Sepilok - Part 4

Articles Tagged with: Sepilok

24 July, 2009

Sunbears and Vegetarians

Photos by Sue Chong-Hartley, Text by Ian Hall

“We need an ayam jantan bertaji, don’t forget the taji. Taji is important!” Sue instructed me. At first she had asked Wai Pak to help find the cockerel but as a conscientious Buddhist he didn’t want to be complicit in killing an animal.

Normally the supply of sacrificial cockerels is not one of my professional services but I liked the idea of the story that I could tell afterward.

The Taji is the heel spur or claw that you only find on cockerels; they are an important weapon in cock fights and as such can cause controversy when unscrupulous owners apply poison to the taji of their prized fighters.

In this case the taji was important for the power it bestowed to a traditional Kadazan ritual for cleansing the ground for a new building, in this case our new sun bear conservation centre. The Mongimpi is performed by Kadazan priestesses known as bobohizan in their own language.

The three elderly female bobohizan and their young male apprentice who performed the groundbreaking ceremony are the last of their kind in Sabah. It is not just sun bears that are endangered.

Perhaps if there was more work for bobohizans it might tempt young people into the career and help conserve the culture?

Perhaps one reason that young people are not becoming bobohizan is the increasing distance between urban culture and nature?

Many in the audience at the Mongimpi would not be applying for the job and they expressed distress and distaste at the sight of a healthy cockerel having its throat slit.

This was the first time I had witnessed a sacrifice and I did not find the event as violent as I had imagined. Throughout the preamble the cockerel was quiescent in the hands of the bobohizan. When it’s time came the knife was almost gentle and there was not a squawk, although there was an awkward moment a minute or two later when it tried to come back to life again. ‘Headless chickens’ and all that.

For me what was more upsetting was the condition that I found chickens being kept in when I was looking for the cockerel. The beautiful animal that was sacrificed was provided by a friend of a friend and came direct from a free-range life in a village, happily calling in each day and feeding on whatever distasteful waste was chucked out the back doors.

The animals that I saw lived in cramped squalor, feathers were missing, water and food was mouldy, sun shading inadequate and dead birds were strewn on the floor. Apart from the glaring animal welfare issue, it gave me nightmares about what my food looked like before I eat it.

For the first time in my life I have found myself choosing vegetarian dishes on grounds of principle rather than taste or social obligation. Not that I will be giving up the bacon butties any time soon but I’ll remember the cockerel.

Other people around the Mongimpi circle may believe that the ritual death of an animal is unnecessary. I think it was worthwhile even if only to remind us to treat nature with respect.

Furthermore, I am delighted to hear that the bobohizan reported that the ceremony had been a success and that the offering had been accepted and understood.

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4 July, 2009

BSBCC Site Handover

Construction of the Borneo Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC) has started. On 29th June the site was formally handed over to the contractor by representatives of the landowners, Sabah Wildlife Department and Sabah Forestry Departement.

Our contractor Mee San of Lahad Datu now has 6 months to complete the first phase building valued at MYR 600,000. On completion we will have a new bear house with night time bear dens for 20 animals.

Simultaneously we are implementing our Bear Action Teams (BATs) program that forms partnerships with ‘voluntourism’ organisations worldwide. Over the next six months teams from UK Scouts, Raleigh, World Challenge, Wilderness Expertise and Camps International will assist BSBCC with construction of peripheral infrastructure.

This infrastructure includes 1km of electric fencing, 400m of boardwalk, 400m of trails, screening walls, biodigester and waste water management system.

With both the new bear house and electric fencing in place we plan to relocate the bears to their new home in January 2010.

Funding permitting we can then start phase II which will make BSBCC fully operational with the completion of a visitor centre, quarantine area and observation gallery.

After nearly two years in preparation it’s exciting to be underway. It won’t be long until those bears are climbing trees again!

18 December, 2008

Sun Bear Conservation Centre gets some Cash!

Our proposal for a Sun Bear Conservation Centre in Borneo has moved closer to reality thanks to an extravagant Fundraising Dinner held in Kota Kinabalu in November.

The event which was organised by our partner LEAP succeeded in raising over half a million ringgit. This money was then matched one-to-one by the State Government to give us a total which we hope will be enough to build Phase One.

The first priority is to enclose 1 hectare of the Sepilok Forest Reserve with electric fences. This will allow a controlled release of bears into their natural habitat.

All of the bears currently held at Sepilok have been confiscated by the Sabah Wildlife Department, usually from the pet trade or mini-zoos. These bears have become habituated to humans so if we just let them loose again in the forest they will either not have the skills to survive, or would make a nuisance of themselves and end up back where they started, or worse.

