Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/02/22/two-rare-malayan-sun-bears-found-in-abandoned-cambodian-garment-factory/

By Agence France-Presse
Friday, February 22, 2013 9:15 EST

http://www.traffic.org/home/2012/11/16/medicine-practitioners-urged-to-help-reduce-bear-bile-demand.html

Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia 16th November 2012—“Traditional medicine practitioners have a crucial role to play in reducing the demand for bear bile and gallbladder that drives the illegal trade in South-East Asia’s bears,” TRAFFIC told delegates to the 9th World Congress of Chinese Medicine held in Kuching, Sarawak in Malaysia last week.

The Congress, one of the industry’s most important annual gatherings, serves as a platform for specialists from all over the world to present the latest developments in Chinese medicine. The theme of this year’s Congress was Traditional Chinese Medicine—contributing factor to the harmony of humans and nature.

Speaking at the Congress, TRAFFIC Deputy Regional Director in South-East Asia, Dr Chris R. Shepherd, described how TRAFFIC’s research had shown that continued demand for traditional medicines made from bear parts and derivatives posed a severe threat to wild bear populations in Asia.

Both bear species in South-East Asia—the Asian Black Bear Ursus thibetanus and Sun Bear Helarctos malayanus—are hunted, especially for their gallbladder, which contains bile—a key ingredient in some traditional medicines.

A 2011 TRAFFIC study, Pills, Powders, Vials & Flakes: The bear bile trade in Asia (PDF, 1 MB), had shown such trade to be widespread, often carried out openly, despite it being illegal, and revealed that many of the farms supplying bear gallbladder and bile are stocking their facilities with wild-caught bears and not captive bred ones as often claimed.

Surveys have repeatedly found China to be the main source of the bear bile products on sale throughout South-East Asia. Such international trade in South-East Asian bears, and their parts and derivatives, is strictly prohibited by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Both South-East Asian bear species are listed in Appendix I of the Convention, which prohibits international commercial trade. They are also both listed as Vulnerable by IUCN, because of their declining populations in the wild.

In September 2012, a Motion to phase out bear bile extraction facilities stocked with wild-caught bears was overwhelmingly passed at the IUCN World Conservation Congress, held in Jeju, South Korea.

The Motion also recommended Parties to CITES to implement fully the legislation to prevent illegal international trade in Asian Black and Sun Bears and products derived from them, and promote greater public awareness of these issues to reduce the demand for bear products.

“While the IUCN Motion is a step in the right direction, it is absolutely critical too that efforts be made to reduce greatly the demand for bear bile. In addition to increased enforcement efforts, active participation from the traditional medicine practitioners and retailers is essential to meet this goal,” said Shepherd.

TRAFFIC is also urging authorities to step up their efforts to shut down the illegal trade, and ensure those violating CITES and national legislations are penalized.

“There are legal herbal alternatives to bear bile – consumers need to be made aware of this and be persuaded to stop using medicine containing bear bile,” added Shepherd.

Sunday November 4, 2012

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/11/4/nation/12271574&sec=nation

KOTA KINABALU: How a sun bear cub ended up at a car porch of a house in Damai, a bustling housing area here, is likely to remain a mystery.

Sabah Wildlife Department director Datuk Dr Laurentius Ambu said the three-month-old female cub found by a resident two days ago could have been illegally reared.

“When our officers went back to the place to ask about it the next morning, no one owned up to it,” he said.

Damai is a mere 10-minute drive from here.

Ambu said those found guilty of rearing or possessing protected species such as the Borneon sun bear could face a mandatory jail term between one month and a year.

The presence of the 4kg cub was known when the dog belonging to the house owner Blue Lum, 38, kept barking on Thursday night.

The cub is now at the Lok Kawi zoo. It will be sent to the Sepilok Borneon Sun Bear Conservation Centre.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2012%2F11%2F3%2Fnation%2F12269262&sec=nation

Saturday November 3, 2012

Surprising discovery: A Sabah Civil Defence personnel holding the sun bear cub after they captured it at a house in Kota Kinabalu.

KOTA KINABALU: The non-stop barking of his dog made a 38-year-old businessman step out of his house to take a look.

Blue Lum saw what looked like a puppy in his car porch.

“I left it alone and went in to watch television,” he said.

When the barking continued, Lum’s son went out to look and was shocked to discover there was a sun bear cub outside.

Lum said he immediately asked his son to come back into the house and then called the Civil Defence Department.

Kota Kinabalu Civil Defence Department officer Mohd Hazle Shah Hamid said a call was received at about 10pm and officers were immediately despatched to capture the cub.

