Cerah the sun bear climbing a liana

Sun bear holds many world’s records.

Sun bear is the world’s smallest bear species. However, they have the longest tongue, longest claws, and largest canines relatively to their size if compares to other bear species.

They are the world’s most arboreal bear species. Yet, sun bear is the world’s least known bears. They are the least studied bear species. I often refer them as the forgotten species.

Sun bears are nothing but amazing and fascinating! I knew it from years of studying them and working closely with them. It is ashamed that very few people in the world know much about them. For such an little known species, what sun bear need is an army of media coverage, range from the smallest smart phones, tiny news papers columns, articles in magazines, books, internet websites, youtube videos, TV programs and documentaries, and all the way to big screen feature-length films in cinema. Yes, feature-length films like movies!

As sun bear biologist, I am frustrated all these years by having difficulties to reach people, many people indeed, to share the stories and the plights of the sun bears. That frustration however, was slowly disappeared when Chris Morgan first contacted me about a proposed full length feature film call the BEARTREK in 2005. BEARTREK is a wildlife film produce by Wildlife Media Inc. features Brown bears in Alaska, Sun Bears in Borneo, Andean Bears in Peru, and Polar Bears in Canada. Wildlife Media is making a difference for bears and other wildlife through direct project funding and awareness-building.

“Film can change the world”

For BEARTREK, it will change the fate, the future, and conservation of sun bear. The numbers of people BEARTREK will reach and the amount of influence BEARTREK on sun bear is beyond anyone’s imagination. It will be huge, be vast, be significant. Many people across the world will see sun bear, learn about sun bear, and know how special sun bears are for the first time in their life from BEARTREK. All of this knowledge is important for us to save sun bear from extinction as well as their habitat from deforestation. It has been 5 years now I anticipate the project to be completed. At the beginning of each year I pray that the movie will be completed in that year because we need the world to know about the plight of sun bear and their conservation issues urgently. Sun bears and their tropical rainforest habitat need immediate attention and have no time to wait.

“What is good for bears is good for people” is what Chris Morgan always said. “Protect bear habitat and you will protect fresh water, healthy forests, and clean air. No other species captures the human imagination like bears. They amaze us with their power, appearance, intelligence, and adaptability; attributes that have led to human admiration and respect for millennia.” Like all film productions, BEARTREK is no exception of in need funding to achieve its goals. I am urging you to support Wildlife Media and the production of BEARTREK. I am thankful to those of you who have supported BEARTREK. I also thank Chris, Joe and this team to put this movie together.

We need BEARTREK to hit the cinema screen at no time!

You can learn more about BEARTREK and Chris Morgan’s works at:

http://www.chrismorganwildlife.org/

http://wildlifemedia.org/

http://chrismorgan.posterous.com/

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/uIw_ZUJVU7Q" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/e4QNYHbs0jg" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Chris, Wong, and little Cerah the sun bear, all were featured in Beartrek

Wanton destuction of indigenous forest

8,715 hectares (87 square kms) of prime indigenous forest nestled in the folds of a 2,820 metre high active volcanic mountain overlooking Lake Naivasha. It is a fragile little island of biodiversity in a vast sea of mostly indifferent and often times destructive humanity.

It is effectively UNGUARDED. VULNERABLE. MUCH EXPLOITED.

It is the home to perhaps 12 of the fewer than 100 surviving wild population of critically endangered Eastern Mountain Bongo antelope worldwide.
Unless we act quickly, a terrible fate awaits this precious ecosystem. Rhino Ark is spearheading the fencing of this forest, in partnership with the Government.

Join us in this quest.

Tree where the wild orangutan fled to and climbed up

This post illustrates the important work of the Indonesian Government’s Agency for the Conservation of Natural Resources and the Orangutan Foundation but it highlights the chronic problem that Indonesia is facing:  increasing numbers of wild orangutans that are being encountered and needing rescue as their habitat continues to be destroyed and fragmented.  

One quick and simple way to support our work, that won’t cost you anything, is to vote for us in the Animal Friends Pet Insurance Facebook Challenge – if Orangutan Foundation gets the most votes we will win £5,000. We urgently need these funds to support our work in Indonesian Borneo.

Rescue team trying to capture the orangutan - Orangutan Foundation

Last month, after coordination with BKSDA SKW II we visited the village of Natai Raya, close to the Port of Kumai. We had heard there was an isolated female orangutan that was eating fruit from the villager’s backyards. Capturing and moving wild orangutans is always a last resort as it is risky for both the apes and humans and it is also very expensive. However, it was clear that in this case the orangutan needed to be removed from the village. There was a small swampy area with a few small trees but no fruit trees and on the other side of the swamp was an oil palm plantation.  

Wild female orangutan high in tree -Orangutan Foundation

The next day the rescue team made up from BKSDA SKW II staff and the Orangutan Foundation vet Dr Fikri, Uduk (Assistant Orangutan Release Manager) and Pak Tigor headed to the village to capture and trans-locate the orangutan. After 7 failed attempts to catch the orangutan she fled into the swamp and climbed a tree.

Wild female Bornean orangutan - Orangutan Foundation

The team decided to leave the village and return a few days later with more Orangutan Foundation staff to help. Finally, after a co-ordinated effort by all, the orangutan was isolated in one tree and was darted and safely rescued.

Orangutan being weighed - Orangutan Foundation

Veterinary checks on darted wild orangutan - Orangutan Foundation

OF Vet Team attending darted wild orangutan - Orangutan Foundation

DrFikri immediately performed the necessary health checks and the orangutan was taken to the BKSDA SKW II office in Pangkalan Bun.