Phase One will provide the means to look after the welfare of up to 27 bears, for the rest of their lives if necessary. The capacity is limited by the number of night time dens and the number of forest enclosures.

A new bear house is to be built with denning for 20 bears plus food preparation, staff areas and a training pen. The training pen is used to teach the bears about electric fences! Meanwhile the existing bear house will be converted to be used for quarantine, treatment and birthing and then later extended to house a visitor centre

In design terms the biggest challenge is facilitating the movement of bears and making life easy and safe for both the bears and their keepers. Imagine the logistics of releasing 20 bears each morning into the correct forest enclosure and then getting them all back in again at night!

In the wild, sun bears live at very low densities and are generally solitary. In captivity they can become quite sociable but there is a risk that mixing the wrong bears could result in a brutal fight.

Making the building sustainable is of course high on our agenda. The bear house will use a lot of energy in operation and will embody plenty more in the construction materials.

We can mitigate the latter to a certain extent by using pre-cast concrete floors and lightweight block walls, but are constrained by the need to use concrete to raise the dens above flood level and to provide a surface that can stand the daily wash-down.

The access corridor between the dens will be floored with bio-composite boards which are made from recycled HDPE plastic mixed with a natural fiber – in this case rice husks.

To make the buildings comfortable for both bears and keepers we use large areas of natural ventilation plus a bituminous fibre roof sheeting which does not transfer heat as well as steel and also has the benefit of deadening the drumming of rain, which can be uncomfortable in a tropical deluge.

Luckily the site allows us to orient the building East-West which helps to minimise solar gain in the concrete structure.

As the centre will use large volumes of water for cleaning we will put in as many rainwater tanks as we can afford and link them together with electric pumps. These pumps together with the electric fences and a large fridge will be the biggest energy consumer in operation. Given the high cost of on-site power generation I don’t think we can do much about this at present

Greywater from washing down the cages will be treated in a septic tank and reed bed filter before being recycled. Solid waste will be scooped up daily from the dens and fed to a bio-digester from which we plan to capture methane to be used to cook the bear’s food. The staff toilet and any food scraps will also feed the digester.

Completion of Phase One is expected in late 2009. Meanwhile we will continue to raise funds for Phase Two. This will help the case for economic sustainability by offering a visitor centre, observation gallery and environmental education program. On completion of both phases the centre will complement the nearby Sepilok Orang-utan Centre and Rainforest Discovery Centre thus strengthening Sepilok’s reputation as a hub for environmental education and nature tourism.

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3 November, 2008

Time Running Out For Sun Bears

Original article at NST Archives

New Straits Times – Nov 3, 2008

FOR all the conservation efforts on which Malaysia prides itself, there is surprisingly little that we know of the Malayan sun bear. EVANGELINE MAJAWAT and JULIA CHAN sniff around in search of these elusive creatures and stumble upon a concerted effort to protect this threatened species.

A NAUSEATING stench of faeces and rotting food fills the air. In the far corner of a lush garden stands a rusty metal cage – the source of the offending smell.

In the cage, barely a metre in height, a listless sun bear repeatedly rubs itself against the bars.

The cage is far too small for the sun bear, so much so that there is no space for it to move. Its once coal black fur is now a pale brown, with bald patches from rubbing against the cage too often. Its skin is covered with sores.

But more disturbing are the mounds of rotting fruits and vegetables, and the faeces in the cage. In a bowl, there is murky water.

These are the terrible conditions in which captive sun bears are kept in this country.

Malayan sun bears (Helarctos malayanus) are still kept illegally as pets in Malaysia and neighbouring Indonesia despite strict laws which prohibit the capture and trade of these animals.

But an innovative sun bear conservation centre, the first of its kind in Malaysia, brings renewed hope to the protection and conservation of the world’s smallest bear.

The Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC), being built in Sandakan, may just prove instrumental in protecting and rehabilitating captive bears.

These bears are often orphans, kept as pets or rescued from human-wildlife conflicts.

"These animals are often found in the most deplorable situations. Some are confined to spaces so small that there isn’t enough room to move. Others are kept in filthy cages filled with rotting food and faeces," said BSBCC chief executive officer Wong Siew Te.

The centre will be set up next to the world-renowned Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre.

Construction of the RM2.1 million project has begun and is expected to be completed by the middle of next year. The centre can house up to 43 sun bears but could take in more, depending on the bear‘s age and size.

The centre features a bear house, observation deck and a section of forest enclosure. The forest enclosure is crucial in rehabilitating traumatised bears in the hope of returning them to the wild some day.

