Bornean Sun Bear Conservation

Category: BAT-Bornean Action Teams, BSBCC, Volunteers | Date: Oct 24 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong

Text: by Billy Dunn

Photos: by Billy Dunn and Ian Hall 

The construction of the biogas digester at the new Sun Bear Conservation Centre in Sepilok took a bit of time to get running and underway but after ten days of hard building, pumping, lifting, grafting, sweating, itching, bleeding, plastering, twisting, bending and cutting, it was an impressive achievement thanks to the volunteers from Camps International.   

When complete the biogas digester will turn bear dung into methane gas that can be used to cook the bears’ daily meal of rice. After arriving in Sepilok the initial tasks facing the group were not too exciting or enjoyable but hard labour and exhausting work! We started by moving 1500 bricks from outside to inside the site, which involved a lot of timber planks, deep clay resembling a battlefield full of water and wheelbarrows with punctured wheels…not a good combination for moving bricks!  

To follow, the excavated location on site for the digester was full of water. After trying to convince the girls that bailing the water out with buckets all day was the only solution, the contractors, having seen their faces, gladly lent us their pump and the water was gone soon enough. 

Once the site was clean and dry, the concrete platform was revealed beneath the water and leaves. We then moved a third of the bricks down our own hand made steps, carved out from the clay, and into the centre of the circle, only to realise that the centre of the circle was actually required to draw and mark out the circular footprint for the bricks! After a brief re-location, to the girl’s delight of course, we laid out the first course. With a quick lesson in the art of bricklaying by leader Howard, we quickly learnt that bricklaying was indeed an art and not as easy as maybe expected previously! 

We soon developed an effective production line of sand/cement mixing, water collecting, concrete mixing, bucket filling and distributing down the steps to the site. This was all being done in sticky wet clay, hot, humid conditions and with every contractor working in Sepilok staring at our every move. Well I say “our” every move, as lovely as Matt and I are, I’m pretty sure it had something to do with all the girls working on site! Their entertainment eventually turned to frustration with our bricklaying skills and they soon joined us down in the pit. A solid afternoon’s work with the contractors got us back on track and we were soon motoring on with the construction. 

The arrival of the remainder of the group brought an injection of enthusiasm, plus the skills of their leaders Mann and Zul. Our initial attempts to build the dome for the digester were not as successful as we maybe first thought. Despite it being our first experience bending metal bars into circles and arcs, we were relatively happy and satisfied with our efforts. That is until Mann took one look at it and worked his magic! His construction experience was clear to see as he took our “dome” apart and began amending our “arches” into curved things of beauty! When re-attached and covered with steel mesh, the finished dome was an impressive sight. 

The moment of truth came when the dome was placed onto the brick structure to find out how well it would fit. It sat perfectly and the steel circular rings were attached using the vertical metal rods bedded in between the double skin of bricks. A hard mornings work then began when the inside face of the dome was plastered, a very messy and tiring job but one that was achieved successfully in one go. To complete the group’s work, the outside face was then plastered in the afternoon and covered with damp blankets. 

Without the efforts and hard grafting by the volunteers, the biofuel digester would still be a large pond on site. The group made great progress in the ten days and should be proud of the efforts! On behalf of B.S.B.C.C., I would like to thank Camps International for their contribution, as their work here will always be seen and felt by the centre for years to come.

Tags: Billy Dunn, biogas digester, Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, Ian Hall, sun bear, Volunteer

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Category: BSBCC, Volunteers, education, sanctuary | Date: Oct 19 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong

Photos and text by Jocelyn Stokes 

Over here at the centre the bear crew can’t help but take a keen liking to a trio of young sun bears who may have actually been acrobats in a past life.  While one is hanging upside down from the ceiling with its head arched back and legs flailing in the air, another will be swinging though the air in a tire, whilst the other is usually balancing stealthily in the corner, arms straight up, or perhaps tearing open a coconut.  They’re a regular riot to observe with their overflowing abundance of character and youthful antics!  Deemed the ‘three amigos’ by a troupe of loyal volunteers from New Zealand,  these three bears,  Jolita, Lawa and Cerah, truly delight in each other’s company. “The reason they get along so well,” explains Wai Pak, the onsite Educational Officer, “is because they are so young.  At their age they need playmates.  They all happen to be the same age, as well, and they have grown up in captivity, so they are particularly fond of each other!”