Orangutan Foundation vet, Dr Fikri with darted orangutan -Orangutan Foundation

Darted orangutan being taken away from the village - Orangutan Foundation

Orangutan being taken to BKSDA office in Pangkalan Bun - Orangutan Foundation

The next day the orangutan was transported by klotok (longboat) to the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve.

Orangutan, awake and alert, being transported to the wildlife reserve - Orangutan Foundation

Heading into the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve - Orangutan Foundation

Arriving at Camp Mangkung, site for the release of translocated orangutans - Orangutan Foundation

Wild orangutan being taken to a safe release site - Orangutan Foundation

She was released at Camp Mangkung, a site established specifically for trans-located orangutans. 

Time to go back to the wild -Orangutan Foundation

Orangutan Foundation staff followed the orangutan for 14 days to ensure she was fit and well ans that there were no problems arising because of the trans-location.

There's a released wild orangutan in there somewhere! Orangutan Foundation

Mission accomplished.... all photos by Orangutan Foundation

Thank you to BKSDA SKW II and to Colchester Zoo Action for the Wild for the support of our Veterinary Programme and for funding the blow pipes and darts.

 Please consider a donation to support our vital work.

 Thank you,

 Orangutan Foundation

My name is Patrick. It has been a while since I started working with David and I am so excited to be doing this. I have been concertrating so much on the GIS WORK.

I was introduced to conservation in 2003 by a very close friend who was working at Arocha Kenya here in Watamu. After a year in the organisation, i got a job as a monkey reaserach assistant for a student from Columbia University who was doing his Phd research. This was a start of my love for wildlife. I worked for a year and a half and later got the same job from a student in Moi University

I actually worked for four years as a research assistant with different students from different countries. During my work as a research assistant I spent some time using a GPS in the course of my field work. Recognizing it as a valuable research tool, I  wanted to know more about how they work the various advantages of using them. That is when I got to know some volunteers at A Rocha Kenya who not only taught me more about a GPS works and how to effectively use it as a research tool, but also how to use it in conjunction with GIS (Geographic Information Systems), a digital mapping program.

That is what i am now doing with David. I work with the data that he brings from the forest to produce reports that are used in helping inform managers how best to conserve the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest. Watch this space for more of my personal history.

With livestock safe at night, reduced lion-livestock conflict means better outcomes for the big cats. It’s a win-win-win scenario that keeps cattle safe from lions, lions out of the way of Maasai spears and local habitat intact. Many thanks to all our partners, supporters and local community members who helped us to achieve this important milestone for lion and cheetah conservation and the improved coexistence of people and big cats. We would like to extend special recognition to the Regina Bauer Frankenberg Foundation, the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund and the National Geographic Big Cats Initiative for their critical support of this work.

To see recent photos of lions, wild dogs and other large carnivores in the Maasai Steppe, please visit us on Facebook.

Living Walls positively impact women and children, reducing time spent maintaining corrals and keeping the family safe at night.!

]]> http://assets.wildlifedirect.org/2012/02/06/assets-bursary-disbusment/ http://assets.wildlifedirect.org/2012/02/06/assets-bursary-disbusment/#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:05:44 +0000 assets http://assets.wildlifedirect.org/?p=462 Hello every one! Just to update you on how far ASSETS has gone this year. The ASSETS team i.e. Festus and Bimbo have been busy dispatching bursary cheques in secondary schools for the continuing students. Already, forty one (41) beneficiary students have been awarded bursaries to keep them in school. This has really helped the students, since most of them had already been sent home for fees, but the ASSETS team has struggled to ensure that they are back in school by sending the bursary cheques to the various secondary schools, paying a total of four hundred fourteen thousand and three hundred shillings (Kshs. 414,300) for the 41 students.

This is just the first phase of the bursary payment which has been done for the continuing students only. The second phase will include those students joining form one this year. An assessment of the new beneficiaries who are yet to join this year will be conducted and then bursaries paid for these new ASSETS members. This will take place in the next two weeks after which the bursary payment task for term one of the year will be finished.

Bimbo, a member of A Rocha's ASSETS team, on his motorcycle dispatching the bursary cheques to the ASSETS students

Greetings!

We are pleased to present you the Lion Guardians 2011 Summary Report, which can be downloaded here. The full length Annual Report (1.3MB) can be found here.

We have had an incredible year, and have started initial expansions of our lion monitoring and conflict mitigation work in Tanzania. We look forward to hearing any feedback or comments from you about our progress this year.

We hope you enjoy these reports, and encourage you to visit us at www.lionguardians.org to follow our work or make a donation.

On behalf of the entire Lion Guardians team, I would like to express great thanks to all of our continuing and new 2011 donors and supporters. Thank you for your belief in our mission and your support in helping us to realize it.

Warmest regards,

Leela Hazzah, PhD
Founder & Director, Lion Guardians

On the 28th of January, we got a report that a lioness had been seen in the Core Area. I got really excited and immediately thought “Magilani!”. Jeneria and I left camp quickly and headed straight into the Core Area. I was excited yet nervous at the same time. We got to the area at 3 pm and immediately spotted the lioness. She was sitting under a tree in some thick bushes. As we approached, she barely flinched and didn’t even look at us. This was not the normal behaviour of a lion in a community area. They are rarely out in the daytime and often at the sight or sound of human presence, they disappear quickly. This female sat there without moving. I looked through my binoculars and realised that this was in fact a young female -and not Magilani. I was disappointed for a few minutes but interested and excited at the same time to figure out who this female was.

Nabulo sits under the tree – our first sighting of the trio

The pieces fell into place quickly. Jeneria and I discovered this female was Nabulo; one of three females from the Koitogor Pride in Samburu National Reserve, who left her mother, Nabo, in 2011. We soon spotted the other two females, the beautiful Sipen and Nanai (Jeneria’s favourite lion!). They had made a waterbuck kill and were resting in the shade near the kill.

