Joanna Bessey interviewed Siew Te Wong on the plights of sun bears
Category: BSBCC, Siew Te Wong, conservation, education | Date: Aug 28 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong
Malaysian actress Joanna Bessey interviewed Siew Te Wong on the plights of sun bears at Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre. The program was aired globally in BBC World News on April 4th 2009.
You can read more about the filming at http://sunbears.wildlifedirect.org/2008/11/06/sweat-and-smell-the-bears-is-good-to-be-back/
Tags: Bornean Bear Conservation Centre, BSBCC, Joanna Bessey, Siew Te Wong, sun bear
Sun Bear paws turn up in nationwide raids
Category: conservation, poaching, sun bear in the wild | Date: Aug 26 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong
http://www.traffic.org/home/2009/8/26/bear-paws-turn-up-in-nationwide-raids.html
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 26 August 2009—Malaysia’s wildlife authority has seized several protected animals and parts of wildlife including bear paws, in a string of raids across the country in the last two weeks.
On August 11, the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) found four bear paws in the cold room of a licensed trader’s store in the town of Kemaman in Terengganu, a state on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia.
Two days later, officers found an elephant tooth in a home in Triang, Pahang. On 18 August, several species of wildlife illegally kept in a shop in Sri Kembangan, in Selangor were discovered. They included two Reticulated Pythons and a pair of Water Monitors.
They also found six Black-crowned Night-herons, three Painted Storks and two Thick-billed Green-pigeons.
No arrests were made in connection with the raids.
The bear paws confiscated from a trader’s cold room. Click photo to enlarge © TRAFFIC Southeast Asia
Meanwhile on 16 August, police nabbed a Thai poacher and recovered scales of a pangolin and six sacks of agarwood (gaharu).
The arrest was made in a forested area just off the Gerik-Jeli Highway in the Belum-Temengor Forest Complex in the northern state of Perak, which shares a border with Thailand.
Police were acting on information provided by WWF’s Wildlife Protection Unit (WPU), which regularly patrols the area with other enforcement agencies.
The 55-year-old poacher from Chiang Rai was among a party of five poachers ambushed by police. Four others escaped, leaving behind a camp stocked with 30 kilogrammes of rice and other essentials – indicating they were planning long-term operations.
The man now faces charges under three separate laws. Gerik District Police Chief, Superintendent Mahad Nor bin Abdullah, confirmed that the poacher would be charged under Section Six of the Immigration Act, for illegally entering the country. The poacher will also face charges under Section 64 (2) (a) of the Protection of Wildlife Act for possession of the Pangolin scales and Section 15 of the Forestry Act, for collecting agarwood without a licence.
Cases involving foreign poachers like this one, in Perak’s forests, are becoming an issue of increasing concern, with several cases already documented so far this year.
These forests are home to many of the world’s most threatened mammals, including Sumatran Rhinos, Malayan Tigers and Asian Elephants.
The Belum-Temengor forest complex is also part of an area of global priority for Tiger conservation, yet it is one of the most accessible areas because of the 80-km long Gerik-Jeli highway that cuts across this landscape, providing hundreds of easy entry points for poachers.
Sacks of agarwood (gaharu) left at an abandoned poachers’ camp in Belum-Temengor Forest Complex where one man was arrested Click photo to enlarge © WWF Malaysia
“Together with Perhilitan and Police, the WPU have jointly-removed over 73 snares and arrested nine poachers in the last seven months in this very area,” said Ahmad Zafir, leader of the WPU. “Camera traps set up to capture wildlife pictures for research also often capture photographs of poachers.”
“Intelligence-led investigations are needed to remove the masterminds and backers behind the scourge of poaching and illegal trade,” says Chris R. Shepherd, Acting Regional Director of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia.
“Ridding the forests of poachers is an on-going and important task, but it is essential to remove the main culprits behind the scenes – the big dealers running the show,” he added
Dato’ Dr Dionysius Sharma, CEO of WWF-Malaysia, urged the government to form a multi-agency task force to address the problem.
