May 07 2008
BSBCC – How Did It All Begin?
It all begun way back in 1994 when I was given a task to study wild sun bears in Malaysia, which started in 1998 after few years of preparation. Since then, my interest toward sun bears, both wild and in captivity, grew exponentially as I saw many sun bears held in captivity but not much information available on them. The idea for the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC) was born from the realization that many sun bears are kept in captivity in unsuitable conditions. These bears are victims of the fragmentation and degradation of their rainforest home, bringing them into increased contact with man as their habitat is cut down for plantations or logged for timber.
Young bears are often captured for pets and their mothers killed in the process, or bears are caught in plantations or logging camps. Many end up in dismal captive conditions, in small cramped cages with inappropriate food and no chance of carrying out their natural behaviour.There are thought to be several dozens such bears in the East Malaysian state of Sabah alone. My vision as a Malaysian sun bear researcher and conservationist is to build a centre where these captive and orphaned bears can be housed in humane conditions, with access to large forest enclosures, living as enriched and stimulating an existence as possible, and wherever we can, to reintroduce or rehabilitate these sun bears back into the wild.We also hope to present sun bears as wildlife ambassadors for Sabah and its rainforest and rich biodiversity and to increase public awareness and education about this charismatic species, as well as promote research.
Sun bears are my passion. I have been studying and working with wild sun bears for the past 10 years. I understand the need to help them or they will not be any left. Sometimes I am so mad at the irresponsible people who catch and keep sun bears as pets in the first place. Because of their action, wild bears have been held captive and have a miserable life. At the same time, the removal of these bears from the wild reduces the opportunity to help the already declining wild population.Not many people in the world have seen how sun bear live in the wild. I am one of very few people in the world who truly have the fortunate to observe them in the wild from my many years of field studies on wild bears in the rainforest of Borneo. On the other extreme, I also see many poor sun bears live in held in captivities. These animals have their own dignity and rights to live in the wild where they truly belong. Human have no rights to keep them as pets or for amusement purposes. It is wrong to keep them in cages. It is sad and unfortunate that there are so few people in the world who are helping sun bears. I believe I have to help both wild and the captive animals with all the resources I have.
Hopefully the setting up of BSBCC will improve the living conditions of the existing captive bears, educate the public so that no bears are poached or kept as pets, and finally we can return some captive individuals to the wild where they truly belong.   In our next posting we will tell you the story of some of the bears in captivity and how they came to be there.
8 responses so far
Wong what you say is so true. The story of sun bears is so similar to chimpanzees, bonobos and gorillas. Is there any chance that you can get enough land for these captives, or to release them back into the wild in a safe place?
I hope to follow your blog and donate — I love sun bears and hope that your dreams of a sanctuary comes true! Thank you!
You’ve really set quite a task for yourself, sir. I hope to be able to donate and help you accomplish it. I want to see sun bears thrive and live again in the wild. You’re absolutely right - human animals have no rights to keep non-human animals as captives and abuse them. It must be daily torture for any wild animal to be held captive and not be able to follow its instincts.
Are sun bears held captive on bile farms, similar to the plight of moon bears? I’m asking because poaching bears for their gall bladders is becoming a huge problem here in the U.S., even close to where I live.
s.
Hi Paula,
Yes, the situation for sun bears is very similar the species you mentioned, including orangutans. This is exactly what we want to do at BSBCC! During the first phase of the project, we want to build a proper facility for the captive bears who are keep in small cages almost all their life to have access to natural forested environment. We now have a 2 ha. primary forest to build the natural enclosures for these bears. In the second phase of the project, we plan to reintroduce or release certain qualified bears into the wild so that they can have a second chance to live in the forest where THEY TRULY BELONGS! In Sabah, we still have large and relatively safe forests to do so. More education and conservation awareness program is needed desperately to protect the remaining forests from the loggers.
Hi Wanda,
Thank you too! I love sun bear so so much just like you. I have been study wild sun bears for many years and I hope to apply all of my knowledge gained from the studies to really help them survive and make it to the next millennium!
Hi Sheryl,
Yes, I know I have set up a huge task for myself! I have the choice to walk away from it after I finish my doctorate study and get a well-paid job and raise my happy family thereafter. However, I choose to do it because I have to do it. If I don’t do it, no one will. There have been so few people in the world working, studying, and helping sun bears and unfortunately, I am the only one studying them and one of very few biologist in the world working to conserve them. However, as you said, this task is huge. I simply cannot do it all by myself, I need helps and supports from all kind of people like you to make it happen. We are so glad that Wildlife Direct is so kind to help us set up this blog to raise awareness and fund for the project. We need helps from all of you to make it happen and help the animals that we love so much!
Wong
Wong, we are indeed very greatful for your dedication to this beautiful animal. So you have the land, wonderful! Have you been in contact with WSPA, they do a lot of work with bears, in general.IFAW might also be able to help. And of course, us, as well.
Hi Theresa, Thanks for your information. I contacted both WSPA and IFAW but both of them cannot help us because of lack of funding and bad economy. So we need to seek other alternatives.
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Cool!