"Bears which still display wild instincts will be released back into the forest," said the Penang-born Wong.

Sadly, bears which have been de-clawed or have lost their instincts and which do not fear humans will never roam the forests as they would not be able to fend for themselves.

"Some of these captive bears were de-clawed. It’s like chopping our fingers off. These bears will never be able to make it in the wild.

"Time is running out for these animals. To put things into perspective, there are about 41,000 orang utans in Borneo alone. But there are only 10,000 sun bears left worldwide. The situation isn’t good," he said.

Just last year, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) classified the sun bear as "vulnerable". Scientists fear that unless urgent conservation is put into place, the sun bears will suffer the same fate as the Javan tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica) which went extinct in the 1980s.

Previously listed as "Data Deficient", the sun bear is now included in the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species, drawn up last year.

The centre’s director, Cynthia Ong, said there were 11 bears being housed there.

"Habitat loss and poachers who go for the bear‘s gallbladder, whose bile is said to have medicinal values, are also contributing to the rapid depletion of the species."

Wong’s biggest challenge is securing funds to make this bear haven a reality. Competition is stiff for funding and research against more popular species, such as the Bornean orang utan.

"Sun bears are the least studied of the bears. It’s almost as if they’re a forgotten species. It isn’t easy convincing corporate bodies to fund a project which protects a little-known species," the 39-year-old sun bear expert said.

So far, Wong has secured RM300,000 from American-based non-profit organisation Alexander Abraham Foundation.

Size, it seems, does matter when it comes to getting funding for animal protection.

Large animals, apparently, ooze a "sex appeal" which attracts and seduces conservationists, corporate giants and governments to come running to the animals’ aid.

"The larger mammals – tigers, elephants, rhinoceros – have long been considered as the `sexy’ species. On average, in a year, you would naturally hear more stories about elephants and tigers in the media, as opposed to sun bears," said Malaysian Nature Society policy officer (conservation department) Kanitha Krishnasamy.

She said these "sexy" species were favourites to champion for habitat protection and conservation because of their size. Big animals need more space in the forest, making it easier for "eco-warriors" to advocate for great chunks of areas.

"This needs to change or there will be no sun bear left."

To raise funds for the conservation of sun bears, the Sabah Wildlife Department, Forestry Department and non-governmental organisation Leap will be holding a dinner at Shangri-La Tanjung Aru Resort, Kota Kinabalu, on Nov 14.

The dinner will incorporate an auction of commissioned art works centred around the sun bear and entertainment from Malaysian artistes and celebrities, including Daphne Iking, Jit Murad, Lina Teoh and Amir Yussof.

Tables will be going for between RM10,000 and RM50,000 each.

PAYING A HIGH PRICE FOR BEING ADORABLE

"THEY are so cute."

These words usually set off alarm bells for wildlife biologist Wong Siew Te.

He believes that the greatest enemy of his beloved Malayan sun bear are humans. He has lost count of the number of times these animals were hunted and kept just because people found them "cute".

"It’s very easy to like these animals, and yes, they’re cute, especially the cubs. The problem starts when people think they can keep them as pets. These are wild animals. They’re not meant to be held in captivity."

Captive bears are treated inhumanely and kept in disgraceful conditions.

He added that captive bears also suffered from severe malnutrition due to an unbalanced and unhealthy diet. Cubs suffer the most as they are fed a constant diet of condensed milk.

"These cubs are dependent on their mother’s milk. But because they were forcefully taken from their mothers, they lose out on nutrition," said Wong.

These cubs are often scrawny and have sparse fur, which is light in colour. Healthy cubs, on the other hand, have silky black fur.

Wong said people also kept these bears as a status symbol.

"In Asian culture, the bear is a strong, brave and fierce animal. Whoever owns a bear is said to possess such qualities."

People’s urge to domesticate sun bears is an issue which opens the floodgate to other problems.

Hunters, well aware that bear cubs are prized above the adults, often kill the mother bears in their bid to cater to the demand.

Bears are also killed to satiate appetites for xiong zhang, a dish made from bear paw, and for their bile.

Widespread deforestation is a major threat, too.

"These bears are jungle-dependent. No jungle, no bears. It’s as simple as that," said Wong.

(END)

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23 August, 2008

Conservation or Animal Welfare?

In Sabah I am working on the design of a Sun Bear Conservation Centre, but is it really a conservation centre? In the course of my research for this project, a prominent conservationist suggested to me that its function was likely to focus on animal welfare.

This got me wondering. Where is the boundary between wildlife conservation and animal welfare?

As man continues to encroach on natural habitats, more endangered species end up in our care.