“While Perhilitan, police and the WPU have been doing a good job so far, stopping armed poachers is dangerous work that needs the support of many agencies,” he said.
Perhilitan’s Legislation and Enforcement Division Director Saharudin Anan said the department would add three more posts along the country’s border with Thailand and would soon host the first bilateral meeting between the two countries, on wildlife enforcement issues.
Tags: conservation BSBCC, hunting, poaching, sun bear, threats
BSBCC new video
Category: BSBCC, Siew Te Wong, conservation, education, sanctuary, threats | Date: Aug 26 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong
Illegal animal trading puts Malaysia on the world map for all the wrong reasons
Category: conservation, poaching, threats | Date: Aug 16 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong
By HILARY CHIEW
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/8/10/starprobe/4369565&sec=starprobe
KUALA LUMPUR: In 2006, Taiwanese authorities seized a three-tonne shipment of ivory from Tanzania worth RM25mil that had transited Penang port.
An Indian national who was caught with an illegal consignment of Indian star tortoises at the KL International Airport in 2007 said he was paid to bring it into the country for a Malaysian buyer.
In the second half of 2008, 167 pangolins were seized in four enforcement cases in Muar, indicating that the coastline was a thriving entry point for the anteaters from Indonesia. It is believed that the pangolins were destined for the restaurant and traditional medicine trade, as well as the mainland Chinese market.
Early this year, genetic fingerprinting of seized tiger parts in southern Thailand shows that the Malaya tiger, endemic to Malaysia and numbering only 500 in the wild, have been blatantly poached and smuggled through our land borders.
These are some of the cases that point to illegal trafficking of wildlife and its parts, and to Malaysia being a transit point, a source country, as well as a consumer hub for endangered wildlife.
Globally, Interpol estimated the illegal trade to be worth US$10bil (RM35bil) to US$20bil (RM70bil) a year. Conservation groups like the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) have declared wildlife trade the second biggest direct threat to species survival, after habitat destruction.
The Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) did not respond to requests for the value of animals confiscated last year, but a conservative estimate based on media reports shows that at least RM5mil worth of wildlife was seized in Malaysia last year.
Wildlife trafficking is a trade so lucrative that it is said to rank second after drug trafficking, especially when there is no death penalty to fear in most countries.
Take the pangolin, for instance. According to wildlife trade researchers the creature’s scales and meat are sought after for its purported properties to alleviate rheumatic pains. And as an aphrodisiac too of course, as any purveyor of exotic meat would sell you the idea. That is why pangolins can fetch as much as RM150 per kg or RM500 per animal in the black market.
Traffic, a wildlife trade-monitoring network, fears that the illegal trade in pangolins is already out of control with large shipments of animals being smuggled across numerous international borders, often by the lorry load, to their final destination in China.
It says that shipments busted by Perhilitan are merely the tip of the proverbial iceberg. What slips through the net are far more than one can estimate, in the millions of ringgit over the years.
The rampant smuggling of pangolins has forced Perhilitan to acknowledge that Malaysia has become both an attractive supply and transit country.
Its deputy enforcement director Celescoriano Razond said he feared that international syndicates had turned the country into their main source – not just for pangolin but other wildlife species too.
There have been numerous confiscations of Indian star tortoises at the KLIA with arrests of Indian and Malaysian nationals, yet the smugglers are undeterred. The shipments still come in and the authorities have no other choice but to maintain constant vigilance.
Until recently, the Indian star tortoise from the Indian sub-continent that was banned from export was easily available in local pet shops. The palm-sized exotic pet with star-like markings on its shell was sold at between RM100 and RM150 per creature.
In cases where the illegal shipments of Indian star tortoises were foiled, the authorities have found suitcases packed with the animal, some up to 2,000 pieces in one suitcase.
Perhilitan returns seized consignments to the country of origin but the syndicates involved remain at large.
Existing laws and inadequate manpower remain the biggest setbacks in tackling this scourge. The Wildlife Protection Act 1972 offers no protection for any turtle or tortoise species. A revised law, scheduled to be tabled in Parliament this year, is supposed to plug this particular loophole. However, a check on the draft bill showed that this reptile family is still being left out.
