Bornean Sun Bear Conservation

Category: BSBCC | Date: Oct 29 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong

Finally, after 3 months of construction, the roof of the new bear house is up today!  

After the roof being in place, the wall and the cages for the bears are slowly taking its place. Soon our bear will have their new house!

Photos by Jocelyn Stokes

Tags: Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, construction, Sabah, sun bear

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Category: BSBCC | Date: Oct 29 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong

Yesterday, while playful Suria was chewing on a stick or two, the BSBCC crew was busy re-cementing the floor of the larger enclosure. Although, she doesn’t know it yet, Suria will soon be moved back into the large activity area where she will have quadruple the space to roam and play.  The problem began when the bears started to dig up the cement flooring, which injured the padding on their paws. Suria had to be quarantined briefly to prevent further injury while the floor was repaired.  Now, we are all excited to see her moved back in!

Further excitement is also spreading with the steady progress of the new bear centre roof.  The construction workers have been diligently preparing for this task and are now busy realizing the completion of the new ceiling.  Also being laid, currently, are the first bricks of the new centre.  Great work everyone!
–
Jocelyn Lori Stokes

Tags: Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, construction, Sabah, sun bear

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Category: BSBCC | Date: Oct 27 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong

We’ve reached halfway in the contract to build Phase I of the new Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre and I’m pleased to report good progress. I’ll let the photos tell the story.

Please click here to visit Ian Hall blog http://arkitrek.com/http:/arkitrek.com/bsbcc-construction-photo-diary/

Ian Hall is our architect who is the designer the BSBCC. 

Tags: Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, construction, Ian Hall, Sabah, sun bear

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Category: BSBCC, education | Date: Oct 26 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong

By MUGUNTAN VANAR

KOTA KINABALU: American animal expert Jack Hanna, popularly known as “Jungle Jack” is in Malaysia for a television shoot of the wild.

The 62-year-old is in Sabah to film orang utans, sunbears, proboscis monkeys and pygmy elephants in the wilds of Borneo for his entertainment and educational television show “Jack Hanna’s Into The Wild.”

Hanna and his crew will also be heading towards Sarawak and peninsular Malaysia during his two-week trip to Malaysia and Singapore for at least four 30-minute television series.

Invited by Tourism Malaysia, Hanna told reporters here that the great apes and elephants had always fascinated him and that it was the first time he was doing a show on orang utan and the Borneo pygmy elephants.

‘’I have always wanted to come to Malaysia but my tight schedules around the world delayed me. I am really excited to be here in Borneo,” said Hanna who has been hosting educational animal shows for the last 43 years.

In Sabah, he will focus on the Sandakan Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre, Sunbear Conservation, Guamuntong caves, Kinabatangan and Labuk Bay before leaving for Kuching where he will focus on the Sarawak Cultural Village and Bakun National Park.

He will briefly visit Singapore before heading to Batu Caves and Kuala Gandar Elephant Sanctuary in the peninsula.

“Our show is about people, culture and animals,” said Hanna whose shows reach 98% of the audience in the United States.

He is a regular guest in Good Morning America, Larry King Live, The Late Show with David Letterman and Fox News Programmes.

Hanna, who stresses on respecting animals in their habitats, the theme of his series were to educate people on the various animals as it was a foundation towards conservation efforts.

“When I say respect animals, I mean you should just leave them to do what they are doing in their habitat and not disturb or provoke them,” he added.

Hanna said that his company allowed the host country to get rights to use his films for their respective promotions.

Tags: Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, Jack Hanna, Malaysia, Sabah, sun bear, wildlife

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Category: BAT-Bornean Action Teams, BSBCC, Volunteers | Date: Oct 24 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong

Text: by Billy Dunn

Photos: by Billy Dunn and Ian Hall 

The construction of the biogas digester at the new Sun Bear Conservation Centre in Sepilok took a bit of time to get running and underway but after ten days of hard building, pumping, lifting, grafting, sweating, itching, bleeding, plastering, twisting, bending and cutting, it was an impressive achievement thanks to the volunteers from Camps International.   

When complete the biogas digester will turn bear dung into methane gas that can be used to cook the bears’ daily meal of rice. After arriving in Sepilok the initial tasks facing the group were not too exciting or enjoyable but hard labour and exhausting work! We started by moving 1500 bricks from outside to inside the site, which involved a lot of timber planks, deep clay resembling a battlefield full of water and wheelbarrows with punctured wheels…not a good combination for moving bricks!  

To follow, the excavated location on site for the digester was full of water. After trying to convince the girls that bailing the water out with buckets all day was the only solution, the contractors, having seen their faces, gladly lent us their pump and the water was gone soon enough. 

