The Sun Bear Project Version 2 - David Twamley
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The Sun Bear Project
Version 2
David Twamley
The sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) is the smallest member of the bear family (Ursidae), and also one of the most threatened. This is a remake of a project I did on the sun bear while I was in secondary school. Contents: 1. Taxonomy 2. Physical description 3. Distribution and habitat 4. Behaviour and reproduction 5. Threats and conservation 6. Fun facts 7. The bear family 8. Sun bears at Belfast zoo 9. Ice cream parlour in Dublin
Taxonomy
Bears, including the sun bear, make up the family Ursidae, in the Mammalian order Carnivora, which
also includes cats, dogs, hyenas, weasels, raccoons, mongooses and pinnipeds such as seals and sea
lions. There are eight species of bear in Ursidae, which are usually split into five genera: Ursus,
Melursus, Helarctos, Tremarctos and Ailuropoda. The sun bear is the only member of Helarctos,
although it is sometimes classified under Ursus. Of all other members of the bear family, it is most
closely related to the sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), and both are closest to the brown bear, polar
bear and two species of black bear, all members of Ursus. The spectacled bear and giant panda are
both from different lineages.
There are two subspecies of sun bear:
Helarctos malayanus malayanus (the Malayan sun bear) Raffles 1821, the nominate
subspecies, found on mainland Southeast Asia, and in Sumatra.
Helarctos malayanus euryspilus (the Bornean sun bear) Horsfield 1825, smaller and rarer
than the nominate form; where it lives is in the name.
Figure 1: A Bornean sun bear cub at the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, Sabah, Malaysia, taken from
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sepilok_Sabah_BSBCC-photos-by-Wong-Siew-Te-05.jpg
Physical description The sun bear is the smallest of all the world’s bears, being about half the size of an American black bear. It measures 1.2-1.5 m in length and weighs in at between 27 and 80 kg, with males being slightly larger than females. It has a jet-black coat with very short fur (the shortest fur of all bears) and a pale to yellow muzzle, with a U-shaped marking on its chest. According to East Indian folklore, the chest marking resembles the rising sun, which explains why this animal is called a sun bear. The shape of the marking differs slightly among individuals, making it somewhat easy to identify different sun bears. The sun bear has very loose skin around its neck, so if it was bitten from behind by a predator such as a tiger, the bear can turn around and bite at its attacker with its strong jaws and sharp teeth. It also has large, sickle-shaped claws which it uses for climbing up trees and for breaking into termite mounds or bee hives. The claws grow longer as the bear ages, so you can tell how old a sun bear is by looking at the length of its claws. It also has hairless soles to its paws, giving it a good grip on tree trunks. Like all other bears, the sun bear has a very short tail of no more than 7 cm. What makes the sun bear bizarre is a 25-centimetre long, slender tongue (the longest of all bears, see photo), which it uses to lick up insects or honey. Figure 2: A sun bear displays its immensely long tongue, taken from web.archive.org/web/20170924053229/http://www.arkive.org/malayan-sun-bear/helarctos-malayanus/image- G12209.html
Distribution and habitat Sun bears are native to Southeast Asia; specifically their range extends from Northeast India, Yunnan province in China, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia into Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and the islands of Sumatra (Indonesia) and Borneo (split between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei), with fossil evidence showing that the species lived on Java as well. Its range overlaps with those of the sloth bear and Asiatic black bear. Most of its range is situated in the tropics, on each side of the equator, and so it is usually found in tropical forest, mainly in the lowlands. Its range also extends south of the equator, making it one of only two bear species to be found in the southern hemisphere, the other being the spectacled bear of South America. As a result of years of habitat loss, the sun bear’s range has become increasingly fragmented and it has now become extinct in Singapore. Figure 3: Where sun bears are found in the wild: brown indicates current range, black indicates historical range, and dark grey indicates uncertain range. Taken from commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sun_Bear_area.png
