Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre

Text and photos by Chiew Lin May

Damai is one of the female sun bear cub rescued by Sabah Wildlife Department that sent to Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC). She is now 9 months old. Every time walk her in forest, she is very curious and loves to sniff the around environment, which is what sun bears love to do !! She is doing really well and glad for her! Here are some pictures just tell a story better than words ever can. Please help us spread the words and spread the loves.

Text and video by Chiew Lin May

Tropical rainforest are the sun bear’s main habitat. They are tree lover and can climb extremely well. Many of the features are specifically adapted for a more tree-dwelling lifestyle. Example the long, curved, pointy claws and they can rotate their arm just like primate do. However, sun bear faces many challenges for its survival, including destruction of forests and commercial hunting.

Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre  (BSBCC) would like to help and conserve sun bears.Please help us save them.Watch this video to discover what we do know about this amazing and special sun bears in their natural habitat.

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Text and photo by Chiew Lin May

Malayan sun bear (Helartos malayanus) need a diverse tropical rainforest to survive. They are forest dependent species. BSBCC forest enclosure highlight the needs for animals better prepared for living in their natural environment. One of the primary goals of the BSBCC is to rehabilitate and release suitable orphaned and ex-captive bears back into the wild, providing an improved long-term living environment for captive bears that cannot be released.

The BSBCC forest enclosure is an old growth forest with full-grown trees and lianas. Over the past many months, we have observed good progress on Cerah and Jelita display their wild behavior and stand a better chance to freedom in the wild.  They are an arboreal bear species. They spend a lot of their time foraging for food, resting, digging and climbing on tree canopy at BSBCC forest enclosure.

They play a vital role as seed dispersers in their forest ecosystem as when they eat the fruits contain seeds. The seeds will be carried long away from the parent tree or scatter the undigested seeds in their faeces with a way to spread out and grow in new places. The importance of seed dispersal is for the continuation of plant and species life.

Sun bears are opportunistic omnivore. Cerah and Jelita forage by using their claws to dig the decayed wood searching for natural bear food such as termites and beetle larvae. They have to forage a lot each day in order to meet their energy requirement. They are good at skimming through the forest enclosure with their nose and paws to find any kinds of food in the forest. Jelita like to sit on the ground with her body straight up and held the food with her front paws and licked it. They are feeding on fruits both on the ground and in the trees. Sometimes, their black fur makes them not easy to be spotted when they are foraging on the dark forest floor at the forest enclosure.

Cerah the sun bear use her strong jaws and teeth to open coconuts!

Cerah and Jelita enjoying their morning snack.

Decayed wood was the most common type of feeding site for sun bears to search of termites, beetle larvae and earthworms.

Sun bears are good tree climbers because that is where they can find their food.  In the forest enclosure, Cerah and Jelita climb like a wild sun bear. They are excellent climbers and are thought to sleep in trees. It is lucky to saw the interesting behavior of the sun bears climbing up the trees. They usually spend most of their day sleeping and sunbathing on the tree or forest floor in the forest enclosure. After napping, they spend much of the time foraging for food.

Both of them climb like a wild sun bear in the BSBCC forest enclosure.

Jelita rolled her long tongue out when it yawned.

Here are some of photos showed the Cerah and Jelita difference resting/ sleeping postures.

Jelita taking a nap after finish the corn on tree !!

These trees will provide bedding sites for sun bears. Those branches also make a nice place to build a nest for resting or sunbathing during the day. Cerah and Jelita enjoy exploring the natural environment at BSBCC forest enclosure.

A sun bear’s nest found in tree at BSBCC forest enclosure.

Cerah and Jelita enjoy exploring the natural environment at BSBCC forest enclosure. While studies of sun bears in the wild indicate they live solitary existence, most likely due to competition for food but Cerah and Jelita are best pals. They will share food, comfort and protect each other together. Cerah have strong sense of curiosity.  She will stay alert and avoid with presence of human and surrounding sound in the BSBCC forest enclosure. She will quickly climb trees to seek shelter and safety.

BSBCC forest enclosure is a perfect dwelling place that the rescued sun bears can roam freely by day and night. Cerah and Jelita has learned from experience and developed technique in survival skills. Observed them venture and acclimate to life in the forest.  This showed a positive sign of independence and given the sun bears the best chance of survival in the wild. Both of the sun bears are fascinating in the forest enclosure. Watching the change of both of the sun bears grown healthy and adapt well in the forest is undoubtedly one of our greatest pleasures.

