From "Nation", "The Star" newspaper, Malaysia
Wednesday April 9, 2008
BY STEPHEN THEN
BY STEPHEN THEN
Endangered sun bear dies
MIRI: An endangered sun bear died from neglect after it was locked up for months inside a small iron cage and used as a showpiece to attract visitors in a private farm on the Miri-Bintulu Second Coastal Highway.
It died after its owner hid it inside a forest away from public view after a group of expatriates, disgusted with the way the creature was treated, complained to the owner and the authorities.
“The sun bear was kept continuously inside the cage where it died recently,” said a worker at the farm, located at Jalan Bakam, next to the National Service Training Camp.
Miri Wildlife Department enforcement chief Abang Arabi Abang Imran said yesterday the owner was unable to give a satisfactory explanation on the sun bear which was missing from the farm.
Asked why it took six months for his department to investigate this case after the first complaints were lodged, Arabi said: “I told my enforcement people to handle the case immediately. I must find out why the bear was not rescued.”
The Star highlighted this case last Aug 11 after South African expatriate Tweet Gainsborough, whose husband was working for an oil and gas giant here in Miri, alerted the newspaper.
The conditions enraged expatriates and animal lovers who visited the farm located near Sungai Rait in the southern part of Miri district on the way to Bintulu, 30km from Miri City.
The non-aggressive sun bear is the smallest in the bear family and is classified as an endangered and protected species.
Gainsborough lodged many complaints with the farm manager, the Miri Wildlife Department, the Miri City Council and the Sarawak Forestry Department.
Arabi confirmed that the private farm did not have a permit to keep the animal.
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