Once the site was clean and dry, the concrete platform was revealed beneath the water and leaves. We then moved a third of the bricks down our own hand made steps, carved out from the clay, and into the centre of the circle, only to realise that the centre of the circle was actually required to draw and mark out the circular footprint for the bricks! After a brief re-location, to the girl’s delight of course, we laid out the first course. With a quick lesson in the art of bricklaying by leader Howard, we quickly learnt that bricklaying was indeed an art and not as easy as maybe expected previously! 

We soon developed an effective production line of sand/cement mixing, water collecting, concrete mixing, bucket filling and distributing down the steps to the site. This was all being done in sticky wet clay, hot, humid conditions and with every contractor working in Sepilok staring at our every move. Well I say “our” every move, as lovely as Matt and I are, I’m pretty sure it had something to do with all the girls working on site! Their entertainment eventually turned to frustration with our bricklaying skills and they soon joined us down in the pit. A solid afternoon’s work with the contractors got us back on track and we were soon motoring on with the construction. 

The arrival of the remainder of the group brought an injection of enthusiasm, plus the skills of their leaders Mann and Zul. Our initial attempts to build the dome for the digester were not as successful as we maybe first thought. Despite it being our first experience bending metal bars into circles and arcs, we were relatively happy and satisfied with our efforts. That is until Mann took one look at it and worked his magic! His construction experience was clear to see as he took our “dome” apart and began amending our “arches” into curved things of beauty! When re-attached and covered with steel mesh, the finished dome was an impressive sight. 

The moment of truth came when the dome was placed onto the brick structure to find out how well it would fit. It sat perfectly and the steel circular rings were attached using the vertical metal rods bedded in between the double skin of bricks. A hard mornings work then began when the inside face of the dome was plastered, a very messy and tiring job but one that was achieved successfully in one go. To complete the group’s work, the outside face was then plastered in the afternoon and covered with damp blankets. 

Without the efforts and hard grafting by the volunteers, the biofuel digester would still be a large pond on site. The group made great progress in the ten days and should be proud of the efforts! On behalf of B.S.B.C.C., I would like to thank Camps International for their contribution, as their work here will always be seen and felt by the centre for years to come.

Tags: Billy Dunn, biogas digester, Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, Ian Hall, sun bear, Volunteer

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Category: BSBCC, Volunteers, education, sanctuary | Date: Oct 19 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong

Photos and text by Jocelyn Stokes 

Over here at the centre the bear crew can’t help but take a keen liking to a trio of young sun bears who may have actually been acrobats in a past life.  While one is hanging upside down from the ceiling with its head arched back and legs flailing in the air, another will be swinging though the air in a tire, whilst the other is usually balancing stealthily in the corner, arms straight up, or perhaps tearing open a coconut.  They’re a regular riot to observe with their overflowing abundance of character and youthful antics!  Deemed the ‘three amigos’ by a troupe of loyal volunteers from New Zealand,  these three bears,  Jolita, Lawa and Cerah, truly delight in each other’s company. “The reason they get along so well,” explains Wai Pak, the onsite Educational Officer, “is because they are so young.  At their age they need playmates.  They all happen to be the same age, as well, and they have grown up in captivity, so they are particularly fond of each other!”

  It’s a truly enjoyable sight to behold when a group of young wild, animals with a rather unfortunate past can be helped to live in such contentment.  And, why not?  These bears are blessed with more love and attention than most creatures could dream of having.  Although their living space in not quite adequate yet, these bears are still receiving the utmost care.  Through the hard work and dedication of the small BSBCC staff, along with the fresh, motivated energy of the volunteer groups, these bears receive healthy nourishment, instinctual stimulation, and well-cared for environments.  All the bears have to worry about is how they’ll break open their next coconut and even that doesn’t seem to challenge them for too long.

1 - Labors of Love - our friendly bear caretaker, David, is bringing sugar cane, fruit and other yummy treats for the bears.

2 - Wai Pak is happily raking dry leaves to put into the bear cages, which helps to create a more natural surface for them to walk on.

Tags: Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, Jocelyn Stokes, sun bear, Volunteer

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Category: BSBCC, Siew Te Wong, conservation, education, publication | Date: Oct 17 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong

bear1.pdf bear-2a.pdf bear-3.pdf

 This is a new article that I wrote for Society & Environment-A monthly magazine published by Zayed International Prize for the Environment (www.zayedprize.org.ae) what base in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It was published in the July 2009 issue. Special thanks to Ms Seema Sangra, the Editor and the Art Director of the magazine for publishing this sun bear article. 

Tags: Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, magazine Siew Te Wong, Sabah, Society and Environment, sun bear

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Category: BSBCC, Volunteers | Date: Oct 15 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong

By Jocelyn Stokes  

As my plane landed on that grassy runway, I looked out the windows to see banana trees surrounding rustic village huts and noted quite emphatically to myself,

 ”I am in Borneo!”

