2019-03-01ReadersDigest_AUNZ

March• 2019 | 29

Unfortunately, explains Wong,

educationcanonlygosofar.“Wecan

tell people not to buy this and that,

butwhatweseeafteryearsofwork-

ingwitheducation,isthatthere’sstill

asmallgroupofpeoplewhoruinthe

entirething,”hesays.

Thenextcrucialstepisenforce-

ment–and,accordingtoWong,that

canonlyhappenwhenthelawen-

forcers start treating crimes against

animals as seriously as they do

crimes against humans. “Any wild-

life poaching cases should be treated

likeahumanmurdercase,andthen

we will catch all the poachers and

punish them properly,” he says.

Time is running out, he warns. “The

next ten years will be crucial. If we fail,

a lot of species will become extinct.

We will experience the extinction of

the Sumatran rhino in our lifetime,

for sure. And right now, the numbers

of banteng, a species of forest cattle,

are going down in Sabah.”

Thetaskathandcansometimes

feel like a steep uphill battle and he

doesgetupsetbythesituation,buthe

sayshestillconsidershimselflucky

that he was given the opportunity to

study the sun bears and get to know

howspecialtheyare.It’sthereason

whyhetriestostaypositiveandto

inspireasmanypeopleashecan.

“Thesunbearsdon’thaveavoice

so we have to speak on their behalf.

Wehavetofightfortheirrightson

their behalf. We have to get justice

for them.”

Under Threat
The sun bear, once
widespread in the lowland
forests of Southeast Asia,
haslargelydisappearedfrom
most of its former ranges.
There are no reliable population
figures for the sun bear,
according to both WWF and
IUCN (International Union for
Conservation of Nature), however
it’s estimated that the population
has fallen by more than 30 per
cent in the last 20 years. The
number of sun bears in the wild
is possibly as few as 1000.
The IUCN Red List of
threatened species has classified
the sun bear as vulnerable,
meaning its population
is considered at risk of
endangerment in the near future.
Once a species is classified
endangered, if the circumstances
threatening its survival and
reproduction do not improve,
the population faces a high risk
of extinction. Victoria Polzot
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES