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Tuesday, March 04, 2008

MALAYAN SUN BEAR: The World’s Smallest Bear






I always believed that a nation’s character can be judged by the way they treat their animals. So, one of the first places we visited is the Beijing Zoo -- The appalling 50,000 square meters of hell and disgusting prison of over 8,000 of our animal friends!

The first creatures we looked for are those endemic to Southeast Asia. Because if I did find one, the zoo officials are gonna hear from me words that they couldn’t take… or understand! Ha!

We eventually found a sleepy little bear, groggy and walking awkward with its feet turned inwards. It is the Sun Bear!

The Sun Bear is one of our region’s living icons. It is the world’s smallest bear and can only be found in Southeast Asia – primarily in the tropical rainforests of Malaysia and Indonesia. Their territory also covers Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia to Thailand in the south.

The Malaysians and Indonesians call them “Beruang Madu” – meaning the “Honey Bear”. And because of its size, others call it the “Dog Bear” because its full length is less than 4 feet. But how did the “Sun Bear” got its name? – Because of the “U”-shaped yellow-orange marking on its chest. A unique marking gave them the name. I know what you're thinking... why didn't they name 'em the "U" Bear? Or a "Horse-shoe" Bear!?... AHA! Let me tell you why... its the same reason your parents didn't name you Tinkerbell.

As all the bears in the world, the Sun Bear specie is vulnerable. Their population is declining fast.

Well, we all know the destruction of their habitat issue and the ridiculous Chinese bile-milking industry…but most of us are not aware that the Sun Bear is regarded as “nuisance”. People say they destroy private properties and plantations! THAT’S STUPID! If these people didn’t invade the Sun Bears territories, they wouldn’t have this problem in the first place! Ha!

One of my friends remarked that this small bear seem groggy and sleepy at zoos. Well, it’s because the Sun Bear is nocturnal. They are active at night and the zoos are forcing them to “entertain” the visitors at day time! Pffft!

The Sun Bear is one of the most neglected symbols of our region. It is the only one of the world's 8 species of bears that can only be found in our paradise. Let's not wait till its too late to save them.

Helarctos malayanus.

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6 Comments:

Jerick said...

Hey! I do love the malayan sun bears! I think i wrote about that as a comment before. But anyways, i think it is the closest south east asia has for a koala bear. Very cute animal!

Anonymous said...

Oh I wanna give it a hug! It looooooooks sooooooo cute

Anonymous said...

the bear is so cute!!

Anonymous said...

love the pictures! thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

any of yall know where i can buy one of those? be a pretty hoss pet

gate valves said...

what a great blog., and i really love your page. im from the philippines and i admire the articles that you posted, its really good!

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