The Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC) has been offering virtual tours of its facilities since May last year to circumvent the ban on physical visits. People from across the world can visit the centre from the comfort of their homes.
Wildlife biologist Wong Siew Te, who founded the centre, hosts the tours.
“I show the audience around the centre, talking about the sun bears’ biology and ecological and conservation issues,” he said in a statement.
“It is a one-hour virtual experience visiting BSBCC and viewing the bears up close and personal.
“The audience can ask me questions during the entire virtual tour. The cost is RM40 and those interested can visit our website at www.bsbcc.org.my to learn more.”
BSBCC is the world’s only sun bear conservation centre. Located next to the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in Sandakan, the centre is looking after 44 rescued bears, including a newborn female cub named Luna.
The centre is also involved in efforts to release rescued bears back into the wild after the animals are assessed by its experts as having good chances of survival.
Wong said the centre, having lost walk-in visitors due to the pandemic, was seeking public donations to help it keep going.
He said it had been asking potential funding agencies to donate to it and encourage the public to take part in its sun bear adoption programme.
“The virtual tour is a new approach, but it is not as popular as I expected,” he said. “Nonetheless, we are doing our best to encourage the public to support this initiative.”
Wong said BSBCC was managing well at the moment and ensuring the wellbeing of all rescued bears.
Last year, the centre took in three rescued cubs, which have been named Betung, Itam and Kipaku.
They were cared for by local residents in Ranau, Nabawan and Tambunan before the Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) took charge of them and handed them over to BSBCC.
Wong said the centre and the SWD’s wildlife rescue unit were always on standby but had yet to make any rescue this year.
“Operations are still ongoing during the pandemic,” he said. “The rescue mission is considered an essential operation by the wildlife department. So there is no limit on manpower or movement.”
The Sabah Tourism Board (STB), in a series called Enchanting Sabah Live, will be featuring various tourism attractions around Sabah and webinar sessions every Tuesday on its social media platform @sabahtourism.
These live sessions will be conducted by local industry experts. The first feature will be a live session at the BSBCC. It will be on July 13, starting at 2pm.
STB general manager Noredah Othman said live sessions had been trending since last year and STB had provided assistance to tourism industry members in conducting them.
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