Introducing “A Beary Wonderful World” by Tabin Wildlife Resort
Category: BSBCC, Fund raising | Date: Oct 05 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong
A Beary Wonderful World Sun Bear Conservation
For immediate release: 5 Oct 2009
Tabin Wildlife Resort is inviting everyone to join its effort in promoting Sun Bear conservation by taking part in its latest campaign “A Beary Wonderful World”.
Tabin Wildlife Resort will donate RM100 to the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre for the purchase of each 3 Days 2 Nights Tabin tour program for visits between October and December 2009. On top of that, each guest will get a Sun Bear plush toy in return for the good deed.
Borneo is home to the world’s smallest bear species, the Malayan Sun Bear (Helarctos malayanus). With forest degradation and development, living space available for the Sun Bear is fast reducing. Sun bear populations are also threatened by illegal hunting and poaching for food and medicines, to prevent damage to crops and villages, and to capture small cubs for the pet trade. The protected forest of Tabin Wildlife Reserve is one of the places where the Sun Bear can find refuge and hopefully thrive. Footprints of this endangered animal have been seen around the Lipad Mud Volcano, not far from Tabin Wildlife Resort.
The objectives of BSBCC, located at Sepilok near Sandakan, are to provide improved facilities for the bears, promote public awareness, education and research and wherever possible, to rehabilitate bears back into the wild.
For further information, contactTabin Wildlife Holidays Sdn Bhd
Tel: 60 88 267266
Email: enquiry@tbainwildlife.com.my
www.tabinwildlife.com.my
Tags: Bornean Bear Conservation Centre, BSBCC, Sabah, sun bear, Tabon Wildlife Resort
Thank you Columbus Zoo! Mission accomplished!
Category: BSBCC, Fund raising, Siew Te Wong, education | Date: Jul 16 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong
Thank you Columbus Zoo! Mission accomplished!
Thank you Columbus Zoo to host my talk at the zoo today. Special thanks to Rebecca Rose, the Field Conservation Coordinator , for the warm hostility to make our stay comfortable and unforgettable one. About 50 zoo staffs attended today’s talk after having a burger dinner. Everyone enjoyed the talk very much. I hope beside enjoying me talking, they also will learn the message and help us promote sin bear conservation and raise awareness for sun bears.
Columbus Zoo has been an important contributor and supporter for my doctorate study in 2005 and 2006. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Columbus Zoo and Aquarium over and over again for their believe and help sun bears. I hope you all could continue supporting sun bears and our works in many ways.
Columbus is the last stop of our trip. With mission accomplished, tomorrow my family and will head home- how far? 2000 miles.
Thank you Columbus Zoo!
Thank you Alexander Abraham Foundation and thank you New York!
Category: BSBCC, Fund raising, Siew Te Wong | Date: Jul 15 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong
The fund raising event on July 9th hosted by Nancy Abraham and Alexander Abraham Foundation was a big success! I want to specially thank Nancy, Brienne, and Eleonore for their great help to set this event up in such a short notice. About 35 guests attended the lovely evening start with light refreshment and snacks, and then followed with the showing of BEARTREK video clip and my ppt presentation on the plights of the sun bears. Thank you all of you for taking the time to join us that evening!
Beside we managed to raise some fund for BSBCC during the event, the other important message from the evening is to raise awareness about sun bears. Most of the guests do not have a clue what are a sun bear, let alone the problem face by this little bears. There are so many things that all of us can do beside giving donation. Here is a message by Brienne, Eleanor and Nancy to the guest and for all the people who care and love to sun bears and all beings:
Dear friends,
We at the Alexander Abraham want to thank you for attending the sun bear fundraiser last Thursday. It was so generous of you to donate your time, money, and support to the sun bear cause.
As you learned from Wong on Thursday night, the lack of awareness and funding for the sun bears is truly alarming. If nothing is done within the next few years, the sun bears will most certainly go extinct, and the world will be significantly poorer because of the loss.
There are many things that you can do to help us now, in this moment, to raise awareness for the most unknown of the bears. It will only take a few minutes of your time.
To start, please follow-us on Twitter and Facebook. Encourage your friends to do the same. Read the articles that we post, and educate others.
Our name on Twitter is AABRAHAMFOUND.
To become a fan of our cause on Facebook, follow the link: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/312142/6631962?m=6d54c0aa
If you haven’t donated already, think about giving a few dollars now. Having an expensive drink at a NY bar won’t give you anything but a headache. So take the money, and give it to a cause that desperately needs your help. Even a small donation will help Wong to continue his research. With our support, he can finally find out how many wild sun bears there are left in the world!
To donate now: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=6364478
Most importantly, please spread the word to your friends. And let us know if you have any ideas about how to raise awareness!!