  It’s a truly enjoyable sight to behold when a group of young wild, animals with a rather unfortunate past can be helped to live in such contentment.  And, why not?  These bears are blessed with more love and attention than most creatures could dream of having.  Although their living space in not quite adequate yet, these bears are still receiving the utmost care.  Through the hard work and dedication of the small BSBCC staff, along with the fresh, motivated energy of the volunteer groups, these bears receive healthy nourishment, instinctual stimulation, and well-cared for environments.  All the bears have to worry about is how they’ll break open their next coconut and even that doesn’t seem to challenge them for too long.

1 - Labors of Love - our friendly bear caretaker, David, is bringing sugar cane, fruit and other yummy treats for the bears.

2 - Wai Pak is happily raking dry leaves to put into the bear cages, which helps to create a more natural surface for them to walk on.

Tags: Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, Jocelyn Stokes, sun bear, Volunteer

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Category: BSBCC, Volunteers | Date: Oct 15 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong

By Jocelyn Stokes  

As my plane landed on that grassy runway, I looked out the windows to see banana trees surrounding rustic village huts and noted quite emphatically to myself,

 ”I am in Borneo!”

Wai pak and Billy met me just outside the Sandakan airport gates with warm, friendly smiles and swooped me off to the local market and clinic for a brief health check. The visit to the clinic is quite mandatory, I have discovered, when working in such close proximity to the protected wildlife. Wai Pak is the most qualified member of the SSBCC staff that is currently residing in Sabah. He has a great knowledge of the centre and an admirable fatherly relationship to the bears. Billy is the architect’s assistant who is also deeply interested in the welfare of the bears, along with the design and construction of the new bear centre.  I have taken the role of not only the onsite conservationist photojournalist, but also the very first official BSBCC volunteer.   It’s a very exciting time for the BSBCC.  Phase 1 of construction for the new centre is in full swing. I feel privileged to be here to witness the great changes that are occurring.

The new centre will provide the ex-captive and orphaned sun bears a more natural environment, in a secure section of the forest reserve, so that they can be safe and outdoors! It’s terribly sad to see these amazing, beautiful wild creatures living behind bars.  Although it is better for them to be safe here in these cages, than in life-threatening situations elsewhere, it is not suitable for them to be so confined.

Since Siew Te Wong founded BSBCC and took over the care of the confiscated sun bears from Sabah Wildlife Department’s Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in 2007, there have been vast improvements in the current bear facilities.  The bears have much better living conditions than before, yet the new centre will be optimal. The new centre, when fully built, will be able to accommodate 43 bears (31more than currently). Thus, there will be space for more confiscated bears that may need to be rescued and rehabilitated. Sadly, with the progression of various threats against the safety of the wild sun bears, including habitat loss, pet trade and poaching, there will most likely be many more bears that are in need of rescue.

The BSBCC, with the help of LEAP, has raised enough money to fund the first phase of the building construction; however, to complete the proposed plan quite a bit more funding will be necessary. I am hoping that through my photography I will be able to raise more funding for the construction of the new centre.  Unfortunately, the costs of maintaining the facility and sustaining the bears will also increase will the new centre because the small government funding they are currently receiving will cease to exist.  This is an even greater incentive to ‘get the ball rolling’ on raising money for the magnificent sun bears and their new home!

Wong’s notes: Jocelyn is a photographer and writter. You can learn more about her and her work at http://www.jocelynstokes.com/. We are very thankful that Jocelyn could come to help us at BSBCC to do what she do best: photograph and write about our bears, centre, and the forests.

Thank you Jocelyn!

Tags: Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, Jocelyn Stokes, sun bear, Volunteer

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Category: BAT-Bornean Action Teams, BSBCC, Volunteers, sanctuary | Date: Sep 18 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong

 http://leapspiral.blogspot.com/

by Jungle Bob

Bear Action Teams (BATs)

 Well, it’s been a few weeks since we had any updates from the Bear House and the BSBCC project in Sepilok. So, let’s get up to speed.

‘Suria’ has a ‘poorly’ paw and is confined to ‘quarters’ whist it repairs itself. Doc Cecillia has been in attendance and prescribed antibiotics.

‘Manis’ is doing well but has decided she doesn’t actually like other bears, she much prefers humans, especially Wai Pak (if anyone out there does understand the workings of the female brain, answers on a post card please). She has been taking some time out to check out her birthing pen and seems to like it. She is under constant surveillance at the moment which smacks of voyeurism but is a necessary evil.

