The integration of Om and Ah Chong – Bornean Sun Bear Conservation

The integration of Om and Ah Chong – Bornean Sun Bear Conservation

Sun bear generally is a solitary animal in the wild. The only times when wild sun bears are not solitary is during the breeding season when male and female bears travel together for several days until mating takes place, and female sun bear with their cubs. These bear cubs can live with their mother for at least two years until they reach adulthood and are as big as their mother. Different male sun bears overlap their territory at a minimum level. They are territorial and defense their territory from other bears. Six out of the 7 adult male sun bears that I caught in the wild had bite marks and scars on their body especially neck resulting from severe fights with other bears. One male adult bear was known to kill a young female bear known as “Little one”, the sun bear that appears in the logo of BSBCC. Little one was a 10-month old female sun bear that was killed by a 3-year old male sun bear in the forest. The territorial and aggressive behavior of sun bear is a result of competition in a habitat where food is a limited resource and the male bears compete for access to female bears. Compared to other sun bear habitat in SE Asia, the rainforest of Borneo has the lowest productivity, which intensifies competition among the bear population. Sun bears are also known to be more aggressive to each other as compared to Asiatic black bears in captivity. Sun bears can live in groups in most captive situations where food is not a limiting resource and competition for mates is not an issue. However, the initial stage of integration or introduction of non-familiar bears can be the most stressful events that a bear can experience in captivity. In the wild, a bear can have the choice of interact with a strange bear based on environmental, familiarity, and safety conditions. In captivity, such choices may be limited.

At BSBCC, Om and Ah Chong are two male bears that we would like to integrate so that they can live together because we simply do not have enough enclosures for individual bear. This is the first integration for male bears at our centre and we hope the integration go well. We would like to pair them up as they have been live in adjacent cages for years with no aggression behavior in our old bear house and both of them have similar size. So finally on April 10th, we integrate them for the first time. This is what happen over the next two hours:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bQ3m-Hr59o

Bornean Sun Bear Conservation

Bornean Sun Bear Conservation

Behind the bear house is the 1 ha forest enclosure in Sepilok Forest Reserve

Our state of the art new bear house is one thing for sure that make us all very proud at Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre. It cost about USD400,000 and took 8 months to build. However, there is another important element at BSBCC that make us even more proud is our 1-hectare forest enclosure that our bears will spend most of their time playing, foraging, climbing, digging, sleeping and resting. This forest enclosure is priceless, there is simply no monetary value on this piece of 1 hectare of primary forest, and it takes millions of years to build.

When I first visited this piece of forest few years ago when searching for an ideal site for BSBCC, I cannot tell the difference between this forest that will be the our forest enclosure for the rescued sun bears and the natural forest that I spent years to study wild sun bears. This is it! This is the best living environment that we can possibly give to our rescued sun bears. Here, the bears can do what they use to do in the forest. It is also going to be here that visitors- ordinary people, not sun bear biologist, can see what I used to see sun bears did in the wild, in their natural habitat, in a primary lowland rainforest of Borneo.

Big tress and big decayed logs – sun bear: " I am home!"

Through the chain link fence is another forest enclosure with huge tree

Huge tree in the forest enclosure and the iron wood fence with hot wires

On behalf of BSBCC and all the rescued sun bears at BSBCC, I would like to thank Sabah Forestry Department and Sabah Wildlife Department, especially directors Datuk Sam Mannan and Dr. Laurentius Ambu, for their kind support to give us this piece of priceless forest enclosure. Lastly but not lease, thank you all for giving loves, cares, and supports for our works to help this special bear call sun bears.

"Thank you all!"

Successful E-fence training, and successful testing the air in the enclosure – Bornean Sun Bear Conservation

Successful E-fence training, and successful testing the air in the enclosure – Bornean Sun Bear Conservation

The moment that we all have been waiting for are finally here. After all the sun bears were settling down in their new home, the next challenges for us would be the electric-fence training, integration of different bears, and the introduction of the bears to the new forest enclosures were something that will happen over the next few days. These processes are all crucial and important parts of the “bringing the sun bear a better home.”

On April 9, we first introduced the young female group to the hot wire (electric fence) training pen so that the bears could learn to avoid the hot wire in the forest enclosures and will not escape. This is also the day when Annemarie Weegenaar begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting from AAF have to leave us to go back for the moon bears in China. It is like the fellowship of bears slowly leaving again. Separation is always sad. However, we understand that the moon bears in China needed Annemarie’s cares and loves for the moon bears.

The training session went well, although slow. Of the 4 young females, Jelita was the champion of all who first understand the message of the hot wire and later feel much comfortable foraging in the training pen and avoid touching the wire. The other bears- Cerah, Kuamut, and Lawa, pretty much followed Jelita but felt less adventurous to wonder around the hot wire training pen and spend most of the time in their own dens relaxing in the bear basket and playing. They never seem to complain much although the den is concrete floor and iron bars wall, maybe this is what they grow up with and get use to- without touching the real soil and without nurture of the forest.