Very kindest regards,
Brienne, Eleonor & Nancy
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
As you read this, I already left New York with a sad feeling. Just like the sun bear conservation movement, my journey move on. Now I am at Columbus, Ohio. I will deliver a talk on sun bear at Columbus Zoo on the 16th at 4:30 pm. If you are in Columbus, please come to join us! See ya!
GROUND-BREAKING CEREMONY on Friday, 17th July, 2009 at 9:00 am
Category: BSBCC, Fund raising, sanctuary | Date: Jul 14 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong
GROUND-BREAKING CEREMONY on Friday, 17th July, 2009 at 9:00 am
P R E S S R E L E A S E
The Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC) ground-breaking ceremony on 17th July2009, at BSBCC Phase I site adjacent to Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre near Sandakanrepresents the beginning of construction of this three-phased project. The project is a partnershipbetween the Sabah Wildlife Department, the Sabah Forestry Department and the NGO LEAP. TheGuest of Honour for the event is YB Datuk Masidi Manjun, Minister of Tourism, Culture andEnvironment, and the programme will include the ceremony at the site of the new bear house andforested enclosures as well as a chance to view some of the Sun Bears currently at the Centre.This ground-breaking signifies the start of Phase I of construction of the Centre and marks asignificant step in the establishment of a new home for captive Sun Bears in Sabah, where theywill have daily access to the forest and an enriched environment, as well as improved, custombuiltnight quarters. Phase I, which is expected to be completed in six months from the date ofground-breaking, involves the construction of a new bear house with capacity for 27 bears (eachin individual cages) and an adjacent one-hectare forest enclosure within the Kabili-Sepilok VirginJungle Reserve. Please see Phase I site plan for layout. The finished centre will have capacity for43 bears, two-hectare forest enclosures, a visitor centre, an observation gallery and a nature trail.Please see Phase I, II & III site plan for layout. The larger vision is for the bears to be in anenvironment which will prepare suitable ones for eventual release into appropriate wild habitat.RM1.3 million was raised at the Bear Necessities fundraising dinner in Kota Kinabalu in Novemberlast year, with RM650,000 from the private sector and a government match of one-to-one. Thesefunds will go directly to the funding of Phase I. Efforts are now underway to raise funds for bothPhase II (RM600,000) and Phase III (RM900,000), and the hope is that these phases will followupon the completion of Phase I.
The event will be a gathering of BSBCC partners – Sabah Wildlife Department, Sabah ForestryDepartment and LEAP, private sector donors and supporters from the Bear Necessities event,building contractor and consultants, and BATs – Bear Action Teams volunteer partners frominternational organisations such as Raleigh International. The programme will comprise welcome speech by BSBCC Director Cynthia Ong, audio messagefrom BSBBC CEO Wong Siew Te (currently completing his PhD in Montana, U.S.A.), speech byGuest of Honour YB Datuk Masidi Manjun, song dedications by Malaysian singers Shayna Zaid andAmir Yussof, and a “Mongimpi” cleansing and blessing ritual by Bobohizans of the Kadazan tradition.
For more information, please contact cynthia@leapspiral.org or 088-270705.
Tags: BSBCC, ground breaking, sun bear
A fund raising event hosted by The Alexander Abraham Foundation
Category: BSBCC, Fund raising, Siew Te Wong | Date: Jul 06 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong
Tags: AAF, BSBCC, Fund raising, sun bear
Wong’s on the road…..
Category: BSBCC, Fund raising, Siew Te Wong, conservation, education | Date: Jun 22 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong
In the next few days I will embark a trip to eastern US to give talks on sun bear and their plights at different zoos that supported my sun bears works for the past many years.
The title of my talks will be:
“The ecology, conservation, and plights of the sun bear: how are we going to save this little bear?”
The followings are the information of these talks:
Minnesota Zoo www.mnzoo.org:
Date: Monday, June 29th, 2009.
Time: 12 pm – 1 pm
Venue: Minnesota Zoo’s Indoor Theater (located next to Guest Services).
13000 Zoo Boulevard, Apple Valley, MN 55124
Brookfield Zoo http://www.czs.org/czs/Brookfield/Zoo-Home
Date: Thursday, July 2, 2009
Time: 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Venue: Discovery Center Orientation Theater, Chicago Zoological Society (for zoo staffs volunteer only)
Bronx Zoo- WCS http://www.bronxzoo.com/
Date: Wednesday July 8th, 2009.
Time: 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Venue: 2nd Floor conference room at – Center for Global Conservation
Columbus Zoo http://www.columbuszoo.org/default.aspx:
Date: Thursday, July 16th, 2009
Time: 4:30 pm, Venue: Pavilion 3, Columbus Zoo
Menu: hamburgers; veggie burgers; sides; dessert; drinks
RSVP to Becky at 3409 or Rebecca.Rose@columbuszoo.orgby July 9th - space is limited.