“It was not violent when our officers carried it and put it in a cage.

“We suspect the sun bear cub was being kept by someone as it was unlikely to have wandered here from the forest,” he said.

Rangers from the Lok Kawi Zoo arrived about an hour later and the cub is now in their care.

The sun bear or honey bear is found in the tropical rainforest of peninsula Malaysia and the islands of Sumatra and Borneo.

Text and photos by Siew Te Wong

On the night of Feb 20th, BSBCC received another new rescued sun bear from the Sabah Wildlife Department Wildlife Rescue Unit. This female sun bear yearling (1-2 year old bear), that we named “Koko” is the latest rescued sun bear by Sabah Wildlife Department and sent to BSBCC.

Koko appeared to be healthy and in good body condition. She was calmed on the night she arrived at the centre. We place her at a temporary cage for the time being until her new den is ready in few days. The next day after recovering from the stress associated from the transportation, Koko seems to be a bit feisty when I approached her. However, she got a good appetite and took all the food we gave her.

I called the Koko’s owner Robert from Telipok this morning to understand more about the story behind Koko. Apparently Koko was captured by a hunter (poacher) originally from Keningau on a hunting (poaching) trip early last year. Koko’s mother probably being killed by the poacher and Koko was kept as pet at the same time looking for a potential buyer. This is a typical story of almost all rescued sun bear in BSBCC. Robert heard from his friend about a sun bear cub for sale. He paid RM350 for Koko and realized that she is no longer a small, cute cub. He later seeks advice from his friend who works with the Sabah Wildlife Department. The wildlife department staff convinced him to surrender Koko to the Sabah Wildlife Department. They sent Koko to SWD’s Lok Kawi Zoo last weekend and the zoo sent her to us on Monday night.

With 25 rescued sun bears under the care of BSBCC, the urgency of building another new bear house is escalating. At the moment our capacity is only for 20 sun bears. This is the 2nd sun bear cubs we received in approximately one month time and we do not know how many sun bear will be rescued and be sent to BSBCC in the near future. We can only be glad that we are here to help these animals and never happy to see they end up at BSBCC. We have to stop all illegal activities such as poaching, killing, eating, and keeping sun bears. Please help BSBCC to achieve these goals.

Read more on how you can help us and the sun bears:

 http://sunbears.wildlifedirect.org/how-can-you-help-sun-bears/

Koko in her transportation cage. After a 7 hour trip from Lok Kawi Zoo, she finally arrived at BSBCC at 8:30 pm on Monday night.

We placed her at a temporary cage for few more days as we prepare for her new home. She needs to be quarantined for 30 days before she can have any contact with other bears in the centre.

Wa i Pak gave her some electrolyte drinks to boost her water loss during the journey.

I thought she was a small cub but she is already a yearling, maybe weigh 20 kg, in good condition.

She is surprising tame and calmed for the stressful event. I was stressed out when was informed we have another bear coming our way because we are full! We need a second bear house urgently.

Original posted at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/2/18/nation/10759114&sec=nation

A FARMER mistook his cousin for a bear and shot and killed him in Sabah, Harian Metro reported.

The 42-year-old farmer said he went on a hunting trip with Nuis Upil, 36, and two other friends at about 2pm in Ulu Sungai Mususur, Tambunan, on Wednesday.

The farmer aimed his bakakuk (home-made gun) at a rambutan tree and fired, causing Nuis to fall from the tree that he had been climbing.

The hunting party then started searching for the “animal” and was shocked to see Nuis lying in a pool of blood.

Keningau OCPD Deputy Supt Zahari Mohamed confirmed that the farmer and his friends were in custody to assist in investigations.

> The daily also reported that exotic animal parts are a big hit, especially among senior citizens wanting to boost their sexual energy.

Otters and crocodiles are among the most sought after, it said.

It is illegal to trade animal organs and sellers can be charged under the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010. However, this had not stopped traders from selling their products in villages as well as public places.

According to an Indonesian trader, his products were very popular among male senior citizens.

“Money is not an issue for my customers because most of them are desperate to improve their sexual performance, especially men who have younger wives,” he said.

Kelantan Perhilitan director Rahmat Topani said those who continued to sell animal parts of protected species would have to face the consequences.

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Wong’s notes:

This sad accident indicated a few things:

1) Conservation education is HIGHLY needed to educate local communities about the protection status of many wildlife. Most local folks and communities do not aware of the legal status of a bear. Sun bears are totally protected species. No one is allow to kill, harass, keep, eat, or harm sun bear by any mean.