We spent the afternoon with these beautiful lionesses and watched them come down to drink, feed on the kill and sit on the beached banks of the Ewaso Nyiro River. It was a special afternoon and our best lion sighting yet in Westgate.

Sipen comes to drink

Nanai and Nabulo drink

Feeding on their waterbuck kill

Jeneria’s reaction to this sighting was one of concern. He said, “These lions don’t know how to behave in community areas. They don’t know how to hide or to avoid people and danger. They are too calm and in the open. How will they survive here?”. I understood and agreed with his concerns and we decided to make sure the community were aware of their presence and monitor their movements to see if they would go back to Samburu National Reserve or stay in Westgate. This is the first time we have seen Reserve lions in Westgate and are keen to follow up to ensure their safety and monitor their movements.

A beautiful evening with Nabulo, Sipen and Nanai along the Ewaso Nyiro River

Bogamachuko School rules

It was again necessary to take the road less travelled inorder to accomplish a great mission. The last time we were on this road was in November 2011; when it was wet, cooler and green. this time round the conditions are the extreme opposite, hot, dusty and brown. We were heading for environmental education at Bogamachuko Primary school on the western edge of Arabuko-Sokoke Forest.

With three overseas volunteers, it was necessary to arrive just after classes to avoid disrupting learning in this school where they hardly see foreigners. by 3 pm we had arrived, and went straight into the head-teachers office where Mr Mwambao and Mr Bali gave us a brief about the school.

Les admiring trophies at Boga

It was very interesting to lean about the many achievements that the school had accomplished in the last few years.

An hour later, it was time for playing the “Wader Migration Game” when twenty five students split up into two teams. The game  challenges the players to realise what chances of survival birds have as they migrate between the breeding and roosting sites.

Wader migration game

Technorati Tags: environmental education, migration

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

An exhausted Nico on arrival at Tacugama

Not surprisingly after his ordeal, Nico was not too happy with people – we could see three machete wounds on his back and his right arm was roughly bandaged. One of the Addax team had previously visited Tacugama and remembered some chimpanzee; he’d managed to cajole Nico into eating and drinking a little before the journey and get him into the vehicle but after a three-hour journey the youngster wanted nothing more to do with anyone.

Nico was not even willing to listen to Willie as we tried to cajole him out of the car

We decided to anaesthetise him immediately to ensure that we could give him the treatment he needed. Our major concern was for his upper arm and, on removing the bandage that must have been applied by a community member, we discovered a badly infected machete wound open to the bone, with maggots in his tissue and that the bone was broken. As we cleaned him and examined him closer, we also found gun shot embedded in his leg and hand.

The machete wound on his arm after cleaning

Two of the wounds on his back - he has a third at the base of his spine

We were going to need an x-ray to see how bad the break to Nico’s arm was and to determine whether the infection had spread into the bone. It was going to be another two days before we could get the x-ray done so in the meantime our priority was to give him a thorough clean up, make him as comfortable as possible and start fighting the infection with antibiotics. [Luckily Nico has arrived as Rupak, our current vet, has extra support from Dr Rosa - back at Tacugama for two months after having been our resident vet for 5 years.]

Trying to immobilize Nico's arm as much as possible

Willie makes him comfortable as he comes round from the anaesthesia

He continued to sleep for several hours, an important part of his recovery from the ordeal he's suffered

On Monday this week we were helped by a local hospital to take the x-ray and the good news was that there were no signs that the infection had spread into his bone and the break was not as bad as we feared with just a single break point and no loose bone shards. However it revealed yet another shotgun pellet.

The small bright sphere is yet another shotgun pellet embedded in Nico's body

With a clear picture of the damage, Rupak and Rosa could now plan to set the bone. They did a first cast in the middle of the week and it was then off for another x-ray to check the setting. They’ve had to leave a hole in the cast so that we can keep cleaning the machete wound. It finally looks as though the infection is starting to recede and the tissue is showing first signs of healing. The cast will need replacing again next week as this first one is a temporary one while we treat the infection.

Given the weak and exhausted state that Nico arrived in, we’re pleased so far with the progress that he’s been able to make. He’s building up a healthy appetite and loves the mangos that are now in season. Unfortunately the nature of his wounds means that he’s having to be regularly anaesthetised for treatment and this means his negative view of people continues. We have no real idea how Nico came to be captured but the gunshot pellets make us suspect that members of his family must have been killed, perhaps by bushmeat hunters, perhaps by farmers protecting their crops, even though gun possession is illegal in Sierra Leone. Addax have gone back to the community involved and sensitised people there as to the protected status of chimpanzees – one silver lining of Nico’s story is that we hope to increase the sensitisation of the local communities around his home with their support.

Enjoying some mango....

... and yet more mango!

We’ll keep you in touch with Nico’s progress – he’s still very vulnerable but so far… so good…

Wong’s notes: Thank you Ecoknights’ founder Yasmin Ras for interviewing and running this interview at their website. Thank you!

========================================================

A special EcoKnights spotlight this month focuses on Malaysian wildlife biologist Wong Siew Te, CEO of the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre in Sabah. The EK crew was very privileged to have met Wong last year during the Borneo Eco Film Festival, organized with the kind assistance of Anton Ngui.

Born in 1969 and raised in Penang (a state in the northern Peninsular Malaysia), Wong has always been an animal lover. It all started when he had a special interest in wildlife when he was studying for his animal husbandry and veterinary degree. When the opportunity came to take wildlife biology seriously, Wong jumped at the chance to work with his then academic advisor Dr Christopher Servheen on an ecological study of the sun bears. Armed with passion and dedication, his academic study on these threatened bears led to a conservation achievement in which he was then appointed as the Co-Chairperson of the Sun Bear Expert Team for the IUCN/SSC Bear Specialist Group from 2002-2005. EcoKnights salutes Wong for his amazing dedication and effort in studying and working on the ecological conservation of the sun bear for the last 13 years.

