Teaching rescued sun bears to be wild again

SANDAKAN: When Tenom arrived at the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC), she weighed just 4kg.

At only about three months old, the orphaned Bornean sun bear cub had been rescued before she had the chance to learn the survival skills her mother would have taught her.

Nearly two years later, Tenom has begun taking tentative steps back into the forest – not through a simple release, but through a carefully managed rehabilitation programme that hopes to teach rescued sun bears how to be wild again.

She is one of two bears currently undergoing a “soft release” at the Tabin Wildlife Reserve in Sabah, where conservationists gradually prepare rescued bears for life in the wild instead of releasing them all at once.

The Tabin Sun Bear Project mimics the natural bond between a mother bear and her cub. Each day, keepers walk alongside the young bears through the forest, introducing them to natural food sources while encouraging them to forage, climb, build nests and explore their surroundings until they can eventually survive without human help.

“This process takes time because every bear develops differently,” BSBCC environmental education officer Mohd Haniff Busrah explained. “We take them into the forest, then bring them back to the centre and repeat the process until they are independent enough to survive on their own.”

For Tenom, the signs have been encouraging. Unlike many hand-raised cubs, she rarely seeks human attention; instead, she spends her time investigating sticks, branches and leaves, enthusiastically tearing into termite mounds in search of insects.

She is also an accomplished climber, confidently scaling trees, hanging upside down from branches and quietly hiding inside hollow logs whenever she senses danger. Those behaviours are exactly what conservationists hope to see.

Sun bear cubs typically remain with their mothers for two to three years, learning everything from finding food to recognising threats before striking out on their own. The soft-release programme aims to replicate as much of that learning process as possible, although the bears eventually leave human care earlier than they would in the wild.

Once they become fully independent, they are tracked using GPS and radio transmitters so conservationists can monitor how well they adapt to life in the forest.

The gradual approach follows lessons learnt from previous releases. Thirteen sun bears have previously been “hard released” directly into the wild, but three later died from natural causes including competition with other bears, food shortages, disease and injuries.

Conservationists believe giving rescued bears more time to develop their natural instincts could improve their chances of survival.

BSBCC currently cares for 43 sun bears, most rescued after being kept illegally as pets or found wandering in oil-palm plantations.

“When they become too accustomed to humans, restoring their wild instincts becomes very challenging,” Haniff said. “Some no longer display natural behaviour, so they remain at the centre.”

Between 2018 and this year, 15 sun bears have been rescued, with four cases recorded so far in 2026 alone.
The rehabilitation programme is supported by the Malaysian Palm Oil Green Conservation Foundation, which has provided RM50,000 for research, monitoring and conservation work, including tracking collars.

The foundation also works with plantation companies, encouraging them to alert wildlife authorities whenever sun bears are spotted instead of attempting to deal with the animals themselves.

For conservationists, though, the project’s success will not be measured by the number of bears rescued – it will be measured by the moment bears like Tenom have the instincts, confidence and independence to survive on their own.