A day with the Sandakan Tzu Chi Buddhist Merit Society children

Date: December 10th 2012

Text by Gloria Ganang & photo by Dawn Serene Tukalan

It has been a rainy weather in Sandakan these few days. However it was lucky for the kids from the Sandakan Tzu Chi Buddhist Merit Society that they get to spend a sunny day doing fun activities at the BSBCC yesterday (9th Dec 2012). They arrived at 8.20 in the morning all excited and ready to see the sun bears. The kids stood in 4 lines according to their groups when we met them at the Seplilok car park.

Greetings from BSBCC

Introducing “uncle Wong”!

The kids were then divided into 2 groups before we guided them towards the BSBCC platform. Along the way, they were also thought about the importance of  the environment and a little appreciation and practice in reusing materials, such as the “Organic Bridge” which was built out of reclaimed Belian wood a.k.a. Bornean ironwood.

“You’re standing on an organic bridge!”

As we reached the platform, everyone was running everywhere, excited to meet the bears at their enclosure. They were welcomed by one of our bears, Kuamut resting on a log in the enclosure.

Say hi to Kuamut!

For most of the kids, it was their first time seeing a sun bear! Lucky for them that their first sight of a sun bear is in a natural forest and in good condition. Although these bears have unfortunate histories, but they  knew that they will have a much better future.

Next, it is time for  sun bear story with Wai Pak.

The types of bears of the world

Sun bears are meat eaters!

Paying attention to the sun bear story

Later, the kids for told to make “toys” for the sun bears. We had used cardboard, ginger leaves, peanut butter, honey and many kinds of local spices for the kids to spread on their handmade “toys”. This is to encourage the bears to tear the cardboard into pieces to get a taste of the ingredients .

A brief instructions on the process and procedure of
making “toys” for the sun bears.

She definitely wants to create the best toy for the bears!

This place has turned into a toy factory!

The end product!

Well done guys! these are amazing!

After the toy making activity, it was the end of their programme. Before they left, we took the opportunity to thank them for visiting us and made some enrichment for the bears to play with.

Thanks everybody! We’ll see you again next time!

Cerah and Jelita – Wild chapter in their lifes

Date: December 6th 2012

Text and photo by Chiew Lin May

Malayan sun bear (Helartos malayanus) need a diverse tropical rainforest to survive. They are forest dependent species. BSBCC forest enclosure highlight the needs for animals better prepared for living in their natural environment. One of the primary goals of the BSBCC is to rehabilitate and release suitable orphaned and ex-captive bears back into the wild, providing an improved long-term living environment for captive bears that cannot be released.

The BSBCC forest enclosure is an old growth forest with full-grown trees and lianas. Over the past many months, we have observed good progress on Cerah and Jelita display their wild behavior and stand a better chance to freedom in the wild.  They are an arboreal bear species. They spend a lot of their time foraging for food, resting, digging and climbing on tree canopy at BSBCC forest enclosure.

They play a vital role as seed dispersers in their forest ecosystem as when they eat the fruits contain seeds. The seeds will be carried long away from the parent tree or scatter the undigested seeds in their faeces with a way to spread out and grow in new places. The importance of seed dispersal is for the continuation of plant and species life.

Sun bears are opportunistic omnivore. Cerah and Jelita forage by using their claws to dig the decayed wood searching for natural bear food such as termites and beetle larvae. They have to forage a lot each day in order to meet their energy requirement. They are good at skimming through the forest enclosure with their nose and paws to find any kinds of food in the forest. Jelita like to sit on the ground with her body straight up and held the food with her front paws and licked it. They are feeding on fruits both on the ground and in the trees. Sometimes, their black fur makes them not easy to be spotted when they are foraging on the dark forest floor at the forest enclosure.

Cerah the sun bear use her strong jaws and teeth to open coconuts!

Cerah and Jelita enjoying their morning snack.

Decayed wood was the most common type of feeding site for sun bears to search of termites, beetle larvae and earthworms.

