KOTA KINABALU: Officials at Sabah’s only sun bear conservation centre are seeing red over a company’s move to use the endangered animal as the theme for its event.

Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC) chief executive Wong Siew Te said the company’s move to use the sun bears for the run was wrong.

“We condemn anyone who uses the name of endangered species and exploits them for their own benefit,” he said yesterday.

“Regretfully we learnt that this run is not a charity event where the profits will help in the conservation of the sun bear in Sabah,” he added.

Wong said the conservation centre had nothing to do with the run that was scheduled to be held here on Feb 28.

He said it was important for the public to be aware that the so called “Sun Bear Run” was just a theme for the event organised by a local company and event management firm.

“We wish to advise the public to be clear about the nature of similar events so that they do not end up paying to take part thinking that they are helping wildlife conservation,” he said.

The conservation centre located at Sepilok in east coast Sandakan was opened two years ago for the rehabilitation of rescued sun bears, apart from carrying out awareness and research activities.

The centre is the only facility of its kind in the world and is currently caring for 37 rescued bears.

A check on the www.eventbrite.sg web page showed that the Sun Bear Run was to be held at Tanjung Aru near here.