Hi everyone, I have only just joined this forum today and I am very much looking forward to learning from some of the more experienced zoo addicts here! My zoo journey started just under three years ago now. I was mourning a great loss at the time, and looking for a new beginning. And then there it was, right in front of me - two Cambodian-born sun bear boys at Edinburgh Zoo. From that moment on, my heart was stolen and all I wanted was to learn more about these beautiful animals. My journey took me to Cambodia where I volunteered at Phnom Tamao Zoo & Wildlife Rescue Centre twice. Now I’m setting myself a goal to visit all of the European zoos who have sun bears within their collections. And that has brought me to this forum. So far I’ve done: Chester Edinburgh Belfast Colchester Madrid Rhenen Arnhem Berlin Münster Cologne My next plan is Basel, followed by a Czech tour to tick the five zoos with sun bears over there off my list in one trip. Once I’m done in Europe, I will head to USA, Asia and Australia. I particularly want to see Martin at Higashiyama Zoo (Nagoya), Ting Ting at Oakland Zoo (California) and Taki at National Zoo (Canberra). Anyway, I’m looking forward to some sunny sun bear days ahead! Hope we can share some great experiences!
I suspect I am not alone in hoping that by the time you have fulfilled your ambition you have caught the "bug" and start visiting other collections for the pure joy of visiting them
Thanks for the welcomes! I have already visited a few collections without sun bears, as the opportunity has arisen on my travels: Blackpool, Wroclaw, Bronx, Central Park, Queens, Shenzhen and Leningrad. Sun bears are for sure the first thing I look for when choosing a zoo to visit; any other species of bear is the second thing I look for. After that, I have a divserse list of other species that I really like a lot, which I would still visit a zoo for. These include king penguin, giant anteater, Indian one horned rhinoceros, any species of gibbon, sea lion, binturong, Pygmy hippopotamus. A bit of a random selection, I know. To be fair I do get excited about most animals, although as I am tight on both time and money, I have to prioritise what will bring me the most joy, which is definitely sun bears!
For a ballroom dancing competition - dancing was my whole life prior to zoos and I used to travel extensively internationally for this purpose. I used to try to tag a zoo visit on after each event so that I could fill up my free time before my return flight, hence how I ended up visiting all of the zoos without sun bears which I mentioned (other than Blackpool which is just very local to home for me). When I left dancing behind, which was all I had ever known since a very early age, it left a huge hole in my life and my love for sun bears has now managed to fill that gap quite nicely! I was in a bad way for quite a long time afterwards, and it was sun bears that really helped me to find my happiness again. Sad I know, but it’s true!
I am fascinated by Ting Ting! She is so intelligent and has such a personality. I am desperate to meet her!