In addition of these 4 talks, Alexander Abraham Foundation and LEAP have co-organize a fund raising for Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Center on Thursday, July 9 -8 pm, hosted by Nancy and Arnold Moss in New York City. Please RSVP or get more information from Brienne Walsh brienne@aabrahamfoundation.org.
Tags: conservation talks, sun bear, zoos
Sun Bear Conservation Weekend at Rare Species Conservation Centre, Kent, England
Category: Fund raising, SBCT UK, education | Date: Jun 19 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong
By Anna Cocker (Sun Bear Conservation Trust)
The Rare Species Conservation Centre in Kent, England hosted a very successful fundraising event on Sunday 24th May and Monday 25th May 2009.
The event which was co-organised by the UK-based Sun Bear Conservation Trust (SBCT). This event was part of the endeavour to raise funds for sun bear conservation in South East Asia. Visitors at the centre had the opportunity to indulge in a selection of homemade cakes, including gingerbread bears, play the tombola and buy a range of bear goodies such as teddy bears and handmade sun bear cards, as well as plants. Visitors were also made sun bear aware by educational talks by Wai-Ming Wong (Sun Bear Conservation Trust member and PhD student) and leaflets on sun bear conservation. BBC Radio Kent joined in the action and interviewed Fiona McInally (Sun Bear Conservation Trust member) about sun bear conservation. In total, £278.48 was raised.
The two Cambodian sun bears play fight at RARE Species Conservation Centre.
Our table full with toys, tombola (you know what it is?) and many other goodies
Fiona and her cake table- yummy cookies, gingerbread bears, cake, etc., all to raise money for the bears!
Tags: Fund raising, Rare, SBCT, sun bear
Save the date: come join us in Kent, UK
Category: Fund raising, SBCT UK | Date: May 14 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong
Come and enjoy a fantastic family day out and help us raise money to save the ‘Forgotten Bear’!
On the Sunday 24th and Monday the 25th of May 2009, the Sun Bear Conservation Trust in conjunction with the Rare Species Conservation Centre in Sandwich, Kent are holding a ‘Sun Bear Conservation Weekend’ to raise money for the conservation of Sun Bears – the worlds smallest and least well known bear.
The Rare Species Conservation Centre is home to some of the world’s lesser known rare and endangered species, often overlooked in other more mainstream zoological establishments, such as: the Fat Tailed Dwarf lemur, the Arabian Sand Cat and of course, the Sun Bear. The centre was established in 2006 and forms part of The Rare Species Conservation Trust which is a registered U.K. charity (Registered charity number 1119230). Apart from running the Rare Species Conservation Centre, The Rare Species Conservation Trust also supports and runs various other in-situ conservation projects in the field. Thanks to the their kind generosity, members of the Sun Bear Conservation Trust will be hosting a number of stalls and attractions at the centre on the second May Bank Holiday including a raffle, cake stall and information stand, all to raise money for rescued Sun Bears in South-East Asia.
The Sun Bear Conservation Trust (SBCT) is a charitable organisation founded in 2008 by a group of enthusiastic volunteers who have been lucky enough to work with Sun Bears in Borneo. SBCT is currently working towards becoming a registered charity and has been holding several events across the country to achieve the mandatory fundraising threshold to register. It is hoped that the money raised on the ‘Sun Bears Conservation Weekend’ at the Rare Species Conservation Centre will help the SBCT achieve this goal. All money raised by SBCT so far is being used to support the work carried out by the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, a sanctuary for orphaned and rescued Sun Bears, based at the famous Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in Sabah, Eastern Borneo. The Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre is using the money donated to help build a much needed new centre for the Sun Bears they look after and also for the bear’s ongoing care. It is the hoped that, with the help of the money raised in the future, the majority of Sun Bears rescued by the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre will be rehabilitated and released into the wild. SBCT also hope to use some of the money raised in the future to raise awareness of the plight faced by the Sun Bear.
What is a Sun Bear?
The Sun Bear, which is also known as honey bear, is the smallest of the world’s eight bear species and also one of the most threatened. They can be found in several South-East Asian countries including, Malaysia, Indonesia and China, but their number are decreasing in all the countries in which they inhabit. Sun Bears can grow to just over a metre in length, stand approximately 2.5ft tall when standing on all four feet and rarely weigh more than 65kg. Sun Bears have sleek short fur, brown or black in colour with a cream coloured crescent on their chest said to resemble the rising and setting sun. They have a small tail and a very long tongue which helps them reach larvae, termites and of course honey hidden in the forest. Sun Bears have long curved claws and a pigeon towed gait, both of which make them excellent tree climbers. Sun Bears in the wild will often build nests high in the trees in which to sleep or sunbathe during the day.