Today, Wong is the CEO of the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, which he founded in 2008. He was also a fellow of the Flying Elephants Foundation, which awards individuals from a broad range of disciplines in the arts and sciences who have demonstrated singular creativity, passion, integrity and leadership and whose work inspires a reverence for the natural world

Here’s an up, close and personal interview with Wong Siew Te.

(Picture on the right: Wong and a sun bear baby; Photo credit: Wong Siew Te)

EK: Can you tell us about your background (education and career), your current position at the Conservatory and what your roles are there at the Conservatory?

WST: I work closely with animals all my life. Since I was a little tot, I kept all kind of animals as pets. After high school, I went to Taiwan to obtain a diploma in Animal Science and Veterinary. Four years later, I pursued my bachelor degree in Wildlife Biology at the University of Montana, USA, followed by a Masters degree and a PhD degree all from the same university. Unfortunately I did not earn my doctorate at the very end due to unforeseen circumstances. I studied the ecology of Malayan sun bears for my Masters degree and the effects of selective logging on bearded pigs on my doctorate. In 2008, I founded the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre in Sepilok, Sandakan, Sabah and have hold the position of Chief Executive Office since then.

(Picture on the left : Dr Wong and studied wild sedated sun bear; Photo credit: Wong Siew Te)

EK: Have you always been interested in conservation? How did it start?? Is your family supportive? Do your children understand what their dad does for a living?

WST: I love animals since childhood and have kept all kind of pets: birds, fishes, cat, rabbits, mice, turtles, civets, and many carnivorous insects. My father was the one who brought me these pets at that time and gave me a lot of encouragement to keep these pets. During my teenage years, I became a pretty successful breeder breeding birds, fishes, and dogs. However, I did not have any interest in conservation until I was 20 years old simply because I never know about conservation until then. My career with conservation started from bird watching during my teenage years before I actually know there was an outdoor activity call “bird watching.” During my first year of study in Taiwan I joined the “Bird Watching Society” in our university and started to know about conservation. After I earned the diploma in Animal Science and Veterinary program, I worked as a research assistant for a wildlife professor at the same university in Taiwan.

(Picture on the right: Dr Wong and rescued orangutan in Taiwan 1994)

During the two years as a research assistant, I was involved in several research projects on fauna surveys, setting up of a rescue centre for endangered species, and radio-telemetry studies on barking deer in Taiwan. All of these activities helped my future research and conservation works in many ways. My family has been supportive of my work although they wanted me to be with them all the time. I think there is no perfect world when you are in the field of conservation. We gain at the same time lose a lot as well. My eldest daughter somewhat understands my conservation work. She has been talking highly about my work in school to her friends. My youngest daughter who is 7 still needs a few more years to understand what her father does for a living and why I am always not around the family, especially to her friends.

EK: Please tell us about the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC), a bit of history, the goals and what the centre hopes to achieve? Has the centre reached some of the goals it was set out to do?

WST: I first had the idea of setting up a centre to rescue caged sun bears back in 2004 when I did a survey of captive sun bears across Malaysia. During the survey, I encountered many captive sun bears locked up in small metal cages kept as pets, displayed to attract tourists, or some of them were confiscated by the authorities. Sun bears are a protected species in Malaysia. However, the lack of enforcement on the wildlife protection laws and lack of capacity, interest, and resources to properly house these bears has caused all of the sun bears to be housed in substandard, pathetic and disgusting condition. In addition, sun bears remain as the least known bear in the world and one of the most neglected large mammals in SE Asia. Therefore there is a need to set up a facility that helps sun bears with a holistic approach. In 2008 I set up the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC) with the partnership from Sabah Wildlife Department, Sabah Forestry Department and LEAP, a NGO base in Sabah.

The primary goal of this project is to promote sun bear conservation in Borneo by (1) creating the capacity to confiscate, rehabilitate and release suitable orphaned and ex-captive bears back into the wild; (2) providing an improved long-term living environment for captive bears that cannot be released; (3) educating the public and raising awareness about this species; and (4) achieving increased protection for sun bears and their habitat through ongoing research, increased knowledge and awareness, and further protection of habitat.

Over the last four year we have been working hard to raise funds to set up the centre. Although the centre is not yet fully established and not yet open to the public, we have achieved several goals such as rescuing and housing 27 rescued pet sun bears, conducting many education outreach programs for school groups who wish to learn more about the sun bears and their habitat.   

EK: I understand fundraising is always a tough part of conservation. How has it been in terms of support from the public, corporate organizations and government? Who are your supporters and/or funders so far?

WST: The supports from the public, corporate, and government has been moderately encouraging over the past few years. Majority of our construction funds were provide from tax payers money through government funding, whereas our operation fund come from public support and corporates. Our funders include Sabah State Government, the Ministry of Tourism Malaysia, several zoos in US, and many individual online donations and Facebook funds raised from small donors across the world.    

EK: What kind of manpower and financial requirements does the centre take to sustain itself? Is it sufficient? How can a reader of this article help?

BSBCC so far has four full time staff- 2 animal keepers, a project manager, and me as the CEO. Our typical monthly expenses range from RM15, 000-RM20, 000. Over the past four years we have over 700 volunteers helping us on various tasks to taking care of our bears and setting up the centre. All of these man power and expenses seems a lot but it is at the minimum level. It is not sufficient. When we open to public, the staff capacity will increase from 4 to 17 staff, this mean that we need more funds to pay salaries and other relevant expenses.    

Like all conservation programs in the world, the amount of conservation works we can achieve to help save any species is dependent on the amount of funding we can generate. Our efforts to help save sun bears in Malaysia are no exceptions.

