Asia Quest - Sun Bear Exhibit

June 7, 2014: One of the greatest bear exhibits to ever exist

The reason for that is that it was originally intended for pandas. I read Jack Hanna's book, Monkeys on the Interstate, and it said they built it for pandas but the loan didn't work out so they put the sun bears in instead.

The resident 1.1 Bornean sun bears are now rotating between this and the indoor exhibit with a three-year-old male Sri Lankan sloth bear from the Little Rock Zoo.

Do you know how old the sun bears are? It seems that we are possibly reaching the end of an era in regards to sun bears while at the same time more American zoos are adding sloth bears. It is really a pity that in the USA only San Diego has been able to breed the world's smallest bear species.

The sun bears are 25 and 22, respectively, so they are both getting up there in age for the species... As I believe that the longevity record for the species is 35.9 years in captivity. The zoo has been in talks over the past several years as to what to replace them with, and it appears that that decision has been made! As you have said, sloth bear numbers are definitely on the rise in American zoos, and, thus, that is why I was not surprised by the news.

It will now be interesting to see whether a rotation between the two species will continue until the passing of the sun bears, or if the sun bears will be moved along to another collection. Back in the spring, I was told that the sun bears were being phased out of the collection and that they might not still be here by summer... That said, it is September and they are still here! Transfer delays? Second thoughts on whether they should be moved? I guess we will just have to see!