Tags: BAT, Bornean Bear Conservation Centre, BSBCC, Camp International, Raleigh, Sabah, scouts, sun bear

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Category: BAT-Bornean Action Teams, BSBCC, Volunteers | Date: Sep 06 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong

 By Ian Hall posted at http://arkitrek.com/http:/arkitrek.com/scottish-scouts-at-bsbcc/

 As you may know, wild animals in captivity need constant enrichment to reduce boredom and stereotypic behaviour. Last month we provided the bears at the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre with a daily parade of Scottish Scouts for their amusement and benefit.To the bears’ frustration the first thing that the Scouts did was to put up a tarpaulin fence so that they couldn’t see what was going on. They could still peer around the side though and from ovehearing the camaraderie could get a good idea of what was going on.

 First there was a lot of digging interrupted by much repose in front of a cooling fan. The result was strange serpentine trench that twisted away from the bear’s house in either direction.

Incomprehensibly, to the bears, over the next week or so a wire mesh frame emerged from the trench to a height of two metres. Luckily the orang-utans didn’t mistake it for a playground.

At one point after the second week the hubbub was interrupted briefly by a loud clanking and rumbling and clouds of black smoke rising from behind the tarpaulin. A diesel cement mixer was given a test run.

Shortly after that an overnight squall demolished the tarpaulin and allowed some of the bears a sneak peak at lorries arriving to deliver ten tonnes of sand and 100 bags of cement.

Then late one afternoon, just when the bears were waking from their afternoon nap and looking forward to some evening peace and quiet, the cement mixer spluttered and banged to life. Moments later a second mixer joined the fray.

Up until now no more than 12 different voices could be heard around the bear house at any one time. On this evening there were over 50. Something big was afoot.

Dusk fell and through her chink in the fence, Suria Bear could see the scouts plastering a dark grey sludge onto the wire mesh frame. Suria swung back and forth across the roof of her cage; Kuamut Bear barked an inquiry and Susie Bear performed acrobatics with her tyre swing.

On their first day’s induction the Scouts would have been delighted by this display but this evening their attention was elsewhere.

 Night fell and rows of fluorescent lights hung on wires flickered into life.

The concrete mixers roared and a chain of wheelbarrows and buckets sprung into action to distribute the grey sludge.

Everything was going so well until the water tap ran dry. Even the emergency tap jealously guarded by the fearsome Om Bear refused to yield more than a dribble.

“Surely now” thought the bears, “the Scouts will give up this ridiculous exercise and leave us in peace?”

But the Scouts proved to be just as tenacious as the wild animals that they were working so enthusiastically to help. To their disappointment the bears’ beloved keeper Wai Pak was despatched to find water in his truck with a 40gallon drum perched in the back.
 With a new water supply the cement mixer that had been pessimistically killed prior to dinner spluttered defiantly back to life.

Until four o’clock in the morning they toiled. Some fell by the wayside and found comfort on piles of sand, on dusty floors or on whatever old rope they could lay their head. The brave few battled on but it was clear that the job would not be done in one night.

The infernal machines were silenced and cleaned and 50 weary souls trudged proudly home to sleep. The forest edge rejoiced, the insects once more the loudest thing and a chestnut-necklaced partridge calling.

The next night they returned, with more experience and more wisdom and the same determination to complete the job.

The wall that had been dark grey was now light and rigid, one side smoothed and caressed by 50 pairs of gloved hands, the other side rough and splodged with hexagon chicken mesh shaped extrusions.

 Now accustomed to the disturbance the bears seemed more relaxed. Old Gutuk Bear sprawled legs akimbo in his sleeping basket and the three girls; Cerah, Lawa and Jelita amicably shared their two baskets.

The bears were starting to get the gist now; the Scouts were making the second side of the wall smooth like the first and polishing off the protruberances that would later form homes for plants.

By midnight it was all over and the recently completed wall hung with wet blankets to slow down the curing of the cement.

Then on the final morning it all became clear. The tarpaulin was removed and the bears found that there was now a screen wall between their dens and their future visitors. The only people to disturb their afternoon naps would be those that wake them up with bowls of food at tea time. Their only view would be of the forest that would one day become their home again.

Huge thanks to all the Southeast Scotland Scouts. They were given a big job made more challenging with unpredictable logistical constraints and yet they pulled through and delivered the goods.