Cerah and Jelita like to play together in the forest enclosure.

 Help us spread the words about the forgotten species – the sun bears! Together we can make a difference!!

Join our Facebook page to get the latest news from BSBCC at here
www.facebook.com/sunbear.bsbcc

Text and photos by Maria Collin

I am very happy to announce that my little sun bear, Jelita, made
specially for the next BSBCC fundraiser has won a Golden George Award -
the “Oscar” of the teddy bear world!
I entered her in the competition in the hope that she might engender
more awareness of Sun bears – and she did me proud! I was stunned and
thrilled to bits when she won the “naturbär” category…………and i
have to say that the trophy is quite something – two kilos of solid
bronze, and heavy to hold when you are shaking with emotion and excitement!
The Golden George competition is run in conjunction with the Teddybär
Total show in Münster, Germany – a two day event which attracts
exhibitors from all over the world. And there  I was there with my
bears, but wearing sun bear t.shirts – a copy of Forty Wild Life Heroes
open on my table (at the appropriate section) and  telling anyone who
would listen about “our ” bears
And the nicest thing happened on saturday morning……the show
organiser took the Bürgermeisterin (Mayoress) of Münster around the
show, after she had opened it………….came to my table, introduced
us and then told her that I not only make bears but campaign hard for
REAL bears – how nice was that? Result is that she went off clutching a
flyer inviting her to our fund raiser………YAY!
anyway – Jelita is one of the prizes in our June fundraiser – and she
comes with added allure……..”Oscar – winer”.  I hope she raises lots
for the BSBCC………..oh – but I get to keep the trophy !
 

In the tropical forest of Southeast Asia, live a bear species call sun bears. These bears are small, the smallest of all the eight living bear species, and have black fur that are not easy to be spotted when they forage on the dark forest floor under the multi-layers forest canopies.

Sun bears are the tree loving bears. They are forest dependent species. They live their life completely in the forest. Without the forest, there will not be habitat for the sun bears. They need the trees to survive because these trees, not few trees, but a lot of tress make a healthy forest where sun bears and other forest inhabitants can find sufficient food, shelters, mates, and propagate.

Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre aims to conserve sun bears through improve animal welfare for captive sun bears, raise conservation awareness for sun bear with education programs, conduct research to learn more about this little known bears, and rehabilitate pet sun bears into the wild.

By working closely with Sabah Wildlife Department and Sabah Forestry Department, we rescued pets, ex-captive sun bears from tiny cages. We build forest enclosures so that they can have access to the forest. We educate the public to raise awareness on conservation and the plights of the sun bear.

We love sun bears the tree loving bears! How about you?

Photo credit: Marc Anderson

Happy New Year everyone! Today is the first day in the year 2012. After a good 6 hours of sleeping, I wake up fresh when the New Year rain was still pouring like a waterfall on top of my roof. Before I wrote this New Year blog, I revisited the New Year blogs that I wrote last year and the year before that.  I realized that I used the same title for the two New Year blogs: “New Year, New Hope for the Sun Bears”.

Over the many years, I always have high hope for the new coming year. The New Year gives me new hope and new energy to achieve the plans that I wanted to achieve during the new coming year. Like many people, “Year” is the unit that I used over the years for my conservation and research work on sun bears and their habitat. From the first year I started to study sun bear in 1998, “new hope” has been accompanied me to what I have done and achieved today. It was these “hopes” that give me the new set of energy to propose plans and projects. The New Year and new hope of 2012 is no exception.

I personally want our ambitious plan of BSBCC to progress quickly. However, due to difficulties and challenges to raise such a large amount of funds needed to set up of the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, we have no choice but to progress the project slowly by subdividing the center’s development into “phases” according to the funding we managed to raise and secure at a time.

 ”Slowly but surely, we will get there.”

Since 2008, we have raised nearly one million dollars to pay for the first bear house, the one hectare forest enclosure, the observation platform, the access road to the bear house, the boardwalk that link to the platform, as well as the operation cost over the last four years. It was a lot of money. Thanks to many of your helps and supports, we have successful raised it and wisely spent it over the past four years. This year, our bigger challenge is to raise another one million dollars for the construction of another bear house with another hectare of forest enclosure, the visitor briefing area, upgrade of the existing bear house, quarantine area, and office. I hope we can raise the fund so that we can complete the construction phase of the centre and open to the public.