Behaviour and Reproduction Figure 4: A sun bear chews on the branch of a tree it is on, taken from web.archive.org/web/20170924092119/http://www.arkive.org/malayan-sun-bear/helarctos-malayanus/image- G11686.html Sun bears are mainly diurnal, but if they live close to people, they switch to a nocturnal lifestyle. As with all bears, sun bears are mainly solitary, except for females with cubs, and they are omnivores, eating food ranging from fruits (particularly figs when in season) to small mammals. Their strong sense of smell helps them locate an edible food source. Their long tongues (mentioned in ‘Physical description’) are used to lick up insects and their larvae, as well as honey. Other carnivores see in black and white, but bears have evolved colour vision, probably so they can see vibrantly-coloured, ripe berries. Living in a tropical environment with abundant food sources year-round, sun bears have no need to hibernate like the brown bear and black bears. Female sun bears become sexually mature at 3 years old, while males reach maturity at 4. Little is known about the bears’ breeding behaviour, but as they live in a tropical habitat with food available throughout the year, they probably breed at any time. When bears are ready to mate, they may bob their head, hug or play-fight with each other. The gestation period of the sun bear has been reported to be 95-174 days. Mothers give birth in a cave or tree cavity, bearing 1-2 blind and hairless cubs. The cubs become independent after one year, and may live to be 30 years of age. Figure 5: A female sun bear plays with her young cub, taken from web.archive.org/web/20170924065618/http://www.arkive.org/malayan-sun-bear/helarctos-malayanus/image- G11895.html
Threats and Conservation The sun bear is listed as ‘Vulnerable’ by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, as the wild population has declined by 30% between 1977 and 2007 (meaning the population has declined by about 1% every year). There are currently no reliable estimates on how many sun bears are left in the wild, partly due to the inaccessibility of their forest habitat. The bears are often targeted by poachers for their meat and skin, but they are also captured and farmed for their bile, extracted from the bears’ gall bladders, to be used in traditional Chinese medicine. Sun bear paws and other body parts are also considered a delicacy. Sun bear cubs are captured for the illegal pet trade after their mothers are killed, and they are kept in incredibly poor conditions that result in severe stress and health problems. Deforestation is by far the greatest threat to the species, as people frequently cut down trees in the forests that the bears depend on, isolating patches of forests where bears can roam, and also making it easier for poachers to access sun bear territory. In Borneo and Sumatra at least, rainforests are destroyed to make way for palm oil plantations. Palm oil is widely used in the production of cosmetics and foods such as chocolate, but unsustainable plantations have a negative impact on sun bears and other animals, most notably orangutans. The sun bear is listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES), which makes it illegal to sell its parts internationally. Despite being a protected species, there is poor enforcement of the laws that prohibit the killing of sun bears. The Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC) in Sabah in the Malaysian part of Borneo was founded in 2008 by biologist Wong Siew Te, and aims to rehabilitate and improve the welfare of rescued bear cubs, and also to raise awareness among the general public about the plight of the species, and to research poorly-understood information about them. Sun bears can be found in many zoos around the world, in Europe, North America, the Far East, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand (Wellington zoo). In Europe, the species is managed under a European Studbook (ESB), which was initiated in 1994, and is currently coordinated at Colchester zoo in England (as of 2017). Figure 6: Four-month old Kyra, born at Chester zoo in June 2018 and the first surviving sun bear cub born in the UK, taken from www.chesterzoo.org/whats-happening/zoo-news/2018/10/baby-sun-bear-is-named?page=1
Fun Facts
The sun bear may be the smallest member of its family, but what it lacks in size, it makes up
for in intelligence. It has the largest brain, relative to body size, of any land carnivore, and
being this intelligent is essential if it is to survive the challenges of its rainforest home.
Similar to other bears, sun bears communicate using a variety of sounds ranging from barks
and grunts to growls and roars.
In Malaysia, the sun bear is called ‘Basindo nan Tenggil’, which means ‘he who likes to sit
high’, referring to their arboreal nature.
The Malay word for bear is ‘beruang’. During the 1950s, while filming for ‘Zoo Quest for a
Dragon’, 30-year old David Attenborough was given a young sun bear cub (later called
Benjamin) by a local Dayak, who referred to the animal as a ‘beruang’.
The sun bear’s love for honey has led to the nickname ‘honey bear’. However, this nickname
has also been used to refer to the kinkajou of Central and South America, which is a member
of the raccoon family.
Sun bears have been known to attack humans, albeit very rarely. In one incident from
October 2017, a couple were attacked by a sun bear in Riau province in Sumatra. The bear
killed the wife, while the husband was severely injured but survived the attack, and was
hospitalised.
Figure 7: It seems he also likes to sleep high! Taken from
web.archive.org/web/20170924091005/http://www.arkive.org/malayan-sun-bear/helarctos-malayanus/image-
G11683.html
The bear family Figures 8-15: These are the world’s eight bear species. Clockwise from top left: Giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca, 8); Spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus, 9); Polar bear (Ursus maritimus, 10); Asian black bear (Ursus thibetanus, 11); Sun bear (Helarctos malayanus, 12); Sloth bear (Melursus ursinus, 13); American black bear (Ursus americanus, 14); and Brown bear (Ursus arctos, 15).