Sun bears are good tree climbers because that is where they can find their food.  In the forest enclosure, Cerah and Jelita climb like a wild sun bear. They are excellent climbers and are thought to sleep in trees. It is lucky to saw the interesting behavior of the sun bears climbing up the trees. They usually spend most of their day sleeping and sunbathing on the tree or forest floor in the forest enclosure. After napping, they spend much of the time foraging for food.

Both of them climb like a wild sun bear in the BSBCC forest enclosure.

Jelita rolled her long tongue out when it yawned.

Here are some of photos showed the Cerah and Jelita difference resting/ sleeping postures.

Jelita taking a nap after finish the corn on tree !!

These trees will provide bedding sites for sun bears. Those branches also make a nice place to build a nest for resting or sunbathing during the day. Cerah and Jelita enjoy exploring the natural environment at BSBCC forest enclosure.

A sun bear’s nest found in tree at BSBCC forest enclosure.

Cerah and Jelita enjoy exploring the natural environment at BSBCC forest enclosure. While studies of sun bears in the wild indicate they live solitary existence, most likely due to competition for food but Cerah and Jelita are best pals. They will share food, comfort and protect each other together. Cerah have strong sense of curiosity.  She will stay alert and avoid with presence of human and surrounding sound in the BSBCC forest enclosure. She will quickly climb trees to seek shelter and safety.

BSBCC forest enclosure is a perfect dwelling place that the rescued sun bears can roam freely by day and night. Cerah and Jelita has learned from experience and developed technique in survival skills. Observed them venture and acclimate to life in the forest.  This showed a positive sign of independence and given the sun bears the best chance of survival in the wild. Both of the sun bears are fascinating in the forest enclosure. Watching the change of both of the sun bears grown healthy and adapt well in the forest is undoubtedly one of our greatest pleasures.

Cerah and Jelita like to play together in the forest enclosure.

Help us spread the words about the forgotten species – the sun bears! Together we can make a difference!!

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Damai’s Introduction to New Cage

Date: December 1st 2012

Text and photo by Gloria Ganang

Damai, the newest resident and currently the youngest bear at the centre is moving to her new cage. She is so much tinier (only about 5 months old) than the rest of the bears at the centre. Therefore, the process of moving her is a bit of a challenge as we have to slowly introduce her to the neighbors.  On the morning of the 24^thNovember 2012, the BSBCC team gathered some natural elements to put inside her cage before Damai moves in. This includes dried leaves for the floor, fresh leaves as bedding material for her basket, tree branches as climbing structures and pieces of hanging logs in the middle. Well, this is how it looks like after we have completely set up her cage!

Next, it is time to move Damai in!

Her first reaction as she entered the cage was the basket. She instantly climbed inside and sniffed everywhere.

She then climbed down through the branches attached to the basket and continued exploring the rest of the cage.

Damai is new to the bears at the facility. Her unfamiliar smell made them startled and barked at her the first time she entered the cage. She gets frightened when hearing the barking sound. Therefore, she needs to be carefully observed every time she is in her new cage. This is until the rest of the bears get used to her.

Damai has a long way to go through rehabilitation. High hopes from BSBCC team that she could one day be living in the wild!

Check out Damai’s profile on our official website. You may click on the following link:

http://www.bsbcc.org.my/damai.html

Medicine practitioners urged to help reduce bear bile demand

Date: November 18th 2012

http://www.traffic.org/home/2012/11/16/medicine-practitioners-urged-to-help-reduce-bear-bile-demand.html

Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia 16th November 2012—“Traditional medicine practitioners have a crucial role to play in reducing the demand for bear bile and gallbladder that drives the illegal trade in South-East Asia’s bears,” TRAFFIC told delegates to the 9th World Congress of Chinese Medicine held in Kuching, Sarawak in Malaysia last week.

The Congress, one of the industry’s most important annual gatherings, serves as a platform for specialists from all over the world to present the latest developments in Chinese medicine. The theme of this year’s Congress was Traditional Chinese Medicine—contributing factor to the harmony of humans and nature.

