Jun 20 2008
Captive sun bear series III: Life in hell
If these baby bears can past the crucial infant stage where extensive cares was needed, they could pretty much make it to adulthood without any problem. However, more suffering once they grew bigger and stronger. By a year old, they could reached 15 kg, and were no longer safe pets to their human owners. Their strength grew, together with the tools that they used to find food: claws and canines, which could potentially did a lot of damage, if they wanted to. Depending on where were them kept and who kept them, they could be locked in small metal cages, sometime as small as 1m x 1.5m x 1.5m. In places like mini zoo or private menageries, they were usually kept in slightly larger cages with cement floor. One thing for sure is that these bears will never had a chance to feel soil, use their claws to dig, or their canine to bite (I will write more about how a wild sun bear live in the wild later).
Most people who live in the countries where sun bears are found have no idea what is animal welfare about. In their dictionary, there is no such terms like “animal rights”, nor “animal welfare.” They do not think that the animals also have feeling, emotion, dignity, and can feel pain like a human being. What most people think about most animals is that they are here to serve us. As a result, bear owners do not feel it is wrong to cage a magnificent wildlife like a sun bear in a small cage. They think that as long as they feed the bear, and the bear stay alive, they are doing a very good job on “TAKING CARE” of the bears.
Sun bears are very “durable” animals. I say so because they can pretty much live on any kind of food once they passed the infant or young cub stage. They can be fed on pure fruit diet or pure rice diet by the owners or animal keepers who do not have a clue on nutritional or balance diet for a carnivore like sun bear. They will feed them whatever is the cheapest, easiest to obtain, and simplest for their job: “taking care” of bears! Most people will never feed these bear any meat product because they think by doing so the bear will become a “man eater” or be very dangerous. Yet, most captive bears are over fed, they are obese, and look being well “taken care” of.
Local tourists who visited the menageries, mini zoos, crocodile farms, or even zoos, do not think that it s wrong to keep the bears in such poor condition. Almost no one will feel sympathy for the bears being raised in such a poor condition. In stead, they think that the bears were quite funny, quite amusing, and fun to watch, especially these bears may stand up right to beg food from visitors. No one complains about the bears have small room to roam, hot under baking tropical sun, etc. At the end, these bears continue their suffering, no one concern about their welfare.
18 responses so far
You can see in their eyes that they’re suffering. I’ll never understand how humans can ignore that and torture and kill non-human animals for any purpose.
I’m reminded of the photos of moon bears in their crush cages at bile farms. It’s all heartbreaking.
s.
I agree with you Sheryl. Now you know why I wanted to set this sun bear center up so so badly. It was their eyes! Although they cannot speak human when I found them and meet these caged bears, it was their eyes that asking for helps! As for human, their eyes really speak, no in any human language, but a language that we and animals all have in common- the so called “eye contact” - the universal language.
Siew: Is there any way to educate the people about the need to take better care of the animals? When you say that nobody is concerned for their welfare, can that be changed? I know Jill Robinson from http://www.animalsasia.org (who is working trying to stop the horrible bear farming industry) has started to change public awareness. Is this possible here?
Suffering!!! When men will see into these eyes and feel their pain? When my God? Thank you Wong for caring them.
Yes Chris, we can repeat what Jill do and did in China. This is why I want to set up BSBCC as a strong base to do education and conservation works. I has been stuck being a student and still am, for the past many years and cannot to more to help. Now with I am approachinig toward the very end of my education, I want to do more and help them more on the ground, starting from individual animals, then to the entire population. I need to set up Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre so so so so badly so that I can have a legitimate base to do more, have a big team of people working on varios field to help them in every which way. What see happen to other endangered species conservation efforts CAN and SHOULD happen to sun bear before we loss them forever! I am full with passion and love to do more to help and keep quite and do nothing is no an option for me anymore. However, what I do not have is the money to set up BSBCC. This is why Paula from Wildlife Direct and many other people help me set this blog up and raise fund and awareness. The situation is very desperate and frustration, I wish I have all the money I need to help them but unfortunately I remain a poor student after 39 years being a human. Help please! Help sun bear please!
Here you see the photos of suffering Lucia. I took all of these photos and I was there to see them eyes on eyes alive. Can you imagine what was my feeling during at that moment? I cried and vomited! Those images haunted me for so many nights and so many sleepless nights thinking of them but cannot do much to help. It is really sad.. I hope I can change their situation.. Is not right to keep quite and pretend that nothing happen. No now, not anymore!
Any way that you could get WWF or Wildlife Conservation Society to step in and assist you setting up the BSBCC? They work in tandem with many local conservation movements. They have the benefit of $, organization, and political power behind them. They are surely involved in that part of the world (Orangutans, Asian elephants, rainforest protection, etc) and would view Sun Bears as an integral part of those ecosystems, if they aren’t already working on projects to that end. Perhaps with that kind of support it would be possible to lobby the national government there to pass and enforce more laws to protect the bears and make it a crime to cage them or hold them in these so-called zoos. Sun bears need to get the kind of national public education attention, and government protection similar to what the mountain gorilla now recieves in Rwanda in Africa. I would hope that those levels of protection were already in force for Orangutans, but everything I’ve seen and read would seem to indicate otherwise. Orangs, elephants, tigers, and Sun Bears should all be the poster kids for saving that whole SE Asian regions’ ecosystems. It’s tough going up against the oil palm interests, but the forests there, and these flagship species are running out of forest and time, FAST! It needs to be a natural history and heritage issue for all people of the hosting nations. Best Wishes
Hi The Teach,
I am 120% agree with you. What you said is so true and the NGOs and local government should do what you just said to help sun bear as much as they could. Both WWF-Malaysia and WCS-Malaysia Program operate here in Malaysia and work closely with orangutans, tigers, elephants, rhinos, sea turtles, and other wildlife habitat issues. Unfortunately, they are hesitate to get their hand on the sun bear issues despite that I have been urging them for so many years to help sun bears due to desperate situation of the bears here. I am really upset that they are unwilling to help use to some reasons that I never understand. Anyway, this why I am talking this tusk although I am still a student and should be focused my time and efforts in my studies and finished my doctorate program. I know that if I am not doing it, no body will. Hopefully after the setting up of BSBCC will raise more conservation attention for more people to help the sun bears. This is what I really hope.
Wow! Hard to believe these organizations aren’t interested in or involved with sun bear protection. Perhaps they are overwhelmed right now trying to save those other species. Stopping the cutting down of the forest is probably their first priority. If the forest goes, none of these animals will make it. The good news for you is that there is a lot of over-lap here. The efforts to save the habitat of those other animals we mentioned will also help the sun bear since they all share the same ecosystem. This is probably how they approach the issue. But, undoubtedly, it would be useful for the Malaysian government to pass laws protecting the bears, so that they will be left undisturbed in the wild. BSBCC is definitely the first step in initiating the process of a conservation program. Your commitment to and passion for this project is going to interest and inspire others in your country and abroad. As more people become more educated and involved, the project will grow and donars will provide financial support. This blog is going to help immensley by educating people all over the world. In U.S. most people are very fond of bears. There are lots of TV programs about them and it’s traditional for small children to grow up with stuffed toy animal “Teddy Bears.” This toy is named after former President Theodore Roosevelt. He was an outdoorsman and loved the wilds. He established some of our nation’s first national parks. He saved some American Wilderness from logging, mining, and petroleum companies. If not for Roosevelt these places probably would have been destroyed. Your country is now at that moment where it must decide about saving some wilderness for new parks, or cutting it down for development. Hang in there! You are part of the solution. Be patient and continue your work. Your efforts will make a difference. Thanks for your earlier response. Best Wishes.