2) Sun bear still highly sought by the poachers. Their hunting/poaching pressures are still high despite national laws and state law prohibit anyone to do so.

3) Conservation and protection of sun bears need every one to take part – local communities, general public, stakeholders, land owners, biologists, government officials, law enforcements.

My condolence to the victim family.

Text by Wong Siew Te

The magnificent yet unfortunate Sunda clouded leopard mentioned in earlier blog was not unique. Others, many others in fact, wildlife in this part of the world also faced similar fate. Few years ago a friend of mine from Sarawak sent me similar photos- photos of a decapitated sun bear taken in Sarawak. I have seen many photos of dead animals, witnessed many dead animals with my own eyes and I personally dissected many dead animals. In theory I should be able to take it but at that time I can’t. The photos of this decapitated sun bear were so powerful that I nearly cannot take it.

Few years ago I visited an Iban village in central Sarawak. I was lucky to be able to follow a local hunter on his hunting trip. During the few kilometers walk in the forest, the hunter showed me several dozens of snares he set to catch wildlife. Although the target animals were bearded pigs, he proudly told me that everything else that walked in the forest such as pheasants, mouse deer, pangolins, sun bears, were once common wildlife captured by the snares until recently. He emphasized “until recently” because he sensed a sharp decline of local wildlife population in the forest. For example sambar deer was almost locally extinct in the forest. Ironically, the once abundant bearded pigs also became rare now a day. Bearded pigs were by far the most important game animals that contributed the majority of their protein source. Yet, under years of over harvesting and exacerbated by unsustainable logging and habitat degradation, bearded pig populations in many areas have declined significantly. When bearded pigs became rare, the hunting pressure has shifted to other species such as sambar deer, 2 species of barking deer and mouse deer, pangolin, and others, sun bear included. We walk passed a snare where the hunter proudly pointed out that he caught a female sun bear just few days ago. He tried to kill the bear but the bear managed to escape from the snare when fighting for her own life. The female’s cub was sent to a tree by the mother (mother bears often sent their cubs to hide in tree to escape from danger) but unfortunately the cub climb a small tree where it cannot really conceal itself. The cub was shot dead by the hunter, eaten, and its little gallbladder was sent to the closest town to sell for a few hundred ringgits. I asked if he can show me the skull of the bear cub. “The dog cleaned it all up” I was told. That day we arrived at a pig wallow that seems inactive for a while. He pointed out all of the snares that he set around the wallow to catch animals that come to drink water or to wallow. I was speechless when he pointed to the 8th.        

Snare set on animal trail to catch willdife in the forest.

It is truly sad to see this decapitated sun bear and the decapitated clouded leopard. Although both of the two mammal species are totally protected by wildlife protection law in the country, the lack of interest, capacity, and ability to enforce the wildlife laws by the government authority make these laws like never exist. Paper laws so to speak. During my visit to Sarawak I also witness an interesting scene: few billboards erected to educate the public not to kill and to eat game meat. One of them showed all the protected species in Sarawak. The other one was a warning on consuming wild meat. The wording in three languages read:

“WILD MEAT

Under the Wild Life Protection Ordinance 1998, it is an offence to “buy or sell or offer for sale or claim ro be offering for sale, any wild mammal, bird, reptile or amphibian, or any recognizable part or derivative thereof” if that animal has been taken from the wild. This means that all sale of wild boar, deer meat, pigeons, terrapins, frogs or any other meat taken from the wild is an offence.   

The penalty to sell or offer for sale or claim to be offering for sale, any wild mammal, bird, reptile or amphibian, or any recognizable part or derivative thereof for this offence is a fine of RM5,000.

It is also an offence to buy any items, and the penalty for doing so is a fine of RM2000.

Offenders may be charged in Court”

Signboard of protected wildlife in Sarawak

Obviously these billboards send a good message to educate the public not to be an offender of wildlife laws or you will be punish, may be, according to the message. However, what make this scene interesting and ironic at the same time was that they were erected in front of a row of shops and small businesses. Among these shops were two restaurants that were well known to the locals for selling wild meat. In the forest one could argue that the lack of enforcement is probably due to the lack of interest to enforce wildlife laws as well as lacking resources – human resource, to enforce the law. But in this case the police station and the forestry department office were all nearby in town, it is nothing but lack of interest to enforce the wildlife laws. Police and enforcement agencies all prefer an “easy life.” If they can work “less,” they would and love to work less!

Under this attitude, wildlife suffered. Clouded leopard, sun bear, and other wildlife suffered and being decapitated and eaten until they are locally extinct. When they are locally extinct, two phenomena may happen: the price of that particular species raise and poachers has to go further in the remote forest to hunt or other less preferred species are now becoming a target species. Across the world there were many examples showing these two situations.