Jelita in the hot-wire training pen- checking out the surrounding

Jelita found some insects in the logs and start breaking the wood to find potential food items

By now we mixed these four young female up. They occupy 4 dens/cells where they can move freely as they wish. We give them and other bears plenty of enrichments such as leaves, browse, logs, ice block, kong toys, Aussy balls, coconuts, water bath, etc. to keep them busy. During the hot wire training session that last most of the day, we open the doors between their dens to the training pen so that they can come in and out of the training pen as they wish. We want to make the bears have a positive experience with these training so that they eventually learn to avoid the hot wires surrounding the enclosures and hence discourage them from climbing the fences in the forest enclosure when they go out one day. We do not want to push them to do something that they are feel less comfortable to do. We work according to their clock.

Jelita foraging on teh decayed wood for termites

On April 12, three days after their training, we decided to let this young female group out to their forest enclosure. We open the door of the den for the first time. We thought today will marked history for the captives sun bears at BSBCC because the forest enclosure is the second items beside the new bear house that we all have been working hard for them. The moment that the bear step out from their den and put their feet on the forest’s floor will be a historic moment for sun bear in BSBCC and sun bear as a species-a big step forward to save the species. However, what happen in the next few hours to the next few days after the doors of the bear’s den opened was something that we did not expect – Only Jelita show interest of the outside world by sniffing the forest air over and over again. She made one step on the ramp that connect the den to the forest enclosure and hesitate to wonder any further. For the rest of the three girls – Cerah, Kuamut and Lawa, they preferred to enjoy their basket nap and stay put in their spacious den.

Jelita pocked her head out to check on the outside world

Jelita sniffing the forest air- she was almost there to enjoy the forest

It is understandable why these four bears hesitate to come out to the forest enclosure. First they are still young (> 3 year old) and sense of wariness to the new environment still very strong. In the wild, they would still be accompanied by their mother who give them security in term of protection and food. Second, perhaps they grow up in a small space and confine to cages pretty much all their life and feel more comfortable in their new house now than the outside world. Nonetheless, we are sure that they will come out from their den one day to enjoy their forest, their home.

The three other girls prefferref to stay put in their den and relax…

The Next Step- Phase 2 of Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre

Every great project in the world starts from a dream. For me, Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre was a dream that I dreamed some 6 years ago after seeing so many captive sun bears suffering in small cages and knowing most people were completely naïve and clueless about their plights or anything about this bear. At first it seems like a mission impossible to raise such a huge amount of money for a species that are so little known and the global economic crisis. The key successes to kick start this project in the first place was because of the immense supports from Cynthia Ong and Nancy Abraham from LEAP, and Dr. Laurentius Ambu and Datuk Sam Manan, Directors of Sabah Wildlife Department and Sabah Forestry Department, respectively. Without their help and supports in the first place, this project will not go anywhere.

The next step of the project was to strategize ways to raise fund. Dividing the construction of the centre into 3 phases would speed up the project, at least, we could improve the livelihood of the captive bears without a long waiting to raise the entire fund needed: Phase 1 be the construction of the first Bear House 1 and the 4 forest enclosures; Phase 2 be the construction of visitor gallery, observation platform and renovating the past of existing building as office ; and finally, Phase 3 as the construction of the second Bear House 2 and additional 4 forest enclosures.

After 2 years of planning, fund raising, and constructing, Phase 1 is finally completed on March 2010. The 12 sun bears we had currently will be moved to the new bear house starting on April. This is an exited moment that everyone, including the sun bears, have been long waiting for. For me, this is a very important accomplishment and also the beginning of my new career. For the captive sun bears, the moment when they finally re-united with the forest where they truly belong, means the beginning of a new era for sun bear conservation. From now on, they can re-experience what was long missing in their life: touching the soil, feeling the trees, and getting wet by the tropical rain. In the same time, we could learn more about them, care more about them, and provide more helps to them.

The completion of Phase 1 also means the beginning of Phase 2. Phase 2 hold the key for the success of the entire project because only with the completion of the Phase 2 that we could open the facility for the public and visitors to learn more about sun bear and have more personal experience with them. At the same time, we could also generate revenue from ticketing and collect donation to make our project self sustain and viable.

Again, back to the dream. Now the dream of Phase 1 has completed, and the dream of getting Phase 2 done is just begun.

Thank you everyone for being with us all these time to give hands and supports when we needed most. This project is belongs to all of us who shared the same dream – the dream of providing the unfortunate captive sun bears a better home, the dream of learning more about this little known species, and the dream of helping the sun bears from disappearing from SE Asia.

So, to all sun bear lovers and supporters, this is our plan for Phase 2 of the BSBCC:

YouTube - Wildlife for sale at Malaysia zoos

Zoos are supposed to be about conservation and helping animals.

But wildlife experts say some zoos, particularly those that are privately funded, all too often engage in the illegal wildlife trade.

At one zoo in southern Malaysia, Al Jazeera was offered several animals for sale including leopard cats, which are protected by international conventions banning their trade.

Al Jazeera's Laura Kyle reports (23 Mar 2010)

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