This was the second sun bear rescued by the Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) this month.

SFC CEO Zolkipli Mohamad Aton said the bear, said to have been in the care of a licensed-owner for over 20 years, had now been sent to the Matang Wildlife Centre here for a medical examination.

He said although the owner possessed a valid licence issued by the Controller of Wild Life Forest Department Sarawak, he was found to have violated certain terms and conditions, including locking up the bear in a small cage.

“After explaining the terms and conditions to the owner, the owner willingly surrendered the sun bear,” he said in a statement here today.

Zolkipli said the sun bear is protected under Sarawak’s Wildlife Protection Ordinance 1998, whereby killing, keeping, selling and buying the animal or its derivatives are prohibited by the law. If found guilty, the perpetrator can be jailed for one year and fined RM10,000.

“This is our commitment to strengthen efforts to address illegal wildlife trade and tackle wildlife crimes and abuses.

“We will be taking continuous action to end poaching and trafficking of protected species of flora and fauna in Sarawak.”

Zolkipli said SFC was grateful to members of the public for assisting the authorities in curtailing illegal wildlife trading as well as illegal logging in Sarawak.

He welcomes members of the public to lodge reports with the SFC or Forest Department if they found anyone keeping or selling protected animals via SFC hotlines at 016-8565564/019-8859996 (Kuching), 019-8883561 (Sibu), 019-8223449/019-8332737 (Bintulu) and 019-8290994/018-9799778 (Miri).