Azrina Abdullah, the immediate ex-director of Traffic, lamented the low fines and reluctance of the courts to put the culprits behind bars. In 2006, conservationists were appalled that a RM7,000 fine (maximum fine is RM15,000) was slapped on a poacher from Tumpat, in Kelantan, for possessing a chopped up tiger in his fridge, instead of the maximum five-year imprisonment. The black market value of a tiger is reported to be US$50,000 (RM180,000).
Currently, fines range from RM1,000 to RM15,000 and imprisonment from a minimum of one year to 10 years. The authorities have indicated a 100% increase in fines and a maximum jail term of 12 years in the pending new law.
Among the issues that need to be addressed is the issuance of special permits by Perhilitan to theme parks, private zoos and individuals for keeping an animal. There is fear that permits given would provide the holders a cover to launder illegal specimens.
At the regional level, a lack of law enforcement and poor investigation are obstacles to efforts in stemming this exploitation of biodiversity of a country and its neighbours.
Recognising that no country can fight this scourge on its own, governments in the region formed in 2005 a regional anti-wildlife trafficking network aimed at sharing intelligence and improving regional enforcement collaboration.
The 10-member Asean – Wildlife Enforcement Network (Asean-WEN) is the world’s largest entity of its kind. Despite the heightened awareness among law enforcers and seemingly higher number of seizures, it remains unclear if the network has managed to cripple the syndicates or apprehend the masterminds behind this hideous crime against nature.
Tags: illegal trade, Malaysia, poaching, sun bear, willdife
Borneo’s burning forests
Category: Borneo, conservation, habitat loss, rainforest, threats | Date: Aug 14 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong
Tags: Borneo, conservation, logging, sun bear habitat
Tony Blair visit to BSBCC
Category: BAT-Bornean Action Teams, BSBCC | Date: Aug 10 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong
by Jungle Bob (BATs volunteer)
After a few hiccups relating to helicopter availability and some frantic preparation by Sylvia Alisto and her team it finally came together. At 9.40 in the morning two helicopters arrived at Sepilok and the visit of one of the World’s most prominent former leaders was on.Tony Blair, together with his family and security staff, had arrived and began his visit to the Orang-utan Sanctuary and Sun Bear project (BSBCC).The visit began with a presentation on the Orang-utans and then a guided walk to Platform four where the party trekked along the boardwalk and enjoyed the attentions of the primates. Tony actually enjoyed the attention of a leech on his ankle which I assured him was ‘good luck’ and a souvenir of Sabah.
They then visited the juvenile Orang-utans in the nursery area. At about 1pm they were given a presentation on the Sun Bears by Wai Pak and myself. They were very interested and asked lots of questions. Cherie Blair (Tony’s wife) was particularly fascinated and keen to get lots of information about the bears.
Wai Pak was in full enthusiastic flow as he showed them the slide show and explained the habitat depletion, threats to the bears and how they live, eat and nest. Taking an opportunity not often presented I asked Tony if he wouldn’t mind signing a BSBCC Bats t-shirt for us to help with fund raising. He kindly agreed and wrote ‘Good Luck. ‘tis a worthy cause’ and signed his name.
The meeting was relaxed and informal and set the trend for the remainder of his visit. We walked as a group up to see the bears where they spent about half an hour asking more questions and seeing the bears up close.
Raleigh international staff and a team of young people were working nearby so he took some time out to chat to them and have his photo taken with them. He viewed the work completed so far and seemed very impressed at what the volunteers had achieved.
During his visit most of the volunteers were at lunch and were hugely disappointed to have missed it. However, his generosity was again evident whilst having his own lunch, and he agreed to leave it to come and speak to them. There was plenty of warm banter, interest and support given to the West Lancashire Scout group and Camps International team. Lots more photos were posed for and hands shaken. The smiling faces in the photos are testament to how much everyone enjoyed themselves.
I was very impressed with his enthusiasm and patience. This was a valuable visit for the purposes of the Sun Bear profile carried out by a genuine warm hearted and sociable former world leader and was enjoyed by everyone.