Wai pak and Billy met me just outside the Sandakan airport gates with warm, friendly smiles and swooped me off to the local market and clinic for a brief health check. The visit to the clinic is quite mandatory, I have discovered, when working in such close proximity to the protected wildlife. Wai Pak is the most qualified member of the SSBCC staff that is currently residing in Sabah. He has a great knowledge of the centre and an admirable fatherly relationship to the bears. Billy is the architect’s assistant who is also deeply interested in the welfare of the bears, along with the design and construction of the new bear centre.  I have taken the role of not only the onsite conservationist photojournalist, but also the very first official BSBCC volunteer.   It’s a very exciting time for the BSBCC.  Phase 1 of construction for the new centre is in full swing. I feel privileged to be here to witness the great changes that are occurring.

The new centre will provide the ex-captive and orphaned sun bears a more natural environment, in a secure section of the forest reserve, so that they can be safe and outdoors! It’s terribly sad to see these amazing, beautiful wild creatures living behind bars.  Although it is better for them to be safe here in these cages, than in life-threatening situations elsewhere, it is not suitable for them to be so confined.

Since Siew Te Wong founded BSBCC and took over the care of the confiscated sun bears from Sabah Wildlife Department’s Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in 2007, there have been vast improvements in the current bear facilities.  The bears have much better living conditions than before, yet the new centre will be optimal. The new centre, when fully built, will be able to accommodate 43 bears (31more than currently). Thus, there will be space for more confiscated bears that may need to be rescued and rehabilitated. Sadly, with the progression of various threats against the safety of the wild sun bears, including habitat loss, pet trade and poaching, there will most likely be many more bears that are in need of rescue.

The BSBCC, with the help of LEAP, has raised enough money to fund the first phase of the building construction; however, to complete the proposed plan quite a bit more funding will be necessary. I am hoping that through my photography I will be able to raise more funding for the construction of the new centre.  Unfortunately, the costs of maintaining the facility and sustaining the bears will also increase will the new centre because the small government funding they are currently receiving will cease to exist.  This is an even greater incentive to ‘get the ball rolling’ on raising money for the magnificent sun bears and their new home!

Wong’s notes: Jocelyn is a photographer and writter. You can learn more about her and her work at http://www.jocelynstokes.com/. We are very thankful that Jocelyn could come to help us at BSBCC to do what she do best: photograph and write about our bears, centre, and the forests.

Thank you Jocelyn!

Tags: Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, Jocelyn Stokes, sun bear, Volunteer

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Category: BSBCC, captivity, conservation, education, sanctuary | Date: Oct 06 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong

A Sun Bear IS NOT a Panda—

A call for wildlife education and awareness in Malaysia

by Wai Pak Ng

Recently a friend and supporter of BSBCC went to visit the Victory Mini Zoo Farm in Papart, Kudat  in the Northern Region of Borneo, and he was shocked by what he found.  Apparently the Zoo was advertising that they had a Panda Bear but instead it was 2 Malayan Sun Bears, which are Totally Protected under Sabah’s Wildlife Conservation Enactment.  The rationale for incorrectly identifying the bears is unclear—they may be using the name Panda to attract visitors or they could be mistaken about the type of Bear that they are housing.   Either way, this error is misleading and embarrassing and unfortunately indicates that the Zoo management know very little about the wildlife that they are responsible for, which is a scary indicator of the level of treatment that the animals are receiving. 

Tags: Bornean Bear Conservation Centre, BSBCC, Mini Zoo, Sabah, sun bear

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Category: conservation, poaching, threats | Date: Oct 05 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong

TIGER RESCUE POINTS TO URGENT NEED FOR MORE PATROLS

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The rescue of a tiger from a snare set by poachers near the Gerik-Jeli highway yesterday should set alarm bells ringing for the remaining wild tigers in the Belum-Temengor forests, one of the last strongholds for this species and other mammals in Malaysia. 

The five-year-old male tiger was freed from its snare by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (PERHILITAN) officers after it was discovered late yesterday by WWF’s Wildlife Protection Unit (WPU), which conducts regular patrols together with PERHILITAN in the area. The tiger has been taken to the Malacca Zoo for treatment. 

The WPU rangers on a routine patrol had earlier detected two men on motorcycles near the site who fled when they saw the WPU rangers approach.  When rangers returned to check the area, they found the tiger with its front right paw caught in a snare. 

The snare had been set on a ridge in a forested area near the Perak-Kelantan border, not too far from the highway. 

