Wildlife dept hunting for hostile sun bear

KOTA KINABALU: Wildlife officials are on the hunt for a Borneo sun bear which reportedly attacked a villager in Sabah’s central Tongod district last week.

Sabah Wildlife Department officer for Sandakan Hussein Mui said traps and cameras had been installed around the area where the attack occurred.

The devices were installed at a forest near Kampung Entilibon. The officers were assisted by staff from the Borneo Sun Bear Conservation Centre last Friday.

“There is still no sign of the bear for now. But we have issued alerts to villagers asking them to contact us immediately if they see it,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Mui said the bear attack victim, Jackson Yongki, 58, who is a retired teacher, helped them check the traps.

“We believe the sun bear is still in the nearby forest,” he added.

He said they would also be setting up a WhatsApp group with the villagers to ensure that information could be channelled to the authorities as quickly as possible in case of future incidents or sightings.

Yongki sustained leg injuries during the attack last Monday.

He was planting padi with his two teenage sons when the sun bear suddenly charged at them in the 7.30am incident.

The bear is said to have first tried to attack one of the boys, but Yongki rescued his children by beating the bear with a piece of wood.

They then tried to escape, but the bear bit Yongki’s leg after he fell down in a muddy area. The animal then fled into the forest.

The latest incident is the second sun bear sighting in Tongod in recent months.

The first sighting was of a bear cub at a logging camp area in the district.