Thanks for the comments. I am aware of great works that President Theodore Roosevelt did to the preservation and protection of American wild land and wildlife. We need the Malaysia version of President Roosevelt to safeguard the wildlife and wild land of SE Asia as we do not have much left. I see Malaysia as a last stronghold for SE Asian wildlife because of our “relatively” political and economical stability, if compare to neighboring countries. We also have the relatively larger and intact forested land, which we should not let any more deforestation or forest clearing happen to these forests. What we need is a Malaysia’s Theodore Roosevelt, a powerful politician who has the political will to preserve and to protect Malaysian wildlife and wild land. Hope we no longer have to wait too long… Really hope so..
Wong I have just seen something worrying on news about Taipei zoo giving china sun bears and other creatures in exchange for pandas “Lin Hwa-Ching, CEO of the Wildlife Conservation & Research Center at Taipei Zoo, said the exchanges between Taipei Zoo and the Shanghai Wild Animals Park may include Yangtze River alligators and black snub-nosed monkeys from Shanghai and orangutans, white-handed gibbons and sun bears from Taiwan”. Are you aware of this? What’s your opinion?
Shanghai Wild Animal Park? What I know about them comes from Animals Asia Foundation. Back in November 2006, AAF mounted a letter writing campaign to shut down the annual “Animal Olympics” at the park. You can read about this disgusting event here: http://www.animalsasia.org/index.php?module=6&menupos=3&submenupos=2&lg=en
s.
The event was cancelled for that year but there’s information from the Shanghaiist blog that sun bears were performing tricks for visitors, very similar to the “Animal Olympics,” just last year: http://shanghaiist.com/2007/05/04/live_ducks_fed.php
s.
Here’s the link to the story in China Daily that Paula referred to: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-06/25/content_6791994.htm
(Wow, I didn’t know WD had flood control!)
s.
Hi Paula and Sheryl,
Sorry for the late reply. I had a surgery last week and not be able to do too much of internet work. Sorry about that.
Yes, I heard about the Mainland China’s plan to give two pandas to Taiwan as a (political) gifts few years ago and have been a long debate topic at the politic news in Taiwan. However, I am not aware of the exchanges that involve other endangered species, including sun bears until I read the news.
Many countries use/give/exploit endangered wildlife as a diplomatic tool to achieve their political goals. China, especially, has long been using their so call “national treasure”-giant pandas, to achieve various political agendas of the country. This behavior may not sound “right” to conservation communities or animal rights group. However, as long as the import and export countries of the animals would like to do have the importation/exportation, obtain the CITES permits and other proper documents to support the importation and exportation, it is consider as legal and little can be done to stop the importation/exportation. As far as the exchange of pandas, sun bears, Yangtze river alligators, etc., are concern, this is all legal and can be done, as long as the countries involve would like that to happen. Nonetheless, conservation or animal right groups can protest or launch a campaign to stop the importation/exportation, and let the government to decide the final decision.
Hi,
Just realized your old sites were closed and luckily some other blog mentioned about you in the BEARTREK…
Am glad that the BSBCC is visualizing bit by bit… Kudos! 
I have a friend who worked in Endau Rompin told me that she had met (and got scared by…
) quite a number of sun bears in the nature reserve… Which makes me wonder if there’s any difference between Bornean & Peninsula sun bear… 
I think that we are spending a little too much money on some species, and forgot about the others…
Hi Kok Ben,
BSBCC is visualizing slowly and we have a lot of thing to do to make it happen, the most important would be the fund raising part to make it actually happening.
Sun bears in Peninsular Malaysia and in Borneo are different subspecies. The Bornean sun bear is slightly smaller than the Asian mainland. Other than that they look about the same. Although lack of information, I have a feeling that sun bear density is slightly higher than in Borneo due to more food for bears here in Asia mainland.
Kok Ben, I would like your friend who work in Endau Rompin to share her stories encountering with sun bear. Please ask her to email me at: wongsiew@hotmail.com. I am trying to compile as much as information on sun bear so any information or stories about sun bears are much welcome and appreciated!
I call sun bear and a forgotten bear. They are compete for conservation attention with other conservation interest species. Let’s change this. Please help sun bears!
That is atrocious! Those poor babies……….Thanks for trying to help these bears