First, we need to raise sufficient funds so that we could set up the centre, run the conservation programs, take care of the rescued bears, etc. We need funding to do them all. The most direct way for you to help our efforts is donating fund or help us raise fund. They can make the donation online at: http://www.leapspiral.org/content/suppor… or write to me at wongsiew@hotmail.com.

We also have a Facebook page cause setup where people can join our cause and make their donations at http://www.causes.com/causes/95651.

Unlike tigers, pandas, and rhinos where most people know more about, the sun bear is the least known bear in the world and one of the neglected large mammals in Southeast Asia. The lack of knowledge about the species and their plights among the public is a big obstacle for the conservation efforts to save sun bears. Everyone can help us to raise awareness of the sun bears simply by spreading the words about our cause and the sun bears. Internet has become an important tool to communicate with friends across the world.

 Joining our Facebook cause  http://www.causes.com/causes/95651) and repost our blogs  http://sunbears.wildlifedirect.org/), could help us spread the words and message for sure.

The last thing about how other people can help us is what I always tell people on how they can help us: “do what you do best to help us!” If you are a writer, you can help us write about sun bears and our work; if you are a film maker, help us produce a film about the sun bears; if you are a scholar, help us conduct studies on sun bears, etc. In short, do what you do best! 

(Photo on the right: Sun bears on tree; Photo credit: Marc Anderson)

EK: Can you share some of your successful, emotional/sad and difficult moments at the centre? The challenges you and the centre had to face?

WST: To me, the setting up of the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre from nothing to what it is today is the biggest success story. In addition, rescuing every pet sun bear and bringing them to our centre are all successful stories. Imagine all of our rescued sun bears were capture from the wild since they were cubs after their mother were probably killed by poachers. They were then being locked up in small metal cages for a long time until they were rescued by the Sabah Wildlife Department and sent to us. At our centre, these sun bears are no longer confined to small cages and no longer displayed the very serious stereotypic pacing behavior. They have access to the forest enclosure where they can climb the tress, dig the soil and break decayed woods to look for insects and other invertebrates. Last February I came back from US and saw these rescued sun bears foraging in the forest enclosure for the first time. I broke into tears seeing them live like wild bears. I am so happy all the hard work finally pays off. No one has any idea how much effort I put in and how much sacrifice I have made to make this happen. This is the first step for BSBCC- to improve their welfare. I have done it. No, WE have done it!

The challenges that I and the Centre have face since the beginning have always been funding. Excluding the operational expenses, the capital or the funding on buildings required more than RM 5 million. These are by far the biggest challenge that I have to face when I decided to found this project almost four years ago. Luckily thanks to many very dedicated person and partners, we are more than half way to raise the funds and heading towards the right direction. Looking at the fact that the global economy took for a negative turn when the Centre was set up, I must say we have pulled through one of the most difficult times.

EK:  What gives you strength?

 WST: laughs*). I do not know what gives me strength. However, what I do know is that I love animals, I love bears. I feel very happy if I can help them when they are in trouble and needed helps. Or perhaps my nature of optimism and tenacity gave me strength to do what I have accomplished. Last year I “walked” our rescued orphan sun bear cubs: Natalie, Fulung, and Mary, in the forest. They treated me like their mother and trusted me to protect them. At that time I was thinking what would be a more meaningful career to do in my life than helping these orphan cubs return to the forest? After all these years in this field, I felt like the closer I work with animals, the more strength and energy I have to help them. Perhaps the wildlife and the forest give me the strength and energy to continue working closely with wildlife. This is like a positive feedback loop that fuels me do more and more work in conservation.

(Photo on the right: Dr Wong and Fulung; Photo credit: Wong Siew Te)

EK: What are the threats and issues the sun bears are facing in this country? What are some of the ways that need to be emphasized and/or enforced? What is the reality/future of sun bears in Malaysia? Globally?

WST: Sun bears in Malaysia face the threats from habitat lost, poaching for their body parts, and keeping bear cubs as pets. The threat from habitat lost accelerated since the 60″s when vast lowland rainforest in Malaysia were cleared for agriculture and development until recently. Over the last few years, poaching has been a serious threat to sun bears in Malaysia, partly fueled by the international wildlife trade. Keeping sun bear cubs as pets was exacerbated by both forest clearing and poaching activities when loggers and poachers killed mother bears and captured their cubs.

Sun bears are a totally protected species in Malaysia. No one is allowed to kill, to harm, to sell, to keep and to harass sun bear. However due to the lack of interest to enforce wildlife protection laws by the authority and lack general conservation awareness of sun bears by the general public, unlawful activities of killing and harming sun bears persist.

In order to save sun bears, the wildlife authority and law enforcement agencies MUST enforce wildlife protection laws seriously. Any offenders MUST be prosecute and punish with maximum penalties in order to deter any illegal activities of killing and harming sun bears. General public and wildlife conservation NGOs must work closely with the authorities to give information, be the watch dog, and unsure enforcement is carry out properly in favor of the protected wildlife such as sun bears.

 (Photo on the left: Caged sun bear; Photo credit: Wong Siew Te)

 The sun bear is a forest dependent species. The amounts of forested lands remain in this country reflects the amount of habitat available for the sun bear. In Malaysia we have lost about 50% of our forested land. Much of these forests were prime sun bear habitat from the lowland dipterocarp forest. Therefore deforestation in this country has to be halt completely at any cost if we were to save sun bears and important wildlife species in Malaysia.

