…

Brutus July 2023

Brutus Sept 2023

Since March 2023, 5 new bears have arrived at the sun bear sanctuary of Samboja Lestari in East Kalimantan, run by the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF). Brutus, an adult male, arrived in July. He used to be kept in a park of a town called Tarakan, where Sun Bear Outreach had built a large cage for him in 2017, for lack of being able to do more. Later he was moved to different places where he must have suffered a lot, because by the time he arrived at Samboja Lestari, the poor animal was just skin and bones, and looking miserable.

Kerin, Brutus and Loo – Sept 2023

Lou and Kerin are 2 adult females who arrived in the center in April. They too had been kept in Tarakan, under the names of Rina and Fitri. I had come across them by chance in 2017 and had done what I could to improve their welfare in Tarakan. Like Brutus, it seems that Loo and Kerin have spent all their lives in cages, but now that they are at Samboja Lestari, they will soon be able to enjoy a bit of forest.

Choki and Bakar Sept 2023

The 2 cubs who arrived at Samboja Lestari are Bakar and Choki. Both are males, both are about the same age, probably born in February or March 2023 and both have been hand raised. They are orphans but have bonded with Pablo, a volunteer who cares for them and spends his days in the forest with them. The cubs are healthy and best buddies, playing and enjoying the forest most of the day.

Choki and Bakar Sept 2023

Unfortunately, by the time the cubs are 1 year old, it will become increasingly difficult to walk them in the forest and they will need to be moved to a forest enclosure. But the center is now in over capacity and all the forest enclosures are occupied. The plan is to split an old enclosure called Middle Yard in 2 in order to accommodate 2 older bears who are now in Enclosure B, thus allowing the cubs to move to B. The cost of splitting Middle Yard and building 2 new dens is estimated at 8500 USD.

Funds are difficult to get these days, so your donation, however small, will be very much appreciated. Thank you.

Lou before coming to BOSF

Since the beginning of 2023, we have focused our efforts on doing maintenance on the sun bear enclosures, renovating cages and building climbing structures for the bears at the rescue centres of both the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) and the Orangutan Foundation International (OFI). Of all the improvements done in the last few months, here are the ones that have significantly improved the welfare of 3 sun bears:

Lou’s new cage at BOSF

At BOSF in East Kalimantan, we renovated 2 large outdoor cages and their holding dens allowing BOSF to accept 2 new adult female sun bears with the names of Lou and Kerin who arrived at the centre in March 2023. Lou and Kerin have spent their life in cages, sometimes in very bad conditions, so their present situation is a great improvement to what they have known. The next step will be to socialize them with other bears at the centre to allow them to have access to one of the 16 large forest enclosures.

Coki in his new cage at OFI

At OFI in Central Kalimantan, we also renovated a large cage for a new young bear named Coki who arrived a few months ago at the rescue centre, allowing him to enjoy a decent size cage while waiting for a better option. Unfortunately, the 4 enclosures that we’ve built at OFI since 2014 are not sufficient to hold the 18 sun bears in its care, so we are now discussing the option of building 2 new forest enclosures. Once we have a precise plan and quote for the new enclosures, we will need funding and hope that you may help us.

As always, our drive is empathy and our motive is to give the best possible life to sun bears who unfortunately can’t be released back to the wild.

Coki’s new living space at OFI

New Enclosure P – 1 Ha

Sun bear enclosures at Samboja Lestari

The new 1 Ha forest enclosure at Samboja Lestari in East Kalimantan is finished and it has been the home to a group of 5 bears since 29^th November 2022. A big thank you to all the donors of Sun Bear Outreach for making this possible.

Deni and India in Enclosure P -2022

Corridor between Bottom Yard and Training 3

I have spent the month of October and November 2022 at Samboja Lestari to finish this new Enclosure P and to do a lot of maintenance on all the other 16 enclosures after a long 2 years absence. I also got a corridor built linking Bottom Yard and Training Enclosure 3, which will allow us to introduce Lucy and Alaya from Bottom Yard to Sulis and Adele from Training Enclosure 3. We hope that the 4 young girls will get along well so that they can be moved to Enclosure A where 3 male bears are waiting for them.

Lucy and Alaya discovering Training 3 after using the new corridor

Fence construction of new enclosure – July 2022

I’m happy to write that the construction of a new large forest enclosure at the Samboja Lestari rescue centre in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, is progressing steadily under the supervision of Philip Stubley, our long term volunteer. In the end, in view of the increasing number of bears at Samboja, we decided to make the enclosure bigger than planed: it will be near to 1 Ha in size and will be the new home for 5 bears.

Construction of dens for new enclosure – July 2022

The holding capacity of the existing 19 outdoor sun bear enclosures at Samboja Lestari is of 68 individuals, but the sanctuary now has 71 bears. Overcapacity means that some bears do not have access to outdoors, which is a concern regarding animal welfare. The construction of a new 1 Ha forest enclosure will thus allow 5 individuals to live in respectable captive conditions rather than just 2 or 3 as originally planned.

Map of new enclosure – July 2022

Of course the cost is greater and has now gone up to 50.000 € instead of the 30.000 € originally budgeted. But Sun Bear Outreach should be able to pay the extra cost thanks to our generous donors. Thank you all for making this possible.

