Project work in Borneo
On site, the project is implemented by BOS Foundation’s dedicated employees and volunteers (veterinarians and animal keepers). Among these, Chief Animal Keeper Alyas and his team have been maintaining the cages for many years. Agnes, the Chief Veterinarian on site, carries out routine health checks and takes care of emergencies.
Patrick Rouxel, an external bear expert and founder of Sun Bear Outreach, supports the BOS employees in their daily work. Years ago, he lost his heart to the bears and has since been instrumental in planning and constructing the new outdoor enclosures. In the future, he will serve as an external consultant to BOS Foundation’s Sun Bear Program.
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Numerous professional volunteers, also from Switzerland, support the program regularly – during short stays or over longer periods of time. All of them are non-employed by BOS Foundation and offer their assistance and expertise for free. Kim and Marco launched the bearinmind.ch campaign in 2019 after they had joined the BOS Schweiz volunteers program in 2018. They visited the BOS rescue center in Samboja Lestari in 2019 and assisted the sun bears. Ever since, they have been supporting the campaign with BOS Schweiz from Zurich.
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Numerous external experts such as veterinarians and animal keepers also contribute their valuable knowledge to the BOS Sun Bear Program as volunteers. Currently, Aimee Ferguson is on site as a volunteer assisting day and night. She prepares the bear babies for a possible reintroduction into the wild.
Volunteers for the Bears
Aimee Ferguson
The 25-year old animal keeper from England studied animal management and animal husbandry with the emphasis behavior and nutrition. Subsequently, she received a BSc degree in animal behavior and animal welfare with a focus on cognition and social structures.
"I have been working with animals for 7 years - from exotic pet rescue to animal care assistance. I worked 4 years in licensed zoos, including an internship at Chester Zoo where I looked after Andean and Malaysian bears.
I came to Indonesia in 2019 to share my experiences and learn more about the problems of animals in the wild".
Patrick Rouxel
«I am half Swedish, half French and I grew up in Malaysia and Singapore. I studied Humanities at UC Berkeley in California, then Comparative Literature at La Sorbonne in Paris. After working for more than 10 years in the supervision of digital special effects for feature films, I decided to go freelance as a filmmaker for wildlife documentaries. Since 2003, I’ve been making films dedicated to the protection of the tropical rainforest and animal welfare.
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In 2011, a chance encounter with an orphan sun bear cub in the town of Sintang, West Kalimantan, Indonesia changed the course of my life. I ended up spending about 3 years in the forest with 3 sun bear cubs. Being with the bears in their natural habitat opened my eyes to the suffering of those kept in cages and triggered my commitment to improve the welfare of captive sun bears in Indonesia. Thus was born Sun Bear Outreach.»
The supporting organisation
bearinmind.ch is a campaign of Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Schweiz in cooperation with BOS Foundation and Sun Bear Outreach.
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Your donation is earmarked for the BOS Foundation's Sun Bear Program in Borneo, Indonesia. At the end of the donation year you will receive a donation receipt from BOS Schweiz.
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Since 2017, BOS Schweiz has been the most important donor to BOS Foundation’s Sun Bear Program at Samboja Lestari. For many years and due to severe financial shortcomings, the sun bears had lived a shadowy existence. This changed significantly within the last years mainly thanks to financial support from Switzerland. Since 2017, BOS Schweiz has financed 15 new forest enclosures with the necessary and attached infrastructure (e.g. training enclosures, electric fencing, food sheds, holding cages or staff quarters).
In addition to the sun bears, BOS Schweiz also supports orangutans rescued by BOS Foundation and BKSDA who are rehabilitated and therefore prepared for a life in freedom in Samboja Lestari. Just like the sun bears, these orangutans are threatened with extinction because their habitat is destroyed and the babies are illegally kept as pets. Learn more about BOS Schweiz.
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