 Education is what I believe that can help save many endangered species and their habitat. “Only if we understand, can we care; Only if we care, will we help; Only if we help, shall they be saved” (Jane Goodall 1990). For sun bear and their habitat- the tropical forest of Southeast Asia, only when ALL OF US understand (not just few biologists, conservationists, or environmentalists, but general public from school students all the way to politicians and a country’s decision makers), will ALL OF US care. Only when ALL OF US care, will we starting to help. Only after ALL OF US help, shall sun bears, other wildlife and their habitat be saved!

Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre aims to educate the public and make the public to understand sun bears and their habitat. We use a holistic approach that incorporate education, research, rehabilitation, and promote animal welfare to conserve sun bears and their habitat.

Please help us achieve this goal in the year 2012!    

Siew Te Wong

Founder and CEO,

Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre

Text, photos, and video by Siew Te Wong

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Yesterday when I walked little Mary in the forest, she stopped at the base of this huge dipterocarp tree. The scene was just amazed me: “big tree, little bear” was what came out from my mind immediately. It was a peaceful time we spent in the forest under the big tree. Mary was busy digging the nests of termite and ant and feeding furiously on the angry insects that swamped out from their broken home. The big tree stood there like a giant with no fear. The sound of the cicadas and other unknown insects rumbled like there is no tomorrow: they have to mate now!

Big tree little bear!

The big tree, the little sun bear, and the tiny termites all need one other to survive. Female sun bears den in the hollowed tree trunk or cavities of huge trees in the forest when they give birth and nurse helpless baby for months. These cavities are the safest den for the female sun bears because they are relatively dry in the ever wet and moist rainforest (rainforest always rain!), relative cold in the hot mid tropical day, and relatively warm at night (tropical rainforest may get cold at night because of the rain and high humidity). There is simply no other better den site that a sun bear can find in the forest then a large tree with cavities or hollowed. The trees are huge, like this one, with a diameter of at least one meter (3 feet) and a height of 30 m (100 feet) or more. They are probably very old – at least few hundred years old too! In return, sun bears are opportunistic omnivores that feed on termites, beetles and other forest insects that kill trees (forest pest, so to speak). By feeding on the termite colonies and other insects, the sun bears act as forest “doctors” that keep these insects at “healthy levels”. The tiny termites, feed on the woody materials in the forest, both alive and dead. And the cycle go on and on..

Here comes a problem for sun bear in the human altered landscape: these forest giants are getting rare in logged forest because they are targeted for timber market and sell for a lot of money. In Borneo, most of the remaining forests are being selectively logged except few totally protected forest reserves that remain as undisturbed primary forests. The lack of large trees with cavity may post a challenge for female sun bears to find suitable den sites and successfully raise cubs.

Big trees little bears and tiny termites, all need one other to survive. Are we wise enough to keep all of them in the forest? For sure the termites will survive. But I am not sure about the sun bears and the big trees. Only time will tell!    

Is Mary climbing on a vertical wall?

No, is the buttress of the big tree!

Mary digging out a termite colony in this fallen tree.

Still working hard...

This hollowed tree was being fell by logger but abandoned because of the hollowness and low value. The cavity has become an important den site for sun bear.

Sun bear den in the lowland rainforest of Danum. There is a pile of a sun bear faces at the bottom left of the photo.

I found one of my studied wild sun bear in this cavity of a huge standing tree.

Repost from http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0802-malaysian_palm_oil_standard.html

Malaysian government to launch RSPO rival for palm oil certification
mongabay.com
August 02, 2011

The Malaysian government is developing its own certification system for palm oil production, potentially creating another rival to the certification system run by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), reports Malaysia’s Business Times.

Speaking in Australia, Malaysian Commodities Minister Bernard Dompok said the government is in the “preliminary stage” of developing a sustainability standard for palm oil production to counter tighter standards being pushed by the RSPO.

“We will go ahead because the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil keeps on changing its goal posts on how to produce sustainable palm oil,” he was quoted as saying. “We will come up with a national certification scheme.”

Indonesia — the world’s top palm oil producer — has already announced its own certification scheme, which is primarily based on compliance with Indonesian law and is therefore compulsory.

