Laos / Day 66-72

Hello everyone, another week has passed in the Laos project and I have some new things to report. Please read my previous article about Laos first, if you haven't already, so you know what this project is about.

Today, I would like to talk about our bears and pangolins:

We have a total of 24 Asian black bears here, which is impressive considering this species is also endangered. The bears have our newest and most beautiful enclosures. They have plenty of space, great climbing opportunities, and a nice pool to swim in. There are always 4-6 bears in one enclosure. When volunteers go to the zoo, we always pass by these enclosures first and we are always thrilled. There is always something to see with these bears. Some roll on the ground, others stand on their hind legs to get a better look at us to see if we have something for them. But the sweetest thing is when they are in their pool. Usually, only their head is visible and the rest is in the water, and then they rest their head on the edge of the pool and enjoy the cool water in this heat. Just super cute. We make toys for them once a week, in which we hide smaller treats. Their favorite toys are plastic balls with holes in which we put nuts with a little honey. They lie on their back so sweetly and hold the ball with all four paws while trying to get the nuts out with their snout and tongue. Thick pieces of bamboo filled with nuts are also popular, which the bears easily break open with their paws. You can always see how strong these animals actually are, and that they are definitely not cuddly bears.

In addition, we have a Malayan sun bear named Missy. This bear species is also very endangered. Unfortunately, our Missy does not have a companion. The Malayan sun bear is one of the smallest bears in the world, so you don't always see Missy in her cage because the grass is taller than she is. But when she is at the fence, she usually follows someone. She is not completely alone in the enclosure because two of the binturongs live in the tree next to her. So she can always smell popcorn when she is near them.

Now let's talk about our pangolins. These animals are extremely endangered because the Chinese use them for their ridiculous, traditional medicine. So we are very fortunate to have two giant pangolins and especially a Chinese pangolin. The Chinese pangolin had not been seen in Laos for 20 years until it walked into an embassy last year. The embassy immediately informed the organization, and they picked up the animal. Since Chinese pangolins love to dig and make burrows, a new house was specifically built and filled with soil for this pangolin. On the other hand, the two giant pangolins love to climb, so their enclosure has many branches. All pangolins eat ants, so we have to weigh frozen ants every day to feed them. Since the animals are nocturnal, you hardly see them during the day. As we may release the animals into the wild someday, we try to have as little contact with humans as possible. The animals are only touched when they are weighed. We have already trained the Chinese pangolin to go on the scale by itself with a whistle, so we don't need to touch it at all.

Unfortunately, I am not allowed to post all the photos I have taken online because there is a very strict social media policy here. Any photos showing employees or volunteers interacting with animals (such as during weighing) could potentially be taken out of context and people might believe that we always do this or that it is normal. So I am not allowed to publish such photos. (To my friends: If you still want to see some of these photos, you can message me on WhatsApp.)

That's it for now.

Yours, Alex