In Sabah, rescuing and rehabilitating sun bears is only half the battle. The real challenge lies in preparing them for life in the wild, while addressing the root causes of their declining population: illegal trade and loss of habitat. All of this is covered in Macaranga's latest article, Helping Sabah’s Sun Bears Return to the Wild, which also discusses how many released bears struggle to survive back in the wild, and why conservationists are stressing that keeping sun bears in their natural habitats and stopping hunting, is more effective than rehabilitation. We speak to Vincent Tan, the journalist who wrote the piece, Dr. Wong Siew Te, a Wildlife Biologist, Tropical Forest Ecologist, and the CEO and Founder of the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BCBCC), and Elizabeth John, the Communications Manager from TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, to learn more about the future of these vulnerable bears.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Produced by: Juliet Jacobs

Presented by: Juliet Jacobs

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Categories:  environment,  Law/Activism

Tags:  traffic southeast asia,  the bigger picture,  earth matters,  macaranga,  sun bears,  wildlife conservation,  deforestation,  illegal wildlife trade,  wildlife poaching,  bornean sun bear conservation centre,  wildlife rehabilitation,