The dilemma we face is the balance between providing a good home for displaced wildlife and avoiding displacement in the first place through effective conservation.

It is important to distinguish between conservation and welfare because this will help assess the value of a project. If we see a lot of animal welfare projects this suggests that resources should be targeted at in-situ conservation projects to redress the balance.

Next door to the site of the proposed Sun Bear Conservation Centre is the well known Sepilok Orang-utan Rehabilitation Centre (SORC). The stated goal of SORC is to rehabilitate orphaned orang-utans. We presume that this means returning them to the wild with the skills necessary to survive.

In practice most orang-utans which arrive at SORC never leave the 5500ha Sepilok Forest Reserve. Here they live in isolation from other wild orang-utan populations at higher densities than might naturally be expected. Anecdotes suggest that the rehabilitation programme has released as few as 5 individuals into the Tabin Wildlife Reserve.

Dr Reza Azmi of Wild Asia has lamented to me that in some cases, particularly in Kalimantan, these sanctuaries are “the end of the line for orang-utans”. As deforestation continues there remain fewer and fewer viable natural areas to release future ‘orphan’ animals.

“The scariest thing is that these sanctuaries are becoming more common” says Reza and not just for Orang-utans but for other charismatic mammals such as Tarsiers and Sun Bears.

The Sepilok Orang-utan Appeal argues emotively that we have a moral obligation to try to care for these environmental refugees. This is true, but are we helping to conserve the species by doing so?

Supporters of the ‘sanctuary’ or ‘conservation centre’ argue that they fulfill a vital environmental education role which will filter down to public pressure for conservation.

“That is the Zoo philosophy” says Dr. Glyn Davies, WWF Director of Programmes and former Director of Conservation for the Zoological Society of London.

Environmental education is important but it needs to be carefully balanced with conservation work. Conservation means stopping and/or reversing habitat loss, preventing extinction and conserving populations of wild animals.

“As soon as you anthropomorphise an animal, you are no longer involved in conservation, but animal welfare” summarised Glyn. By this he means to give the animal human characteristics – like a name.

Glyn was commenting to me on a comparison between the Borneo Sun Bear Conservation Centre and the Borneo Rhinoceros Conservation Centre. I was having difficulty to understand why he thought that the Rhinoceros Centre was a bona fide conservation project and the Sun Bear Centre was not.

He explained that the Rhino project was trying to save a critically endangered animal from imminent extinction through a captive breeding programme (see my earlier post). This process relies on minimum human/animal contact and certainly no tourists who might upset these shy animals.

Conversely, Sun Bears are curious and adaptable animals and once accustomed to humans there is always potential for human/animal conflict if they are released back into the wild.

It seems that in Sun Bears vs Rhinos the difference between conservation and welfare comes down to their temperaments.

This doesn’t sound fair but the implication is that if we cannot re-establish wild animals from a captive breeding population then we are not directly helping to conserve them.

What we can do is provide better welfare for those captive animals and this in itself is a worthy objective. Animal Welfare means avoiding unnecessary suffering in animals in our care and can be neatly encapsulated by the so called five freedoms: Freedom from hunger/thirst, discomfort, pain/injury/disease, to behave normally and freedom from fear/distress.

The Sun Bears at Sepilok are kept in small cages with no access to the outside. Almost all of them exhibit signs of distress such as excessive pacing and toe sucking. If there were no prospect of improving their living conditions the only humane alternative would be euthanasia.

The case for the Sun Bear Centre is further justified by the environmental education argument. For a large furry mammal, there is a surprising lack of awareness of this species in Borneo.

Compare them to orang-utans which are instantly recognisable to most people. In my opinion it would be difficult to justify more orang-utan sanctuaries or education centres on conservation grounds. For that species (and possibly primates in general) our energy is now better deployed on in-situ conservation.

A good example is the Hutan Kinabatangan Orang-utan Conservation Project (Hutan) started by French NGO HUTAN. This tackles the human/animal relationship by training the local community as field workers and developing community based eco-tourism dependent on wild orang-utans.

Unfortunately this kind of project cannot reverse the habitat fragmentation due to expansion of palm oil plantations. One way to do this is to leverage the public awareness campaigns of zoos and sanctuaries to raise money to outbid the plantations.

This approach has seen recent success with a campaign by World Land Trust and LEAP to buy up land in the Kinabatangan to be designated for conservation in perpetuity.

The future survival of Sun Bears depends on similar coordinated conservation strategies. Once the pressing need for animal welfare is met, there is exciting potential for the Borneo Sun Bear Conservation Centre to expand its influence to reverse habitat loss and conserve wild populations.

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