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Malayan Sun Bear

Local name: 
Beruang Madu
Scientific name: 

Helarctos malayanus

Status: 
Vulnerable

Malayan Sun Bear

Distribution:
Once widespread throughout Asia, the Malayan sun bear is now patchily distributed across its former range.
Population size:
There are very few estimates of the population size of Malayan sun bears but the rapid loss of their forest habitat and the active trade in their body parts would suggest a continuing decline in the species.
Characteristics:
The Malayan sun bear’s name comes from the orange/yellow marking on its chest, which is shaped like a horseshoe. It is the smallest bear species in the world standing at 1.2m tall and weighing up to 60kg. It is an excellent climber with large feet and long sickle shaped claws. It has an extremely long tongue, 20-25cm in length, which it uses to extract honey from beehives.
Habitat:
Sun bears in Sumatra are mainly found in evergreen rainforest, ranging from lowland forest to peat swamp and lower montane forest.
Ecology:
The Malayan sun bear eats a wide variety of food types, including small vertebrates, such as lizards, birds and mammals; fruits, berries and roots and also invertebrates such as ants and termites, including their larvae. Their sight is quite poor so they use their keen sense of smell to find food. They can live up to 28 years in captivity but this is likely to be less in the wild. They are predominantly arboreal, spending a large part of their time in trees and coming down to the forest floor to forage for insects, berries and roots. Sun bears are generally solitary except for when females have offspring. Gestation is usually around 95 days and females will use hollow logs or cavities in large trees to give birth to one or two cubs. These cubs can remain with their mother for up to 2.5 years.
Threats:
In Sumatra the large scale removal of their forest habitat is the biggest threat to the survival of Sun bears. The poaching of these bears for the wildlife trade is also a big threat in most of its range.
At Harapan Rainforest:
Research is being carried out to assess the population size of Malayan sun bears in Harapan Rainforest and their preferences for different habitat types within the forest. This work is being funded by the Bear Conservation Fund of the International Association of Bear Research and Management.
Interesting facts:
  • If a large predator grabs a sun bear, it is able to turn in its loose skin and bite its attacker.
  • Sun bears build small nests to sleep in, by bending branches high up in trees.
  • Newborn cubs are born blind and naked but within a few months are able to run, play and forage with their mother. 
 
 For further information please look at the following links:

IUCN Red List
The Borneo Sun Bear Conservation Trust
Kawasan Wisata Pendidikan Lingkungan Hidup