Map of new 0,6 Ha enclosure (in blue)

I’m am happy to announce the construction of a new large forest enclosure for 3 sun bears at the Samboja Lestari rescue centre in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Construction work is scheduled to begin mid June under the supervision of a volunteer who will be spending 3 months on site to make sure all goes well.

This project has been in the pipeline for 2 years now but was on hold because of the COVID pandemic. It’s now finally going to get done and we would like to thank all the donors of Sun Bear Outreach who make it possible.

I have been in France since August 2020 and have not yet been able to go back to Indonesia to pursue the projects of Sun Bear Outreach. I had bought a ticket to go back in July 2021 but had to cancel the trip because of the COVID pandemic. Now, even if I could perhaps find a way of entering Indonesia despite the Omicron wave, I am unfortunately unable to travel because I’m accompanying my mother in her end of life. I’m with her in her house 24/7 to give her peace and comfort as she slowly withers away.

I am thus sorry to say that the activities of Sun Bear Outreach are on stand-by for the time being, but they will pick up again as soon as I am free to go back to Indonesia.

Thank you for your understanding.

Patrick Rouxel

Lucy – Samboja Lestari June 2020

I had bought a ticket to go back to Indonesia on July 18^th, but the COVID situation there is going from bad to worse and travel restrictions for foreigners entering the country are still in place. Unfortunately I have no choice but to reschedule my trip to later. The bears Lucy and Alaya will have to wait a little longer before I can build them the new enclosure I promised.

Alaya – Samboja Lestari June 2020

The good news is that Sun Bear Outreach now has enough funds (30.000 €) to build a new forest enclosure for Lucy and Alaya at the Samboja Lestari sanctuary in East Kalimantan. The bad news is that a new young bear named Melina arrived recently at the sanctuary. I’m hoping that Melina will be able to join Lucy and Alaya, which would mean that we would have to build a bigger enclosure than we had planned. Of course, the bigger the enclosure, the more expensive it is. So we might need more funds…

Map new enclosure for Lucy and Alaya

For now I prefer to wait and see what happens with the COVID pandemic in Indonesia before I make too many plans. By the time I can get to Samboja to build the new enclosure for Lucy, Alaya and Melina, there might be a fourth bear in the group!

Thank you for your support.

New mesh roof on eagles’ aviary – WRC Nov 2020

Despite the COVID pandemic, renovation work at the Wildlife Rescue Centre (WRC) in Jogjakarta, Indonesia is progressing slowly but surely. This is thanks to your donations and to the work of Tojeiro, a young Dutch volunteer who is working full time at WRC. The eagles now have new fence roofs on their aviary and pre-release cages, the orang-utans and the gibbons have a new drinking system in place and the binturongs will soon have a new large dome enclosure for themselves.

Sibin – Binturong et WRC

At the Samboja Lestari rescue centre of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF), the local staff is caring for the 71 sun bears since my return to France in August 2020. I am told that all the bears are well and that the dirt road which goes around the enclosures will soon be paved. My next project at Samboja Lestari will be the construction of a new 0,5 Ha forest enclosure with 2 dens for the 2 cubs Lucy and Alaya. I had hope to get construction going before the end of 2020 but travel restrictions to Indonesia have made it impossible for me to go there and get the project started.

Alaya – Samboja Lestari June 2020

As I wait for the green light to go back to Samboja Lestari, I continue to fundraise for the new enclosure for Lucy and Alaya. So far, Sun Bear Outreach has raised 20.000 euros or the 30.000 necessary. I’m hoping that BOS Switzerland will be able to chip in but I don’t know how much yet. So if you want to help make a new forest enclosure for 2 sun bear cubs, don’t hesitate to make a donation. Any amount is welcomed.

Lucy – Samboja Lestari June 2020

In the mean time, please watch my latest short video on the sun bears at Samboja Lestari.

Thank you for your support.

WRC – new pool for the sun bears

WRC – new cage for the macaques

Thanks to your donations and to a long term volunteer who is working full time at the Wildlife Rescue Centre (WRC) in Jogjakarta, Indonesia, 3 of the renovations we had planed are done and the others are in progress: the 2 sun bears have a new pool, the food prep room has new tiles, the macaques have a new large cage and soon there will also be a large cage for the binturongs, one for the eagles and another for the gibbons.

BOSF – Kancil and Banjar in their enclosure

At the Samboja Lestari rescue centre of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF), the 16 new forest enclosures are finished and most of the 71 sun bears are now dispatched in their new homes enjoying their natural habitat. But the arrival of many new bears at the centre in the last 12 months has once again put the sanctuary in a position of overcapacity. The plan for now is to build one new forest enclosure of 0,5 Ha in size for the 2 cubs Lucy and Alaya who still don’t have access to the forest.

BOSF – Lucy (July 2020)

The cost for constructing this new 0,5 Ha enclosure with 2 dens is about 30.000 EUR. We hope that BOS Switzerland will be able to fundraise 50% while Sun Bear Outreach will try to raise the other 50% and supervise the construction. With the COVID pandemic it is impossible to plan things too much in advance, but I’m hoping we can get construction going before the end of 2020.

Thank you for your support.