In the case of decapitated sun bear and clouded leopard, obviously the authority has failed us. They were paid and hired to protect the country’s wildlife yet they failed. Mohandas Gandhi once said, “When the people lead, the leader will follow.” I think it is time for all of us to lead, to act, and to protect our wildlife. We have to realize that we all have the responsibility to ensure their survival and the power to protect them. We can report to the local authorities, conservation NGOs who act like watch dogs with teeth for the authority, or even the local press on the unlawful activities of killing and harming wildlife. We can act to support and help spread the words for organizations that aim to protect wildlife like BSBCC or other wildlife rescue centre so that they can do their work to rescue wildlife. There a lot we can do to help these animals that share the same planet Earth with us. Like I always said, do what you do best to help sun bears and other wildlife. Together we CAN, we DO, and we WILL make a difference!

Repost from http://www.aonyx.com/blog/?p=487

Text by Anthony Sebastian

Losing your head in Sarawak

5 January, 2012

In December 2011, this clouded leopard lost its head. Keeping one’s head in Borneo is not as easy as one would imagine. And I mean this figuratively as well as actually! You could lose your head whilst simply going about your everyday business of strolling to the rainforest you call your home, or sitting quietly in a tree waiting for some prey to pass by. Whichever, losing one’s head is permanent.

As a Sarawakian who deeply loves and treasures the wonderful wildlife my State possesses, it is increasingly easy to lose one’s head too. When this picture arrived in my inbox, sent by an anonymous friend from kapit, I lost my head. I felt a deep welling of anger rise within my body, from the depths of my stomach rising to my throat, and upwards to my head. It made my head swell, and tears came.

Decapitated Head of a Clouded Leopard

Yes, I cried. But interestingly, I found myself crying not for the unfortunate leopard that met its fate in this gruesome manner. No, my tears were for myself, for my fellow Sarawakians, for my state I love so much. I was crying for the loss. The un-necessary loss we all suffer. The leopard has passed on. Its flesh was eaten, and provided (hopefully) a nice meal for someone. It time had come, and it has passed like so many others before it, and so many others yet to die in our forests.

Hunting is the bane of Sarawak. It is a curse we have upon ourselves. It is our shame. I know each and everyone of you reading this right now knows of someone who hunts. This person thinks himself some kind of hero, some kind of brave macho type who can take a gun, go into the forest (or wherever) and shoot a wild animal. Its cool….

Well, my friends, it is not. Human beings have progressed. Today’s big-game hunters are those who bring those inspiringly vivid jaw-dropping images we watch with awe on television. These days, we can watch them in high definition. Wild animals in all their glory, titans of the oceans brought right in front of our eyes like never before. These hunters use cameras of every form, harnessing every bit of technology and skill to stalk these wild animals, and capture them for us to see. These are the hunters we respect. They do not kill.

Body of a Bornean Clouded Leopard

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011100752008/National-news/rare-cub-rescued-from-soldier.html

After a “tense” meeting with a military commander on Wednesday, an endangered sun bear cub was rescued from a military base in Preah Vihear province before it could be sold for an estimated US$1,000.

The 10-kilogram cub was found at a base near Preah Vihear temple in Choam Khsan district, in the possession of a soldier who was trying to sell it, likely to a bear farm in Vietnam.

A sun bear cub rescued from a military base in Preah Vihear province on Wednesday was likely destined for a bear farm in Vietnam, according to Wildlife Alliance

Wildlife Alliance worked with Forestry Administration officials to gain access to the military base after receiving information that a captive bear cub was for sale.

Forestry officials and members of the team “first went to speak to the regional military commander, who then aided the team in raising awareness about the law [among soldiers”, said program manager at Wildlife Alliance Lesley Perlman yesterday.

Wildlife Alliance described the meeting with the unnamed military commander as “tense”, but said that following the meeting the commander helped raise awareness of laws governing endangered species among solidiers.

“As the soldier voluntarily handed over the bear, no charges were filed,” Perlman said.

The bear is being transferred to Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre and Perlman said greater effort was needed in Cambodia and regionally to protect endangered species.

“In Cambodia, stronger law enforcement is needed to combat the illegal trade in wildlife on the ground,” she said. Regionally, “both demand and supply side efforts are needed”, she said.

Sun bears are sold as pets or used in Chinese traditional medicine, which highly values their paws and gall bladder bile.

A rapid response team working in Cambodia confiscates about 10 live Malayan sun and Asiatic Black bears a year, Perlman said