The future of sun bears in Malaysia and in the world is pretty challenging. There are two inherent reasons that make the future of the sun bear bleak if the current trend that threatens sun bear continues. First, the natural density of sun bears in the forest is always low in the first place. In Borneo the density of sun bear is relatively much lower than the endangered orangutans. Second, the reproductive rate of sun bear is very low. Female wild sun bears are estimated to produce 4-5 cubs in her life time. With the low density and low reproductive rate, additional killing of any sun bear individual in the wild may bring serious consequence to the population.

In Malaysia, about 50% of our forest covers remains after several decades of deforestation and human development. This also means that the sun bears have lost at least 50% of their habitat. However, compare to other Southeast Asian countries where sun bears are found, the deforestation and the poaching activities in Malaysia is relatively mild. Because of this reason, Malaysia is the last stronghold for the survival of sun bears in Southeast Asia. In Borneo, Sabah is the last stronghold for the Bornean sun bear also for the same reason.

EK: How does the Conservatory contribute to the conservation of the bears and how far ahead in terms of efforts does the centre have?

WST: As mentioned earlier, Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre aims to conserve sun bears through improve animal welfare, raise conservation awareness through education, conducting research to know more about this little known bears, and help sun bear cubs returning into the forest through rehabilitation program. All of these activities contribute toward the conservation of sun bear and they all have to act side by side through a holistic approach, so to speak. So far we have rescued 27 sun bears from the fate from being locked up in small cages and improve their animal welfare issues through our animal husbandry and facilities. Although BSBCC has not yet open to the public and start our education program in full swing, we have worked with many school groups and outreach programs over the past three years. Right now as we speak the construction work for the observation platform and boardwalk that link the entrance to the platform is ongoing. We still lack the funding to construct the visitor briefing area. Once the construction for these two components is done we will open to the public and launch a full education program to educate the visitors on the plights of sun beats and their habitat. We hope the centre will be partially open to public by later this year and fully open early next year. Several research projects are on planning and will conducted later this year as well. All and all, we are not far to achieve what we plan to achieve for BSBCC.    

EK: What is your advice to students who are in university studying environment or conservation? And especially if they want to take the path you took? What does it take to be you? What are some of the attitudes or philosophies one has to adopt in this field?

WST: This question can have a very long answer. For myself I have been through a non-typical path. For example I love animals pretty much all my life; I have many animal experiences since I was a kid; my ambition when I was 7 year old was to be an “animal expert”; I started bird watching before I know there was an activity call bird watching; I have two years of field and veterinary experience before I started my bachelor degree in Wildlife Biology. All of these shaped me of what I am today. However, other students should not be discouraged if they do not have the experiences I had. Everyone is unique and has their own back ground to do well in the field of conservation. My advice to students who are in university studying environment or conservation is that what they are studying is important to the entire humanity, entire world and all living organism on Earth. I know many of the students who study environmental study or conservation may have been “assign” to study the course or these courses are not their first choice.

However, if they start to develop the interest when studying the course they still can do well and contribute to this field. One characteristic that allconservations and environmentalists have is that they all have very strong interest and passion on this field, regardless of when they started to develop their interest or passions. For me I develop the interest and passion when I was very young. However, I met many great conservationists and wildlife biologists who developed their interest when they did their Master degree or even later in life. The important thing is to follow your heart. This field may not necessary bring you glamour or high financial rewards. However, it will make you contribute to the society, humanity and make your life “worth it” at the end. In this field, environmentalists and conservationists put the fate of environment or wildlife that they are fighting for before their own personal benefit and agenda. They do not expect a “reward” from what they are doing and sacrificing. What they want is to improve the situation and condition of the issues that they are working hard and fighting for- a better tomorrow for the environment, wildlife, and planet Earth.               

EK: Why is it important doing what the centre does and what you do?

WST: Like mentioned earlier, the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre is working on the conservation issues of sun bears through improving animal welfare, education, research, and rehabilitation of sun bears. All of these conservation issues that the sun bears faced are very urgent, meaning someone has to help sun bears desperately to solve the problems such as pet sun bears, poaching issues, and habitat destruction issues. Unfortunately sun bears are a forgotten bear species. Very few organizations in the world aim to conserve sun bear and working on their conservation issues. In Malaysia, the plight of sun bears received very little conservation attention. In view of that, BSBCC develops unique tasks to help and conserve sun bears in many ways. The final mission is to save sun bear from extinction, preserve the rainforest habitat of sun bears and much other wildlife, and educate the public about the sun bear and wildlife conservation issues. Without BSBCC, captive sun bears will continue to suffer in captivity and wild sun bear population is likely to decrease to a point where there is too late to anything- brink of extinction.

Although BSBCC is focus on the conservation of sun bear and its habitat, I am not and I will not. It is true that my work has been focusing on sun bears for many years; however, my interest in conservation and research is not restricted to sun bears. My interest is very broad. It includes the conservation of all wildlife especially mammals and birds, tropical forest ecology, human disturbances in rainforest ecosystem, and climate change. I hope my work can inspire younger Malaysians to love and to conserve nature, environment, and wildlife.

As a local Penangite, I hope I can be a role model for other Malaysians to involve and supports conservation because conservation needs all of us working together to make a big difference for our wildlife, nature, and environment. Eventually conservation in our own country has to depend on our own countrymen, our own resources, and not foreigners and foreign resources.          

EK: What are some of the special moments you had with the bears? Please describe it.