The Belum-Temengor forest complex is one of three priority areas identified in the National Tiger Action Plan. It is also part of an area of global priority for Tiger conservation. Yet it is highly vulnerable to encroachment and poaching due to its proximity to the porous Malaysia-Thai border and among the most easily accessible because of the 80-km long Gerik-Jeli highway that cuts across the landscape, providing hundreds of easy entry points for poachers. 

Apart from the PERHILITAN-WPU joint patrols, this vast and wildlife-rich forest complex and its highway are not systematically or thoroughly patrolled, making it an open target for poachers. 

In the past year alone, PERHILITAN and the WPU have also recorded numerous encroachers in Perak’s jungles, particularly near the Belum-Temengor area, with the most recent incident in August, when a Thai national was caught by the police with pangolin scales and agarwood in the forest near the highway. 

PERHILITAN, Police and the WPU have worked together to remove 101 snares and arrest 10 poachers in the last nine months. But there is a need for other government agencies to join in this difficult fight against wildlife crime. 

Research carried out in the area by WWF and TRAFFIC has indicated that the rescued tiger is very likely just one of many that have been poached in the area.  Illegal hunting in the Belum-Temengor area is rampant and the demand for tigers continues to drive criminals into the forest to kill the remaining ones. 

“If the WPU rangers had not spotted the suspected poachers the story might have been very different  for that tiger. We were lucky this time. Who knows how many tigers we have already lost?” said Dato’ Dr. Dionysius Sharma, CEO of WWF-Malaysia. 

“This incident clearly demonstrates the need for a stronger enforcement presence in the Belum-Temengor area. If this isn’t enough of a clarion call for the government to afford more resources to form an anti-poaching Task Force, I don’t know what is,” he added. 

The official estimate of the wild tigers in Peninsular Malaysia is only 500, a sharp decline from 3000 estimated in the 1950s, explained wildlife biologist Dr Kae Kawanishi.  

“Snares kill indiscriminately. This illegal act of cruelty should be condemned by the whole society. Despite the harsh penalty imposed by the law, it has been a major problem to wildlife throughout the country,” said Kae a member of the Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers Secretariat. 

“In order for the Malaysia to realize the goal of the National Tiger Action Plan, which is to double the number of wild tigers in the country by the year 2020, poaching cannot be tolerated,” she added. 

“At the rate Tigers are being killed throughout their entire range, they do not stand a chance, but here in Malaysia, there is still hope of saving tigers. It will mean increasing enforcement efforts to protect crucial strongholds such as the Belum-Temengor complex and coming down hard on poachers,” said Chris R. Shepherd, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia’s Regional Acting Director.    

“These poachers are criminals, and are robbing the world of one of the most amazing species to have ever walked the earth”, he said.

The front paw of the tiger caught in the snare.
- Pictures courtesy of WWF Malaysia

Note to Editor:For further information on the incident, kindly contact Puan Shabrina Shariff, Director of Perak Department of Wildlife and National Parks. Email: shabrina@wildlife.gov.my 

For further information on press release and pictures:Sarah Sukor, Communications Officer, Tiger and Rhino Conservation Programme, WWF Malaysia, Tel: 012 3060404, Email: ssara@wwf.org.my  

Elizabeth John, Senior Communications Officer, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, Tel: 012 2079790, E-mail: jlizzjohn@yahoo.com

  ==============================================================================Related posting news about this incident:

http://www.thesundaily.com/article.cfm?id=38664 

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/articles/10tig/Article/index_html

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/10/5/nation/4843387&sec=nation

==============================================================================  Please Wong’s notes: read more about the poaching and the snaring of wildlife in malaysian rainforest:

http://sunbears.wildlifedirect.org/2008/10/25/we-need-your-help-to-protect-wildlife-in-malaysia/   

“  Snares are by far any wildlife and conservationists’ nightmare. Snares are easy to make and set, cheap, light to carry, and most importantly, they are effective! You will be amazed with how similar the mechanism of snares across different continents in the world and low long human have been using the same kind of design for snaring wildlife simply because they works. In order to increase the efficiency of these snares, most hunters or poachers would construct a simple fence on the forest floor for kilometers and left little “gap” or “opening” where the loop of the snares is set. When an animal traveling on the forest floor and come across the fence, they tend to follow the fence and funneled to the little gap and they try to across the fence through that little opening where poachers already set the deathly loop on the floor awaited for their kills. As you can imagine, these snares are set by hundreds as they are cheap and easy to carry into the forest interior. What make snares a true nightmare for everyone who care about wildlife is that they do not discriminate what species of wildlife can be their next victim. Willdife as small as a pheasants, mousedeer, pangolins, civets, muntjacts, wild boar, deer, bears, and all the way range to large mammals like rhinos and elephants are some of the common victims of snares. Now is a tiger! 

Tags: conservation, poaching, snaring, sun bear, threats, tiger

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