Speaking at the Congress, TRAFFIC Deputy Regional Director in South-East Asia, Dr Chris R. Shepherd, described how TRAFFIC’s research had shown that continued demand for traditional medicines made from bear parts and derivatives posed a severe threat to wild bear populations in Asia.

Both bear species in South-East Asia—the Asian Black Bear Ursus thibetanus and Sun Bear Helarctos malayanus—are hunted, especially for their gallbladder, which contains bile—a key ingredient in some traditional medicines.

A 2011 TRAFFIC study, Pills, Powders, Vials & Flakes: The bear bile trade in Asia(PDF, 1 MB), had shown such trade to be widespread, often carried out openly, despite it being illegal, and revealed that many of the farms supplying bear gallbladder and bile are stocking their facilities with wild-caught bears and not captive bred ones as often claimed.

Surveys have repeatedly found China to be the main source of the bear bile products on sale throughout South-East Asia. Such international trade in South-East Asian bears, and their parts and derivatives, is strictly prohibited by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Both South-East Asian bear species are listed in Appendix I of the Convention, which prohibits international commercial trade. They are also both listed as Vulnerable by IUCN, because of their declining populations in the wild.

In September 2012, a Motion to phase out bear bile extraction facilities stocked with wild-caught bears was overwhelmingly passed at the IUCN World Conservation Congress, held in Jeju, South Korea.

The Motion also recommended Parties to CITES to implement fully the legislation to prevent illegal international trade in Asian Black and Sun Bears and products derived from them, and promote greater public awareness of these issues to reduce the demand for bear products.

“While the IUCN Motion is a step in the right direction, it is absolutely critical too that efforts be made to reduce greatly the demand for bear bile. In addition to increased enforcement efforts, active participation from the traditional medicine practitioners and retailers is essential to meet this goal,” said Shepherd.

TRAFFIC is also urging authorities to step up their efforts to shut down the illegal trade, and ensure those violating CITES and national legislations are penalized.

“There are legal herbal alternatives to bear bile – consumers need to be made aware of this and be persuaded to stop using medicine containing bear bile,” added Shepherd.

It’s Time For Sun Bears Annual Health Check

Date: November 14th 2012

Text by Chiew Lin May and Joanna Yeo Mei Ling
Photo by Dawn Serene and Tee Thye Lim

As we approach the end of the year, it is time for the sun bears at BSBCC to do their annual health check. Typically conducted within the time frame of an hour, the purpose of the check up is to allow the Veterinary team to make a full assessment of the sun bears’ health status. These include an assessment of their overall health, potential sickness (e.g. signs of distress, ill-health, disease, injury etc.), functioning of the internal organs, healing rate of their wounds and physical being. If needed, medications and treatments are also provided during the examination. The veterinary team has been very helpful in giving advices and instructions for the care of our sun bears.



The Senior Ranger from Sabah Wildlife Department,
Mr. Elis Tambing was assisted with the annual health check of the sun bears.

The first two bears to undergo health examination were female adult sun bears, Keningau (12 years old) and Susie (6 years old). This time round, the health check is done by a veterinarian from the Sabah Wildlife Department with the help of senior ranger Mr. Elis Tambing. Conducted in the morning, the entire procedure took around 2 hours to complete.



Beyri (Right) and Lin May (Left)
were taking the front paw print from
one of the female adult, Susie.



Checking teeth condition of the adult female sun bear, Keningau.

A typical health check starts off with the bears being put on general anesthesia. Following, the veterinary team will perform a thorough check on the bears’ health that includes the measurement of their weight, a check through of their physical condition, temperature, pulse and respiration rate as well as an inspection of their teeth, claw and joints. Blood and hair samples were also obtained to do further testings on potential infections by parasites. A few members of the BSBCC team, Gloria, Dawn, Thye Lim, Beyri and myself were also there to assist the veterinary team.

Measuring the front paw length.

The procedure will then end off with the sun bears being brought back to their dens and monitoring the condition of the bears. For the coming weeks, the same routine will be conducted on the rest of the bears at the centre.