Threats to the Sun Bear
Major threats currently faced by these unique animals are illegal poaching and habitat destruction, however, Sun Bear body parts are also highly sought after for traditional Chinese remedies, in particular Sun Bear bile. Bile from Sun Bears is collected in Bear Bile farms where bears are kept in tiny cages and their bile continually collected from open wounds in their abdomen. The bears in these farms suffer substantial amounts of pain and often get large tumours and fatal infections as a result of their treatment
Sun Bears paws are also considered a delicacy in some South East Asian countries and in some cases, the bears paws are cut off while the animal is still alive. Adult mother Sun Bears are also often killed for their babies which are then sold as pets. In all of the above cases Sun Bears suffer tremendously. It is estimate that the worlds Sun Bear population has declined by at least 30% over the past 30 years and continues to decline at this rate. It is also one of the 6 bear species threatened with extinction.
Please come along on to the ‘Sun Bear Conservation Weekend’ at the Rare Species Conservation Centre on the 24th and 25th May for a fun filled family day out and help us protect this beautiful species. For more information on Sun Bears and the work carried out by the Sun Bear Conservation Trust and the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation, please visit: http://sunbears.wildlifedirect.org/
Or contact Fiona McInally on 07872919152, Fiona.mcinally@gmail.com
Or Julie Trump on 07950611970 or at julie.trump@btinternet.com
For more information on the Rare Species Conservation Centre, please visit www.rarespeciesconservationcentre.org
The Rare Species Conservation Centre is situated on the A256 Dover Road Roundabout, just outside of Sandwich, Kent.
The centre is open 10 am - 6 pm (last admission is 5 pm)
Entry fees: Adults £8
Bowling for sun bears!
Category: BSBCC, Fund raising | Date: May 11 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong
A fun family bowling event to raise money for Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre will be held May 16 from 2:00-4:00 at Boulevard Lanes in Dover, Ohio. It is organize by Wild4Ever (http://www.wild4ever.com), a non-profit wildlife conservation foundation dedicating 100% of generated funds to the preservation of wild animals in the wild.
Adult Tickets $15.00, Children 12 & Under $12.00. Ticket price includes 2 hours of bowling, food, beverage and fun! Raffle will be held the day of the event with lots more great items to choose from! Wild4Ever Sun Bear tees will be available for $15.00 each.
For more information email shamu_1@sbcglobal.net.
Please visit http://www.wild4ever.com/news-wild4ever.php to learn more.
Thank you very much to Dr. Gary Riggs, DVM, chairman of Wild4ever, and his team to organize such a wonderful event to help us in Borneo. We wish you have a success event!
Tags: BSBCC, Fund raising, sun bear, www.wild4ever.com
Sun Bear Conservation Trust - 4th April - Multi-Events Fundraising Day!
Category: Fund raising, SBCT UK | Date: Apr 15 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong
by Julie Trump, Chairman of Sun Bear Conservation Trust
As Spring arrived in the UK, the Sun Bear Conservation Trust celebrated the end of the long winter with a day of fund-raising events over the UK. In London (as previous posting) Fiona McInally had a very successful cake sale near a local street market and sold delicious home-made cakes that would have tempted the most avid dieters - even Victoria Beckham would have thrown her lettuce leaves to one side! Further north-east in Boston, Lincolnshire, Lindsey Hahn held a wonderful indoor sale and coffee morning - she had planned to hold it outside but had to change venue and run indoors with her cakes and bric-a-brac when April showers started (sorry no photo available)!
I, in Newbury Park, Essex held a bring n buy cake sale at my Mum’s house and garden and was overwhelmed by the generosity of local friends and neighbours donating gifts and buying others as well as tucking into cakes and gingerbread bears and buying tickets for my prize raffle.
Anna Cocker, all the way up in Bolton, had signed up for a sponsored 5 mile run when disaster struck; she fractured her arm at karate a few days before (but you should have seen the other guy)! Despite this, her Dad and sister still kindly gave Anna their pledged money - maybe they were a little afraid with her being a brown-belt!
So, the day was a great success and raised £395 for the sun bears so a big thanks to everyone involved. Hoping to do another in the summer when temperature rises - can maybe sell ice-cream too!!!
If you are interested in helping us in the UK and supporting the work of BSBCC and sun bears everywhere, please contact us at the Sun Bear Conservation Trust by e-mailing me at : julie.trump@btinternet.com
Follow all our news and upcoming events on this blog and please send us any comments and suggestions you have to help us help the sun bears!
Big thanks, Julie
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Donations Received
- 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
- Apr 10th Lesley S. USD20.00
- Mar 13th Signa P. USD11.00
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