Not only did they work diligently and enthusiastically but the icing on the cake was that they also came up with a donation of seven thousand Malaysian ringgit in hard cash! That was enough money to pay for all the materials and logistical costs of constructing the screen wall.

By the time the new BSBCC visitor centre is open to the public next year, the wall will be planted up with local epiphytic plants and become a signature feature of the Centre.

You can also read about the Scottish Scouts’ Borneo expedition in their own words.

Tags: Bornean Bear Conservation Centre, BSBCC, Sabah, scouts, sun bear

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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

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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

Tags: , BAT, BSBCC, sun bear

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Category: BAT-Bornean Action Teams, BSBCC, Volunteers | Date: Aug 04 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong

Here is a quick update from our Scottish Scouts who came to help us:

——————————————

Last Monday we hosted a dinner for the local people who have helped us – from the Sun Bear Conservation Centre, the Rainforest Discovery Centre and, of course, the local Scouts. The Scouts ran a Scottish night with piping, dancing and traditional Scottish food – haggis and stovies. One of our guests, Ian from the BSBCC, addressed the haggis and Cammy gave a short speech. The locals seemed to enjoy themselves and managed to cope with Auld Lang Syne too!

Tags: BSBCC, Scottish Scout, sun bears, Volunteers

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Category: BSBCC, Volunteers, sanctuary | Date: Jul 27 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong

Friday July 17^th, 2009 saw the ground breaking for the long anticipated Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC), which will be adjacent to the famous Sepilok Orangutan Centre, 14 miles outside of Sandakan, Sabah. The event marked the commencement of construction of the first phase of BSBCC, which aims to provide rehabilitation and care for captive Sun Bears, and will be the first of its kind in Sabah.

The guest of honour, YB Datuk Masidi Manjun Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, was accompanied by partners of the project, Laurentius Ambu, Director of the Sabah Wildlife Department, Fred Kugan, Deputy Director of the Sabah Forestry Department and Cynthia Ong, executive director of LEAP. The event was attended by an international array of Scottish and Malaysian Scouts, Raleigh International volunteers, Rainforest Discovery Centre Junior Rangers and members of the private sector, all of whom came to show support for BSBCC and celebrate the start of this pioneering project.

The ceremony itself was as innovative as the concept of BSBCC promises to be. After two heartfelt speeches from YB Datuk Masidi Manjun and Cynthia Ong, four Bobohizans (traditional Kadazan Dusun healers/high priestesses) entered the center of a human circle to perform a ritual for the spirits to cleanse the area of past activities and prepare it for new life, protection and hope for the Sun Bears and the Centre.

Once the symbolic ritual had been completed, Datuk Masidi Manjun, Laurentius Ambu, Fred Kugan and Cynthia Ong gathered to officially break ground under the auspices of the Bobohizans. This was followed by Malaysian singer-songwriter Amir Yussof performing Calling on You, a song that he wrote about the Sun Bears’ plight for the fundraising event in November 2008 that enabled the first phase of BSBCC to be built. During the song, Malaysian Junior Rangers provided interesting facts and information about Sun Bears for the crowd. The inclusion of old tradition and knowledge coupled with young environmental leaders, highlighted the need for connection and cohesion between old and new when addressing conservation issues. The ceremony ended with the guests being serenaded by Scottish Scouts playing the bagpipes. This final touch paid tribute to the interconnectivity of the people represented at the event and brought into focus the international and regional significance and responsibility of stewardship of land and animals.

The ground breaking ceremony was especially significant to us, all the BSBCC and LEAP staff, who felt proud and moved to see the culmination of a year and a half of hard work celebrated by our partners and friends.

Katie King

Project Manager

(LEAP)

Check out our photo gallery.

Tags: BSBCC, conservation, ground breaking, sun bear

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Category: BSBCC, Volunteers | Date: Jul 22 2009 | By: Siew Te Wong

Best team here Again !

Posted July 22, 2009 By brian and has no comments yet.

After recovering from out home stay visits and our loooooooong shift on base camp which consists of cooking and washing for the whole camp site. We started back at the Sun bears today and wee david took charge and directed us on building steps leading into the magical forest / well the rainforest soon to lead to a newly constructed viewing platform that will be erected by proper qualified people. We also started to put the finishing touches to the wall that we are about to slap next week. Don’t worry its only a name giving to it for putting plaster on it. The last point before we leave you lovely people is that we’ve all pretty muh aclimatised FINALLY ! but still no tan

Team 3. Scott, David V, Grant, Jonny, Vari

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