I received some feedback from their senior security officer after they had arrived back in KK. He said the ‘Blairs’ had had a ‘brilliant day’.I donated BSBCC T-shirts to Tony Blair, Cherie Blair and two of the children and Sylvia gave them some souvenirs of their visit. I will make sure that they also receive copies of the photographs taken on the day so that they remember us and perhaps they will take me up on my offer of getting one or more of their children to come and work for us as volunteer Bat’s!
Tags: Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, BSBCC, Releigh, sun bear, Tony Blairs, VIP visit, Wai Pak, West Lancashire Scouts
The Enrichment for the Sun Bears Part II.
Category: BSBCC, captive diet, captivity, enrichment | Date: Aug 07 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong
We have 12 bears in the centre. However, we only have 3 exercise enclosures. I am sure you might ask about those bears that were not in the exercise enclosures, what they would have for enrichment.
For those who are still waiting their turn to be released to the exercise enclosure, keepers will let them have others kind of enrichment. Ice lolly with fruits inside is every bear’s favorite especially during the hot day time. They will lick it, dig it with claws, rub it over their head and body, and some even bring it back to their sleeping basket and enjoy it!
Colorful ice lolly with fruits and vegetables for the bears! 
They spend time to dig out the fruits.
Thanks for Maria Trenary from Oakland Zoo as they have sent us some dozen of “Kong” toy. Kong is a very hard rubber toy that is specially made for animals to bite. You can put food inside it to make it more interesting and fun.
What our centre used to do is put in fruits like bananas, apples, dog food, honey, and sugar cane. Then we will put them into the refrigerator to make the food inside the Kong become harder and cool.
Keningau is using all her paws to get the food out of the “Kong” toy.
I have to tell you our bears love Kong. They will spend time to dig the food, and lick it until the very last bit of fruits with their long tongue! They are not let go the Kong even though they have finished the food inside. They just like to play with the empty Kong by throwing them like a baseball!
Other than that, we also hang tire in the bear cage. Tires are the bear’s toy that we can get free and it is durable. Our bears like to bite the tire, spin it, or even bang it on the wall! They also love to climb on it and swing themselves together with the tire.
You can tell that the bears like tires with this video above.
Om likes his tire very much and even sleeps with the tire.
In my opinion, a successful enrichment is something that can attract our bears to spend their times and make them feel like they are not kept in a cage. As a keeper, I know it is challenging, but it is so rewarding to see them enjoy the enrichment.
Tags: BSBCC, enrichment, kong toy, sun bear, sun bear toy, tire.
The Enrichment for the Sun Bears Part I.
Category: BSBCC, enrichment, sanctuary | Date: Aug 04 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong
By Wai Pak Ng
While we are waiting for the new bear house construction to be finished, the bears still have to keep in cages. Thus, to reduce the stress and boring level of our bears, enrichments are very important for them. Enrichment can be done in many ways which include physical construction, introducing new elements, foods, toys, arrangement of the facilities and cleanliness.
At the moment, our bear house has three exercise enclosures. Each of them was facilitated with various enrichments which includes heavy and hard wood logs, rock pool, water tank, dried leaves and decay wood with termites, to create a place that is as close as their natural habitat. All the bears will take turn to be released into the exercise enclosure in daily basis.
Sun bears like to bite and destroy. Branches, twigs and decay woods are their natural toys. 
Our bears like to roll on the dried leaves as it makes them feels like rolling on the forest floor.
To ensure our bears are fully utilizing all the enrichments and learn or revise the basic skills such as forage, digging, destroying and climbing, foods is always the best incentives. Normally, we cut fruits into various sizes and hide them in different places in the exercise enclosures. We have to think creative and try to not put the food in the same place for the same bear. Bears are smart and they really do remember where to search for their favorite banana and papaya.
Foods were hidden in different places to encourage our bears to exercise and foraging.
The bears have to forage in the rock pool, and this keeps them active.
Sun bears can be quite arboreal. Enrichment should encourage them to climb.
