Comments on: Sun Bear Cubs: 10 months old

By: Sukochi Lee

Sukochi Lee — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 21:25:35 +0000

Why is there no Sun Bear cam? They are so cute to watch.

By: kathy

kathy — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:17:40 +0000

Thanks Suzanne, these two are awfully cute..double trouble

By: Lid

Lid — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 03:45:52 +0000

Will they be separated at a certain age? is SDZ planning to send them to another zoo? I love the pics by the way..I don’t know about sun bears..do they live alone in the wild? ok enuff with the questions!

Suzanne responds: Although some zoos in Europe have allowed female cubs to remain with their mothers for several years, even after reintroducing the pair to the adult male to allow a resumption of breeding, this has not been tried with a male cub. Our cubs will wean from their mother at approximately 18 months. Whether or not they will remain here has not yet been addressed, but our two previous cubs have found new homes at zoos in Texas and California.

As to wild living conditions…we don’t know the answer for sure. We suspect females are typically found only with their offspring outside of breeding encounters, but we can’t yet say for sure. Much work to be done on that front!

By: Margaret

Margaret — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:50:55 +0000

Thanks, Suzanne, for another exciting update about the growing Sun Bear cubs. It will be very interesting to compare the data from males and females, and singletons versus twin cubs. So much for researchers to thrive on!

It sounds like Marcella is enjoying having twins, as they can play with each other, and leave her to eat so she has the rich milk they both have to share. It takes more nutrition for the mother to produce that rich milk, and if she had to be chasing after two cubs it would be very difficult to eat enough to do that.

Thanks to all the staff who continue to take such outstanding care of these young bears.