conservation across the world. However, our works will not stop here or slowing down. There are more caged sun bears needed to be rescued, and more sun bear habitat needed to be protected. We are looking forward to face these challenges and hoping to accomplish more the coming new year of 2011.

As for myself, I am completing my doctorate study in USA and will be reporting for duty on site at BSBCC early next year. Setting up BSBCC has been my dream for many years and I am SO excited to return and to serve my home country and base at this facility permanently. After all, this is my destiny and what I was trained for: to do conservation, education, research, and rehabilitation works on sun bear, wildlife and their habitat.

On behalf of BSBCC and all the sun bears (and of course myself and my family), I would like to THANK all of YOU for your helps and supports. Without your helps and supports, Suria and other sun bears would not be able to climb REAL trees, dig the soils, and roam the forest enclosures at BSBCC.

Please always visit our blog/website to learn about our latest developments and stories of our bears: http://sunbears.wildlifedirect.org/ and to learn what you can do to help us: http://sunbears.wildlifedirect.org/how-can-you-help-sun-bears/

Finally, at this holiday season, we would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New YEAR!

Big sun bear hugs,

Wong

Siew Te Wong
CEO and Founder,
Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre
email: wongsiew@hotmail.com