Bornean Sun Bear Conservation

Category: BSBCC, conservation, education | Date: Jul 06 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong

By Wai Pak Ng

On July 2, Sylvia Alsisto from Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre came and asked me to present a talk about sun bear and BSBCC. Of course I am more than happy to do that as I had done that to several groups of volunteer. However, it ended up with a three-day talk to three groups of students. The most challenging part was the audience was ranged from 8 – 17 years old school kids! I have to tell you that the first image that bangs into my minds was a group of “monkey” yelling and jumping here and there!

They were our special guests. 

I was only given a night to prepare the presentation. I have to modified and practice my speech so that the kids won’t get bored with all the science facts and terms. I also invited two guests to my talk who were Winnie and Teddy (toys that I borrowed from Cecilia)! With two of them, I started my introduction and I managed to grab the audience attention!

Participants from the YAWA 6^th International Children’s Conference on the Environment were listen to the sun bears talk at Sepilok.  

The presentation was going smooth. I was pleased as they were no “monkey” in the theatre. In fact, most of the kids were paying their full attention! During the Q and A session, questions raised and I was surprised with a kid who asked: Can we put on artificial claws to those de-claws-bears? I was sad to tell the kids the truth, No, we can not. In fact, their enthusiasms really impress me because these children were really care about our bears! I am sure they will be those who can change the situation. 

Questions were asked during the Q and A session. You can tell they want to know more about sun bear and want to help them. 

After the talk, I brought the kids to have a closer look of our sun bears. They even have the chance to sit inside a small iron cage where Susie the bear was kept before. To them, it was also a new experience and opportunity to create their empathy, and get to understand our very own local wildlife, our sun bear situation and their plight.   

One of the kids told me: It was fun to sit in the cage, but not all the time, not even more than a minute! She wants freedom and she knows the bears do as well.

I think they will definitely understand what space really mean. 

By giving this presentation, I have learnt so much from the kids. It reminds me the important of environment education to our young generation as well as other elders. Again, let hope our centre can be set up earlier, so that the public can know more about our bears and love our wildlife and their environment. Notes: YAWA 6^th International Children’s Conference on the Environment were organized by Yayasan Anak Warisan Alam, (Children’s Environmental Heritage Foundation) and Sabah Environmental Education Network (SEEN), at Rainforest Discovery Centre, Sepilok, from 1^st – 5^th June 2009.

Tags: BSBCC, conservation, education, sun bear