Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre

Text by Gloria Ganang

The BSBCC is in the process of renovating it’s old office building and the attached old bear house. But before this happened, 8 bears residing in the old bear house were moved out to the new bear house. This took place on the 4th April with the help of Dr. Diana Ramirez, veterinarian  from the Sabah Wildlife Department together with the Wildlife Rescue Unit team.

After the sedation procedure, the bears were carried out from their cages

One of the bears ready to be pushed on a trolley to the new bear house

Health checks were carried out before the bears were placed in their new cages

Carrying the bear to Ah Bui to her allocated cage once the health check process has completed

Placing the bear in the cage 

The moving process took 1 and a half days and all bears were successfully moved to their allocated cages. New residents of the new bear house are still adjusting to their new environment especially having different bears in their neighboring cages.

Amaco (20-year-old male), waking up to his new environment

Existing new bear house resident checking out his new neighbour

Some are calmly waiting for their new neighbours to move in

We are very thankful that everything went smoothly with the moving process and we wouldn’t have done all of this without the help from Dr. Diana and the Wildlife Rescue Unit team. Therefore,  we would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their continuous support towards the BSBCC! Not forgetting our volunteers that worked so hard to help us run the daily operations while we were busy moving our babies! Your passion in helping us is always appreciated!

Text by Gloria Ganang and photos by Tee Thye Lim

It has been 4 days since Ah Bui arrived at the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC). She is one fortunate female bear to be rescued by the Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) just on time. She was almost sold for the purpose of bear bile. Ah Bui is approximately 2 years old.

We conducted Ah Bui’s physical check up at the BSBCC today. It went on very smoothly with the help from staffs of the SWD and Orangutan Appeal UK vet, Dr. Cinzia Cordella. It took us around 35 minutes to complete the procedures.

Ah Bui was treated with honey before anesthetized for the check up procedure.

Ah Bui has obvious large canine teeth which are due to her previous diet. She used to be fed with chicken before she arrived here.  Her current weight is 25 kg which is perfect for a female bear her age. Her pulse and temperature readings are normal.

Dr. Cinzia taking pulse rate of Ah Bui.

Placing Ah Bui back to her temporary cage

Ah Bui seems to have adapted to a small confined cage indicated through her constant “bending over” behavior when she first arrived at BSBCC.  She has gradually adapted to the current cage which has more space for her to move around. Ah Bui however have to go through a quarantine period for a month before she will mix with other sun bears. She will eventually have a better social life, get access to the forest enclosure and be a wild sun bear again!

Text by Tee Thye Lim

“Friend” is the people who play an important role in our human daily life. They may be able to be our supporter, person who assists you, giving you a positive effect and sharing most of their life experience with you.

Same as what have happened at Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC) on 4th May 2012 evening, we received a sun bear from Penampang, named Ah Bui, which means “friend” in local Murut language.

Ah Bui, the latest rescued sun bear at BSBCC

Ah Bui is a female sub-adult sun bear about two year old. She was rescued by Sabah Wildlife Department’s (SWD) Wildlife Rescue Unit (WRU) on May 2nd in a housing area at Penampang near Kota Kinabalu. The owner claimed that the bear was obtained from Sook at Keningau area.

Ah Bui arrived at our centre on the evening of May 4th.

Staffs from BSBCC and Sabah Wildlife Department moved Ah Bui to her new environment!

He is believed to look for a potential buyer of the bear as local market for bear parts still exist. Luckily the SWD’s officer managed to discover and rescued Ah Bui before she end up in cooking pot or as traditional medicine.

Ah Bui means "friend" in local Murut language

Ah Bui is still trying to settle down and adapt slowly to our center environment.
We hope she will get use her new home and make some new “Ah Bui” as well.

So, would you like to be Ah Bui’s Ah Bui?

Handing over official documents from Sabah Wildlife Department to BSBCC

Join us at
http://www.causes.com/causes/95651-bornean-sun-bear-conservation-centre for getting update with our bears at BSBCC!