WST: There are a lot of special moments I had with wild sun bears which I studied and the captive sun bears at BSBCC. I will mention few of these special moments here:

a) The first time I saw one of my radio-collared wild sun bear on a tree was when he was feeding on wild figs in a fruiting fig tree about 45 m above the ground. Together with him on that tree was a female orangutan with baby, a female binturong with baby, a family of gibbons, many squirrels, and hundreds of birds. All of them were feeding and roosting on the same tree. It was a SPECTACULAR sighting which I will never forgot! That was also the first time that I learn the sun bears are very arboreal and good climbers.

b) The first time I caught an emaciated sun bear in August of 1999 was a special moment too. That was the first time I learned about the tough life of sun bears living in the wild. The famine episode where many bears and wild pigs died from starvation has change the perception of what and how we think about the tropical rainforest.

c) The first time I “walked” a sun bear cub in the forest was very special moment. In 2007 we filmed BEARTREK the movie in the rainforest of Danum. I took Cerah (an 8 month old female sun bear cub) into the forest for the first time for the filming. Cerah was an orphan cub rescued by Sabah Wildlife Department and her mother was probably being killed by poachers. I have no idea what her respond will be at that time when I let her out from her cage. Surprisingly she decided to “follow” me in the forest like a well trained dog, just like she would follow her own mother. Sun bear cubs are programmed to follow their mother for obvious reasons. They are totally dependent on their mother for food, safety, knowledge of finding food, and establishing territorial. It was really special to see her treated me like her own mother.

(Photo on the left: Dr and Cerah. Photo credit: John Prudente)   

d) “Big tree, little bear and tiny termites” was a special moment when I walked Mary another female sun bear cub in the forest.  It was a scène where Mary stopped at the base of a big dipterocarp tree and fed on termites in a decayed wood. The scene made me think of the inseparable relationships between big trees, sun bears, and termites in the forest ecosystem. All of them have evolved for millions of years in this forest ecosystem and in need of each other to survive. However, human activities in recent years have disrupted these unique relationships and jeopardize the integrity. Whether or not sun bears will make it to the next millennium will very much dependent on the human activities and how we treated our nature and the environment.      

More information about the BSBCC can be found here.

To get updates and be more involved in their daily activities, join them on their Facebook group here.

Move by Wong’s passion and want to contribute? then click here to donate.

Crowds gathered to hear the aims of the Solar Sisters project to the village

Hi, this is Sam,

I’ve just got back from a trip Kagandu, one of the many small villages dotted along the border of the Mgahinga National Park here in Uganda. Here, along with my Gorilla Organization colleague Regina, I was exploring the possibility of getting the community involved in our Solar Sisters project, which is already on track to transform hundreds of lives in four different villages across the border in DR Congo.

Certainly, Kagandu meets the criteria for being considered for the project. The Barefoot College in India, where women are trained in solar engineering skills, requires communities to be without a reliable source of electricity and likely to be without one for the foreseeable future. Well, let me tell you that Kagandu definitely ticks this box! It’s a full hour’s walk from the nearest main road and none of the 380 houses here have ever been fully electrified.

But what Kagandu may lack in infrastructure, it more than makes up for in spirit! The village chairperson welcomed us with open arms and even said she felt her community had been blessed by God to have this opportunity to become electrified! After a brief introduction, we held a productive meeting with several leading members of the community, in which they put forward two women to become Solar Sisters. They also agreed to provide funds to pay the ladies to maintain the village’s solar equipment upon their return from India.

I can’t tell you how excited I am to see this project extended into Uganda. Having access to electricity is a basic human right, and so to know that this village will soon have what so many of us take for granted is truly a cause for celebration. What’s more, I’m optimistic about how this project will benefit the gorillas living in the Mgahinga National Park. For too long now, people living in villages such as Kagandu have been forced by poverty to enter the protected forests for food and other resources. By allowing them to work and study after it gets dark and even to set up their own small enterprises, solar power will help them pull themselves out of poverty and will mean they will no longer be so reliant on the precious gorilla habitat.

Here are a few more pictures I took from my recent trip. I promise to keep you informed of all the latest developments and, on behalf of everyone in Kagandu, I thank you for your wonderful support!

The report I made to assess how the village could benefit from solar power

The village nominates the ladies they feel should go to India...

...and then, we choose our next Solar Sisters!

In December of every year, graduating seventh grade members of APW’s wildlife clubs have the opportunity to compete for a limited number of Noloholo Environmental Scholarships. Successful candidates excel in several areas, including nationally and locally administered exams, interviews, and of course, they must demonstrate a real interest in the environment. All our scholars come from remote villages where access to a secondary school (high school) education is limited.

Our scholars need more sponsors. Please consider contributing to the scholarship fund. For more information, contact APW at info@afrpw.org or donate now and indicate Noloholo Environmental Scholarship Fund. Thank you!

2012 Noloholo Environmental Scholars

I mentioned in a previous blog that Indian Ocean coral was severely affected by bleaching and mortality in the 1997 El Nino event, which caused most of the coral in Watamu to die. Fifteen years on many areas in the Indian Ocean have recovered to some degree, but there is a large variation in coral regrowth. Sadly Watamu hasn’t recovered as fast as one would hope and most papers report that it has the slowest regrowth in Kenya. However in the short time I’ve been here I’ve noticed massive variation, even across the park in coral regrowth, with some areas having much more coral cover than others. Not only this but it seems that the areas with good cover are not the established study sites used for published papers to date. Eventually these areas need to be properly surveyed and documented, but before that I decided to start to trying to pull apart why there is a difference.

Many coral species spawn around November to March, sending small larvae into the water column, which eventually settle and grow into new colonies. Success of new colonies is based on the survival of larvae in the water column, currents to carry them to a location and finding suitable substrate, known as pre-settlement mortality rate. After that the coral needs to establishing itself, out-compete other organisms and grow; post-settlement mortality rate. Quite different processes are know to control pre and post-settlement mortality, so in order to understand variation in the park it is first important to know how which kind of mortality is most affecting coral recruits.

In order to do this, I have put settlement plates down. These are pieces of equipment onto which corals can grow. If there is large variation in the number coral recruits on plates when I remove them in March, perhaps this indicates pre-settlement mortality is controlling the flow of larvae to certain locations. If there is little variation, this could suggest that larvae are arriving in all locations, but it is post-settlement mortality in their local environment which either allows or prevents coral growth.