Malaysian Palm Oil Council Chief Yusof Basiron said Malaysia’s certification standard would be similar and aim to address concerns raised by environmentalists.

Oil palm seed. Palm oil is used widely in processed foods. By virtue of its high yield, palm oil is a cheaper substitute than other vegetable oils. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler.

“The industry is already highly monitored. We will just tweak it a little bit and look at what the market and the NGOs want,” Basiron was quoted as saying.

“If they don’t want deforestation, then we will include it in the certification requirements. If they don’t want orang utan to be destroyed, we will include it too.”

The remarks came as both officials met in Australia to voice opposition to an Australian bill that would require separate listing of palm oil on product labels. Presently palm oil can be generically listed as “vegetable oil” under Australian food regulations, but green groups, concerned over deforestation associated with some palm oil production, have pushed for stricter labeling requirements. The Malaysian palm oil industry says labeling — which only applies to palm oil, not other vegetable oils — could lead to discrimination against palm oil-containing products. Up to half of processed food products in some markets contain palm oil, according to the environmental group WWF, which is pushing RSPO certification.

While the creation of another certification standard could create confusion in the marketplace, at least one RSPO member welcomed the move.

“The fact that they are creating their own system (just as Indonesia before them), means RSPO is transforming the system,” said the member, who requested anonymity since he wasn’t authorized to speak on behalf of the organization. “It is, essentially, a race to the top instead of the bottom. Our standard will move towards sustainability and the market will respond.”

“In short, we welcome such developments,” he continued. “If anything, it reinforces what we hope to achieve.”

The RSPO was launched in 2004 as a way to address growing concerns over palm oil production. Its code of conduct includes an explicit commitment to “continual improvement” of its standards.

The first shipments of RSPO-certified palm oil reached market in late 2008. Since then, production has surged, reaching 4.7 million metric tons through the first three months of 2011. A number of the world’s largest producers, traders, financiers, and buyers have now joined the RSPO, including Walmart, Hersheys and CitiBank last week.

But the RSPO has faced criticism from some environmentalists, who say its monitoring and enforcement mechanisms remain weak.

The RSPO recently took action against IOI Group, a Malaysia-based member accused of particularly egregious breaches of RSPO’s code, including social conflict with forest people and clearing of rainforests. Last year the body booted PT SMART, Indonesia’s largest palm oil producer, after it was found to be in violation of RSPO standards. PT SMART has since announced a strict forest policy that will allow it to attain RSPO certification.

Biologist Andrew Pierce took this very rare video footage with his cell phone of a wild sun bear climbing a tree and digging for honey in the tree truck in with one of his paw and teeth and powerful jaw several meters above the ground in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand. This video is a valuable resource to show us how sun bear make a living in the wild! Thanks Andrew for sharing with us!

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The second reason for sun bear to be an arboreal mammal is that they like to rest, nap, and sleep on treetop. Obviously, they can do this equally well on forest floor, just like this —>

 However, there is a problem sleeping on forest floor. If you have visited the lowland rainforest of Borneo, you probably notice the numbers of blood sucking leeches presence on the forest floor. Even though you appeared to be walking alone in the forest, you are never alone because there are always many leeches latched on you! They either feasting on your blood or trying really hard to find a vulnerable spot to enjoy a bloody meal.

This was my feet and my blood, and a fat-blood sucking leach!

 So being a warm-blooded large mammal live in the rainforest that always wet and rain, the sun bear is better to stay up high off the ground when they take a break from their daily routine foraging for food or traveling on the ground. There is no better way to illustrate how sun bear have done it by showing photos taken by Chandra Dewana Boer at Wehea forest, East Kalimantan, Indonesia Borneo.

Sun bears are also known to be prey upon by reticulated pythons (huge snake that can grow up to 10 m long! seriously, I am not kidding ) and tigers in Mainland Asia and in Sumatra. In order to escape from a surprise attack by these predators, sun bear make nest and sleep high on tree. Earlier I have posted a rare video of Batik the sun bear making a tree nest. Below is another video of her sleeping high, about 35 m above the ground on her tree nest she made and slowly climb down from the tree. If she did not wear a radio-collar, I would never have guessed and found her so high off the ground in the thick canopy of Bornean rainforest.

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Stay tune for part III...