In the next article, I will still talk about the enrichments that we do in BSBCC. Hope to get your feed back and comments. Thank you.
Tags: behavior, BSBCC, enrichment, sun bear
Team 1 update
Category: BAT-Bornean Action Teams, BSBCC, Volunteers | Date: Aug 04 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong
Original posted at http://malaysia.sesscouts.org.uk/
Hello to all of Team 1’s friends and family and maybe the malaysian scouts if they get chance to read this
This is our second blog so we have a lot to catch up on!! after working at the sun bears team 1 moved onto working on base camp, we all enjoyed until we realised how hard it is to wash a dixie. Going shopping was fun to and Kyle and Emma took this opportunity to buy important supplies – a.k.a. SUPERMAN TOWELS wooh!! After base camp it was off to the RDC (omg) that was hard work! but we only had to do that for one day before we were off to our home stay. A good time was had by all of team 1, the family’s were all very welcoming and treated us like family (some even looked like family members JILL!!) and we all came back arms full of food and gifts from our foster parents.
We finished our last 2 days at the RDC (or so we thought ) and we finally got our holiday to Poring! This was our idea of heaven internet, pools and good food. We went on the canopy walkway on the second day and this was hard to get to but worth it when you were there and after alot of jumping , photo taken and general banter we climbed back down and headed toward a small waterfall which Emma managed to not fall into.
Before we knew it our time was up and it was back to camp for another stint at the sun bears. This time it was a lot harder we were fixing the chicken wire before the wall slapping in 3 days so it was a mad dash to tighten everything and get the place ready for the wall slapping. The day of the wall slapping came around and team 1 spent the morning at the RDC (nooooooooo !!) and the came home for a nap before we all started a long night of work. It was tough on everyone, but all but a few managed to stay awake and worked the whole night til 4 am when we ran out of cement. We all slept in the hall that night because WE WOULDN’T SURVIVE IN THE TENTS!!! so it was a lazy morning with people sleeping in til 11.00 we started work again at 4pm and were finished the wall 2am with a cheer from everyone unfortunatly it was on that night tha we had to say goodbye to 3 of our new friends Quimi, Rookie and Marwan as they were heading of for a softball and paintball tournament. we were woken up at around 9 which most felt was not a long lie and all could have slept longer.
tbc…
Emma C
Wall Party
Category: BAT-Bornean Action Teams, BSBCC, Volunteers | Date: Aug 04 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong
original posted on http://malaysia.sesscouts.org.uk/
On Tuesday night we had our wall concreting party which spread onto Wednesday night also. Late into Tuesday night people where seen sleeping with their hands in buckets of concrete, everyone was exhausted. As it got close to three in the morning panic hit as we were running out of concrete. Heading home at four am, people were pretty tired but happy to be heading home to a long lie-in before the next long night.
Thursday morning, one am and the wall was finished. Everybody went home buzzing 
, the wall was finished and there was only half a day of work was left!!
Hannah
-
100% of your donation, minus a small bank fee, will go to your intended purpose.
Donations made here are safe.
-
Donations Received
- Nov 16th Kathleen S. USD55.00
- Nov 10th Lesley S. USD20.00
- Oct 19th Emma G. USD11.00
- Oct 18th Nina S. USD22.00
- Oct 16th Anna M. USD22.00
- Oct 10th Lesley S. USD20.00
- Sep 17th Xiaomei H. USD22.00
- Sep 16th Kathleen S. USD22.00
- Sep 10th Lesley S. USD20.00
- Aug 12th Boon C. USD55.00
- Aug 10th Lesley S. USD20.00
- Jul 10th Lesley S. USD20.00
- Jun 10th Lesley S. USD20.00
- Jun 2nd Karin S. USD50.00
- May 14th Hannah K. USD29.70
- May 10th Lesley S. USD20.00
- May 5th Jon W. USD50.00
- May 4th Pirjo I. USD55.00
- Apr 30th Betsy K. USD55.00
- Apr 21st Jocelyn S. USD27.50
-
Sun Bear News- An error has occurred; the feed is probably down. Try again later.
- Borneo News