March 16 - Off to visit the bears

Through the people at the Angkor Centre for Conservation of Biodiversity I made contact with the Cambodian Free the Bears organization, who share the facilities at the Phnom Tamao Zoological Park and Rescue Centre about an hour south of Phnom Penh. The timing worked out perfectly as the Regional Director and his wife, the Education Manager, were coming into Phnom Penh to pick up supplies so Nev and I had a coffee/tea in a totally western-style coffee bar, and I drove out to the Park with Pisei, his wife and one of their staff.

Phnom Tamao is on 2500 protected hectares and consists of a zoo/rehab/rescue centre for a variety of Cambodian Wildlife. Free the Bears handles the two bear species: sun and moon bears, and a Wildlife Alliance funded program the rest of the animals, but to the visitor it is all integrated together. They have about 100 sun bears and 35 moon (Asiatic black) bears, all of which have been seized from illegal homes or traffickers, have been handed over by the owners, or have been found as orphans by rangers or guides in the parks. Bear farming for bile is illegal in Cambodia. The bears range in age from a tiny one in quarantine still being bottle fed to a more geriatric crew. The bears are not bred, as there is no release and retraining program, and sadly probably no safe place to put them. The actual numbers and status of bears in Cambodia is not known, but as they apparently need a large amount of land to support themselves the future isn't particularly rosy.

 The Free the Bears program was Australia-based initially, and still received a lot of their funding from there. They have super facilities, I was impressed and surprised, to be honest, and the bears all looked to be in great shape with lovely coats and plenty of enrichment in their big outdoor exhibits. Pisei has a program for school children education on site. It all seems like a super program, but unfortunately one in which the bears likely move only in one direction. They are setting up a similar centre in Vietnam where bile farming is illegal, and in Laos, where the law to make it so has not gone through yet so wanna-be bile farmers are setting up shop there now.

Bear Central - there are a number of bear houses - all have indoor quarters with slides to separate the animals as needed, as well as large outdoor areas with lots of entertainment.

One of the bears - you can see where one of the hind limbs has been amputated.

Indoor pen with bear hammock

Bear hammock with lounging bear!

People hammock when we stopped for lunch - with my foot. Sandal tan or dirt? Hard to tell.

Bear treats and enrichment - grass in balls 

Bear porridge

The education centre

After lunch I was shown the the newest bear houses, the quarantine building, and the vet hospital by Vuti, the Cambodian Program Manager, and we talked about several cases that their Australian vet had been treating. Cambodian wildlife has a rough go ahead of it, but there are certainly dedicated people trying their best to educate a population that has had mere survival on their horizon until recently, and to try and do something before it is really too late for any wilderness. Ecotourism and community based tourism seem to be the forces that have at least some impact and some economic incentive.

Do you think this one looks like its been up to something?

This one might be what is called a "good keeper"

There is a big population of wild long-tailed macaques here who seem to make most of their living off stealing food from the animals in the collection - particularly the bears. Because the food for the bears is spread all around their enclosure to give them something to do, the monkeys are faster than the bears and get the pick. I don't think the bears are suffering any, although it likely boosts up the cost of feeding them. 

And back to Phnom Penh, with a second quick stop at the lovely house where the program volunteers are housed.

The volunteer house

With a lovely pool to cool off in.

Bougainvillea

I don't know what this is but it didn't fly like a butterfly

Green mangos on the tree

 For my last evening in Cambodia I decided on a Mekong evening cruise. I bought a ticket and settled myself in a chair on the top deck overlooking the bow of the boat to enjoy the lights of the city, and then having mistaken the stern for the bow, proceeded to enjoy my last lovely evening travelling backwards down the river admiring the view of where I'd been. Somehow it seemed quite fitting.