Published on: Monday, June 11, 2007 |
Kota Kinabalu: The Lok Kawi Wildlife Park is opening a new animal exhibit for the Malayan Sun Bear, one of the rarest bear species in the world.
According to a State Wildlife spokesman, the Malayan Sun Bear, which is the smallest bear species found throughout South East Asia is an endangered species due to indiscriminate poaching for the prized bear gall bladder, which is worth its weight in gold.
The animal is also hunted for its paws and testicles thought to have aphrodisiac qualities. The new Sun Bear exhibit would house a male and four females, which were once kept as pet but had either been confiscated by Wildlife rangers or surrendered by owners.
It is against the Wildlife Enactment 1997 to keep Sun Bears as pets, said the spokesman.
Besides educating the general public on the wildlife conservation awareness and the plight of Sun Bears in the wild, the department would also be developing research on Sun Bear re-productive biology so as to develop a captive breeding programme with the group of Sun Bears in the park.
