Building Sumatra’s first Sun Bear Conservation and Rescue Centre

https://sumatransunbearteam.org

The Sumatran Sun Bear Team are building the first rescue and conservation centre for rescued or confiscated Sun Bears (Helarctos Malayanus) in North Sumatra. The centre will provide Sun Bears, and other species if required, a place to be given a second chance to be rehabilitated for release or provide a permanent home if they are not suitable for release. We will have a team that is able to attend to any snared Sun Bears, assess if they can be attended to by our wildlife Veterinarian and released immediately after treatment if possible or be brought back to the centre if requiring surgery.

We will be building behaviourally appropriate enclosures where Sun Bears can engage in and demonstrate actions that typify natural wild bear behaviours.

We will work to prevent human/bear conflict and hire rangers for snare patrols and forest protection. We’ll have an outdoor classroom for students to learn about the wildlife on their doorstep in the UNESCO listed Gunung Leuser National Park, one of the most diverse ecologically rich place on earth. We will also offer positions for University students studying Wildlife related courses.

We have already employed local people to commence work on the first enclosure on land that has been gifted to us. We need to complete this to ensure that the rescued bears are safe, and that the bears can behave like a Sun Bear in the wild. We know of bears in Government facilities already waiting for us to complete this.