I decided to make plates just before Christmas and it was a mammoth task of designing, testing and then manufacturing many of these small plates to put around the park. I came up with a design based on advice from Tim McClanahan and Austin Humpheries from Wildlife Conservation Society in Mombasa, who also donated the square plates cut out of dead coral head and a big thanks is owed to them. The coral plate was tied to a plastic meshing cage to prevent fish herbivory interfering with settlement variation. This was then sunk into a cement mould, which when solidified, would provide the ballast to keep the plates still on the reef.

The first prototype sat happily on the reef for two days with no issues, so the race was on to make 36 plates before my parents arrived for Christmas! Seemingly no plastic meshing is imported to Kenya, but I discovered some bins in the local plastic market in Timboni, which had just the right kind of holes, and I set about trying to buy enough of these to make the plates. The shop keeper was bemused at why I was so adamant to buy that one kind of bin and why I needed 25 of them! With all the equipment bought I roped in several volunteers and even guests staying at Mwamba at the time, and got to work cutting up the bins and attaching the coral plates. Finally the night before setting them out we sunk them in numerous moulds.

Finally one day before Mum and Dad got here we sank all 36 onto various places on the reef. Success! The plates are all still where I left them just over a month ago and are being settled by a range of organisms. Stayed tuned for more results coming from this research strand, which hopefully will help pull apart one of the most poorly known aspects of reef ecology; how do baby corals grow?

Just a reminder that if you check our main African Wildlife Conservation Fund website  www.africanwildlifeconservationfund.org) there is some fantastic wildlife art for sale.  The paintings and drawings are all by renowned Zimbabwean artist Lin Barrie, who has an incredible talent and an in-depth understanding of and love for the animals she draws.

Lin has kindly offered to donate 50% of the proceeds of the sale of the art to our wild dog conservation project, so this is a fantastic opportunity to buy a piece of unique art and support a worthy cause.  Whether for a birthday gift, a thank you gift, as a ’sorry’ or just as a treat for yourself or someone special, there is something here for everyone.

Here’s just a few examples of what is on offer – have a look at the AWCF website for more, as well as for details of how to purchase.  Alternatively you can leave a comment on this blog and I will get back to you.  None of the pieces are framed so they can be shipped to anywhere in the world!

Thanks for your support,

Rosemary

Painoti studied at the Lpus Leluai Primary School where she attained 260 marks in the Primary School exams and was the top girl in the school. Her family who only have a few goats as livestock were unable to afford to send her to secondary school after she received admission in one of Samburu District’s best girls’ schools – Kisima High. Ewaso Lions followed her progress and learned about her family situation and decided to enroll young Painoti in our Bursary Programme to join Samson and Edward, the two boys Ewaso Lions is currently sponsoring.

We are excited to have Painoti attend secondary school and will keep you updated on her progress.

Painoti with her mother and youngest sister. Her mother is thrilled to send her oldest daughter to school

Painoti excited to be given the opportunity to go to school

There is no real story to go with these photos, but I think they are quite fun, so I wanted to share them.  This is the Mapura pack on an impala kill, taken by Misheck in mid December.

The Mapura pack is based on Chishakwe Ranch which has a lovely lodge for visitors, so consider a visit and we can take you to see the dogs!

Students arrive at the sanctuary

The rangers then led them to the Education center hall where they were given a brief welcome speech by Mrs. Esther who is the education officer at the sanctuary.She also introduced the rangers who were to help the students with their research so as to get them acquinted. She also introduced the Kenya Forest Service guards who were providing security.

Pupils being briefed at the Education Centre

Among the day’s activities the students were to study the plantations in the forest and had to complete the following:(1) Abiotic factors (2) Human Impact (3) Bioderversity there was also a questionnaire to be filled and they also had to sample the diffrent types of plantations.When the Education officer had breifed them the students asked several questions to which the Education Officer answered the questions.She them showed them to the Banda where their teachers grouped them into a group of three to four pupils.

Students put into groups at the Banda

Once they had all been grouped they then ventured into the forest led by the rangers and they were to find the following, the light intensity,temparature,wind deflection, and the soil texture.Students were also to collect insects,spiders and butterflies at their area of study.

Students collect insects at their place of study

The rangers guided them by giving them the names of trees,shrubs, grass, birds and the animals they came across.They also showed them how to identify the human activities in the forest and this they showed them the footpaths, tree loggings, cow dung, hives, horse foot prints.The pupils then took a break to have some snacks. We then proceeded to the forest for the pupils to fill in the questionnaire that had been handeled over to them. For any questions they had the Education Officer and the Forest Rangers assisted them to fill in the questionnaire after we were done we then proceeded to have lunch.

Students observing horse footsteps

Pupils using the quadrants

The last exersise they had was sampling .They were in each group given a sampling took called quadrants.By 2.00pm we were done and the students headed back to their bus having had an educational day.

Story by Steve Kamotho

kamothosm@gmail.com

These bears are truly the tree hugger bears. I first discovered their arboreal behavior when I saw one of my radio-collared wild sun bear on tree for the first time in 2000. He was feeding on wild figs in a fruiting fig tree about 45 m above the ground. Together with him on that tree was a female orangutan with baby, a female binturong with baby, a family of gibbons, many squirrels, and hundreds of birds. All of them were feeding and roosting on the same tree. It was a SPECTACULAR sighting which I will never forgot!

I love sun bears, the tree hugging bear. How about you?

Special thanks to Marc Anderson who help us captured these spectacular moment of Keningau, one of our rescued bear in Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre.

Photographed by Marc Anderson http://www.andersonstockphotos.com/blog/