Freedom is The Goal!

14/8/2019

Text By Manuel Baumgartner & Sophie Baumgartner
Photos By Chiew Lin May & Sumira Muis@APE Malaysia


We are Manuel and Sophie from Switzerland and are currently travelling for 6 months. We will be in Borneo for 7 weeks. We are mammal watchers in our free time and are out in nature whenever we can. We are especially looking for bears and cats, but we are enjoying every single surprise that nature gives us.
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Since last year we do not only want to observe animals, but also try to be more and more active in conservation. We wanted to learn more about the reintroduction process, be physically active, and because we love bears, the BSBCC volunteer program was perfect for us.

We were impressed by the organization of the team and how well the processes work: It doesn't seem easy to us to look at all these unique bears with unique needs! We were very happy to work with the nice, interested and helpful team. It was especially important for us to learn more about the reintroduction process and its conditions. We also wanted to have the opportunity to ask critical questions. Dr. Wong, the founder of the BSBCC, took a lot of time for us to ask all our questions and we were very grateful for this exchange and for all the things we learned. 

​It was nice that we were soon able do a lot of work and work close to the bears. If you observe well, you can learn a lot about the behavior and the different characters. Unfortunately, we also saw what the consequences of a long captivity can be and how important the enrichments can be.

We wish all bears that have the opportunity to be released, to be free and to see, sniff and experience the wonderful wilderness of Borneo in peace.

Thanks a lot to the whole team for this good time full of laughter and a lot of sweating.

Romolina Explore Enrichment Hanging Spectacle Tyre

13/8/2019

Video by Chiew Lin May


Orphaned and kept as an illegal pet- one-year-old, Little Romolina needs endless love and care. 
​Let's see what happens when she has a "Hanging Spectacle Tyre"!

Logan Growls when Encounter Stranger

10/8/2019

Video by Chiew Lin May

Sun bears do vocalize with a different type of sound. 
​Watch how Little Logan react when he encounters danger.

Taking a Huge Leap: Striving Panda

9/8/2019

Text by Khairunnisa binti Mohd Faisal (Intern Student, University Science Malaysia)
Photos by Chiew Lin May

Every sun bear should be given an opportunity to be released into the forest. They deserve to live a free life in their natural habitat. There is this one sun bear named Panda. She is 11 years old and originated from Tawau District. Panda is in good terms with a male bear, Kudat. She was named “Panda” because both of the bears were mistakenly displayed as “Panda Bears” at a private mini zoo located in Kudat District.

Fence training is conducted because the forest enclosure is surrounded with an electric fence which is to make sure the bears do not escape from the forest enclosure. A few years ago, Panda had her first fence training. However, Panda failed the test as she was zapped and refused to go out to the training pen.
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There is always a second chance for Panda as we believe that she can do better. This year, we gave Panda a second chance and conducted another fence training for her. To sum the experience up, Panda did very well and so much improvement was recorded during the sessions.

On the first day of fence training, Panda did not want to go out from the cage. She spent most of her time sniffing the sliding door and tapping the ground. She likes to tap a lot. Two of her front limbs were out and she managed to only use her tongue to eat the food in the training pen. She ended up pacing in the cage after she was no longer able to grab any more food in the training pen.

On the fifth day of training, Panda made a huge improvement in which her whole body was out to the training pen. She started by observing the environment in the training pen and began to eat the prepared food in the middle of the pen. However, she was a little bit insecure whenever she heard noise made by another bear. Whenever there was a strange sound, Panda would run into the cage and pace. It took a while for Panda to go out to the training pen again.

Panda got her first zap on the 7th day of training. Amazingly, she did not panic. She stayed in the training pen and continued searching for food. Panda approached the electrical fence area and grabbed the food underneath it using her claws. It looked like Panda was aware of the fence and kept some distance whenever she tried to grab the food.

Over 4 consecutive fence training sessions, Panda made herself comfortable in the training pen. She started to remove the log to find food, often got herself near the fence to grab food underneath it and spent a longer amount of time observing the environment in the training pen instead of pacing in the cage. It was so overwhelming to see such improvement in her. However, she was still startled by the noise made by other bears. When there was a noise, Panda took the food in the training pen and brought it into the cage and continued eating there. Panda is very sensitive to loud noise as she feels unsafe whenever she hears it.

Starting Day 11 until Day 17 of the fence training session, Panda felt safer in the training pen and she already knew the right technique to grab the food underneath the electrical fence. The prepared food for the session is almost finished being eaten by her. Panda spent most of her time eating in the training pen and exploring the environment in the pen.

Now, the fence training progress has been upgraded and Panda will be released into the training pen for around 3 hours every day to make her feel comfortable in the pen. Once she passes the fence training, she will become an eligible candidate to be released to the forest enclosure in BSBCC.

Do you know that even sun bears need to play?

4/8/2019

Text by Natalie Lian Qian Wei (Intern Student, University Science Malaysia)
​Photos by Natalie Lian Qian Wei & Chiew Lin May

Enrichment come in the forms of toys or treats for animals. Although it may look like something insignificant, this is not true at all! Enrichment are especially vital for bears that were previously kept as pets and were rescued, as these bears were unable to learn essential survival skills. Enrichment encourage them to exhibit natural bear behaviours, such as climbing, foraging, and digging.  

In BSBCC, there are five types of enrichment which are enclosure enrichment, foraging enrichment, sensory enrichment, novel objects, and social enrichment.

Enclosure enrichment are structures that allow for activities such as climbing and resting. In BSBCC, these enrichment are made of materials such as tyres, firehoses, and woods. 

This is Kina on a hammock made of firehose

Logan on a climbing structure made of wood

Ronnie with a cub platform!

Foraging enrichment are food-based enrichment that help to enhance the bears’ foraging skills. Fruits and spice powder can be wrapped in plant materials such as ginger leaves or wrapped in cardboard papers. Peanut butter can be smeared between a few attached sticks.

This is called a nestball, made up of food items such as fruits and spices wrapped in plant materials

This is called a nestball, made up of food items such as fruits and spices wrapped in plant materials

Hello bear, here is an egg carton parcel for you!

The bears will eat the banana leaves

Sensory enrichment help to sharpen the senses of bears, such as gustation and olfaction.

Ronnie with ginger leaves- A scented plant

Novel object enrichment provide bears with the opportunity to explore and play with new items. 

Hi, I am Bermuda and I am playing with the Aussie Dog Ball.. upside down!

Sunbearo with a Kong toy

Social enrichment encourages social interaction between bears. It is good to have friends!

BJ and Kina - Integration of bears

Enrichment are very important as they help to reduce boredom and stress. When the bears are bored or stressed, pacing can be observed and the bears will move in a stereotypic motion. Enrichment can help to keep them occupied and contented.
 
New ideas of enrichment are always welcomed! Yet, bear in mind that there are also a few factors that need to be taken into consideration. An enrichment must always be safe for the bears, thus we need to avoid sharp objects and toxic plants. To make an enrichment, we must also first observe the behaviour of the bears, so that we know what is suitable for them. For example, wood can be given to bears that have long claws, to encourage them to dig and at the same time help to wear down their claws.

Kala the bear exploring dead wood

I believe satisfaction can be felt when the bears enjoy the enrichment that we made for them, not forgetting to mention that they look so cute when they are playing or eating! Preparing enrichment is actually a fun activity for the keepers and volunteers too.

Dear readers, I hope you will be able to get an idea of what enrichment are, thank you for reading!