Sun bears at Belfast zoo
Belfast zoo is currently the only zoo in the whole of Ireland where you can see bears, specifically
Spectacled (Andean) bears and sun bears. The sun bears live in an enclosure along the zoo’s
mountain walk, at the very top of the zoo, which is situated on the side of Cave hill. The female bear
is named Bora, and she was born at Usti zoo in the Czech Republic on 10th April 1993. She lived at
Frankfurt zoo before moving to Belfast in 1997, along with Victor, a wild-caught male rescued from a
Malaysian village where he was tied to a tree and forced to gain weight so that he was ready to be
eaten. Victor died some time during 2011, and was replaced in September of that year by Indera
(whose name is apparently an Indonesian name for a god), a 19-month old male from the Rare
Species Conservation Centre (RSCC) in Kent. He was born on 3rd February 2010 at Singapore zoo,
making him a genetically important addition to the European sun bear population. I first visited
Belfast zoo in April 2012, seven months after Indera’s arrival, and have been visiting the zoo at least
once every year. We often sit at the Treetop Tearoom and have a bite to eat while enjoying the
bears at the same time. I was even lucky enough to give the bears their food, first when I attended
the 2013 summer camp, and four years later for my 17th birthday. Four months after our first visit,
we learned that Indera had destroyed the wooden climbing frames in the enclosure by chewing at or
stripping the bark. The following year, the frames were restructured, but Indera once again bit off
more than he could chew. In May 2014, the sun bear enclosure was revamped and now includes a
number of enrichment items, including hammocks and a wobble feeder (where the bears have to
wobble the pole to make food fall off the top). Keepers hope that the enrichment will be enough to
distract Indera from chewing everything again. On a visit in June 2018, I spotted a native kestrel fly
into the sun bear enclosure, perching on the poles from time to time. We were accompanied by zoo
manager Alyn Cairns, who said that the kestrel really made his day. Although it has been hoped that
the sun bears would breed, it seems unlikely now given the fact that Bora is very old (she recently
turned 26) and beyond breeding age. When Bora eventually passes, I hope that they will bring in a
suitable female to breed with Indera, and maybe also redevelop the area so that conditions are
appropriate for breeding. One idea that I had in mind is Kyra, born at Chester zoo in June 2018 (at
four months old pictured in ‘Threats and Conservation’) and the first sun bear to be born and survive
in a UK zoo. It would be nice if she were to pair up with Indera when she reaches maturity, but it
depends on what the studbook keeper says.
Figures 8 & 9: Belfast zoo’s sun bears, Bora (8) and Indera (9), taken from www.facebook.com/belfastzooIce cream parlour in Dublin In April 2018, my mother told me about an ice cream parlour in Dublin, called the Sun Bear Gelato; the ‘Sun Bear’ part of the name aroused my interest. And so we went to the gelato, which is actually not far from the Natural History Museum at Merrion Square, and is located around where Dawson Street meets St Stephen’s Green. Above the entrance is a brown banner with the title and a white image of a sun bear next to it, while a small statue of a brown bear with a red and yellow scarf named Benny sits at the entrance while holding an ice cream (this was later joined by the statue of a sun bear named Della and her cub, Chris). Inside, there is a large information board giving customers information about sun bears and the threats they face in the wild. After I ordered a small tub with 2 scoops of strawberry and chocolate, I thought the ice cream tasted delicious, or should I say ‘Bear- illiant!’? Perhaps the greatest thing about this parlour is that all of the products served are made without any palm oil, which is good news for the rainforests that sun bears, orangutans and other rare animals call home. Some of the profits the Sun Bear Gelato receives are donated to the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (mentioned in ‘Threats and Conservation’), supporting research which is crucial in order to understand these endangered bears better. The products also contain less sugar and less fat than normal ice cream, and are made fresh in small batches every day. There are also vegan-friendly options and you can even buy a hot chocolate. The Gelato does not use Nutella, as that contains palm oil. One day in July, I visited the gelato with my mother and sister, who both went back later for another ice cream while I took the Dart back to our home in Bray. The time when I wasn’t with them, my mum met the manager of the Gelato, who said that he was planning to have an ice cream stand in Dublin zoo. She told him that they should also have a stand in Belfast zoo, because of the sun bears that live there. The previous month, after our visit the previous week, I sent an email to Alyn Cairns (mentioned on the previous page) about the Sun Bear Gelato, and in response, he told me that the zoo is currently investigating its consumption of palm oil. I would highly recommend to anyone that this is the place they should go to if they ever want ice cream. The Gelato is open from 11am until 10pm, apart from Sunday, when the opening hours are 9:30am- 8:45pm. 1 scoop in a tub costs 3.60 euros, while 2 scoops is 4.00. This is the link to their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/Sun-Bear-Gelato-1764152160581277/
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