Kanyai – Yet Another Malayan Bear Cub Rescued

Kanyai

Today the WFFT Wildlife Rescue Team were called to the aid of yet another Malayan Sun Bear. After being informed of a bear cub being kept in unsuitable conditions, the team from the Wildlife Rescue Centre were dispatched to nearby Pala-U, part of Kaeng Krachan National Park, to rescue the cub.

On arrival, WFFT staff found the female cub living in appalling conditions in village temple grounds – she was being kept in a 1 metre square cage, with rotten planks, mud and faeces covering the floor.

She had no access to water, and could only drink when monks and passers-by poured water into her mouth from a plastic bottle.

According to villagers, she had been kept in the cage for an entire year. The young cub’s mother had been killed by poachers, and at just a few weeks old, she was sold by an illegal wildlife trader to a villager.

Thinking he would make merit at the temple, the villager gave the bear cub up to the monks. However, the monks were unable to cope with her rapid growth and aggression, and realised they could no longer keep her.

Once the WFFT Wildlife Rescue Team arrived, the bear cub was sedated in order for her to be transferred to a transportation cage, ready to be taken back the Wildlife Rescue Centre.

Volunteers had prepared a cage for the cub, complete with a bath-tub for her to play in. When she was released into her new cage, the cub, who has been called Kanyai, immediately headed for the water. Having never before had access to a bath before, Kanyai started splashing around happily.

Several baths later, Kanyai is calming down from her busy day and is starting to explore her new surroundings more.

Her cage adjoins the large outdoor enclosure of Kaka and Galamair, 2 other young Malayan Sun Bears, and it is hoped that Kanyai will be released into the same enclosure in the very near future. Here she will be able to run in the grass, climb the trees and play in the pool to her heart’s content.