What does a leech's mouth look like? Treatment with leeches (medical leech), we understand the features of hirudotherapy

A miniature but formidable predator. Biruang is the name of the smallest bear in the world. He is also the rarest bear on the planet.

The unusual animal is also called the Malayan or sun bear. And he really is the smallest representative of the bear family. The height of the clubfoot is no more than one and a half meters, but its weight varies from 25 kilograms to 65 kilograms. However, even despite such small dimensions, the biruang is considered one of the most ferocious bears in the world, if not the most aggressive. However, this opinion exists only in Western countries. And in Asia, for example, the sun bear is called not dangerous. Moreover, the bear is tamed and sometimes kept as a pet.

The smallest bears in the world, like dogs, are quite easy to train. And only mother bears protecting their cubs pose a danger to people. It is worth avoiding angry individuals. If the beast is provoked to attack, then they are truly fearless and fight with all their might, not for life or death, trying to defeat the enemy at any cost.

The smallest bears in the world are dart frogs

Sun bears have rather large, sickle-shaped claws. The animals have huge paws with completely bare soles. It is this fact that helps biruangs to climb trees well. Of all the bears, it is the smallest bears in the world who love trees the most. Therefore, they are sometimes also called "basindo nan tenggil", which literally means "one who likes to sit high." Biruangas are predominantly nocturnal animals, so individuals can sleep the whole day or lie on convenient tree branches. At a height, they also build themselves something similar to a nest and, without leaving the “house,” feed on fruits and leaves. An interesting fact worth noting is that Malayan bears never hibernate.

Sun bears are omnivores. But, as a rule, they feed on earthworms, insects, fruits, shoots and rhizomes of various plants. A distinctive feature of the Biruang is its unusually long tongue. It reaches 20-25 centimeters. This part of the body is very sticky and thin. And she helps the bear get his favorite treat - honey from the hives. Hence another name for the smallest bear in the world – “honey bear”. By the way, the animal does not mind eating not only honey, but also bees. Sometimes biruangs also absorb birds, lizards and small mammals. The powerful jaws of the individuals help to easily bite even coconuts.

Malayan bears are found in southern China, northeast India, Thailand, Myanmar, as well as on the island of Borneo, the Indochina Peninsula and Indonesia.

Biruangs are playing

The miniature bear differs from its relatives not only in its amazingly long tongue. The biruang's fur is stiffer, shorter and smoother. And this is explained by the fact that the animal lives in a fairly warm climate. The color of the sun bear is black, and there is a large light spot on its chest. It looks like a horseshoe and is shaped like the rising sun. And from here came the name of the entire genus of small bears - “Helarctos”. The first part of the word is translated as sun, and the second – bear. All together it turns out to be a sun bear.

Biruangs live up to 25 years, but this is in captivity. But in the wild, the smallest bear in the world, its life and habits have been studied quite poorly. However, we can say with confidence that under human care these animals live much longer.

Truly a clubfoot!

Teddy bear is a phrase that everyone knows from childhood, biruang makes it true. Scientists have noted the interesting gait of the Malayan bear. All four paws turn inward when walking. But the sun bear's vision is not so good. But poor vision is compensated by an excellent sense of smell and hearing.

Enemies of the little bear

The main enemy of the sun bear has always been and remains man. Biruangs easily defeat almost any predator. They, as they said, are very strong in battle, so the neighbors in the forest prefer to give the baby a wide berth. But sometimes conflicts with leopards and tigers still occur. The largest predators try to grab their opponent by the throat. But bears can avoid such an attack, because they have very loose skin on their necks, which allows the biruang to “slip out” from the mouth of a leopard or tiger and strike back with a crushing blow.

But leaving a person is not so easy. Humans have already caused almost irreparable damage to the population of the world's smallest bears. Even five thousand years ago, Chinese people used bear bile for medicinal purposes - to treat bacterial infections. Now the situation has not changed. But on the island of Borneo, animal fur is used to sew hats. Trophy hunting for the Malayan bear is also popular among people. Farmers shoot the animal for the simple reason that the clubfoot is capable of causing damage to coconut and banana plantations. It is for these reasons that biruangs are now the rarest species of bear. They are listed in the International Red Book. However, the number of Malayan bears is only decreasing every year.

Touching predator

One way or another, Malayan bears can be called shy and timid. They usually prefer to avoid a person, not show themselves to him, and generally stay away from him. But in Asia, a tamed biruang is not a rare sight. The animal can calmly walk around the owner’s house without supervision and play with interest with the children. By the way, Malayan bears are very smart. There is a story about a certain bear who once surprised his owners. The animal did not eat the rice offered to him, but scattered it on the ground, sat down next to him and began to wait for something. A little later, the birds came to dine on rice, and the cunning Biruang dined on the birds.

Curiously, the mating season of the biruang is not limited to one season. Mating of the smallest bears in the world can occur throughout the year. After a 95-day pregnancy, the female gives birth to 1-2 cubs, sometimes three. Blind, naked and helpless newborns weigh approximately 300 grams. They are under the protection of their mother for up to 2.5 years.
Subscribe to our channel in Yandex.Zen

Malayan bear recognized in his homeland as an alien, although only one individual. In 2016, residents of one of the villages near Brunei beat a clubfoot with sticks, mistaking him for an alien.

He was emaciated and had no fur. Against this background, the animal’s claws seemed even larger. Having knocked the bear unconscious, the Malays called the news people. They brought with them a zoologist, who identified the “alien.”

Malayan bear

The veterinary clinic found out that the cause of the animal’s baldness was a tick infection coupled with a mild form of anemia and a skin infection. cured and released into their natural habitat. Now the beast looks classic.

Description and features of the Malayan bear

In Latin the species is called helarcos. Translation: “sun bear”. The reason for the name is the golden spot on the animal’s chest. The mark resembles the rising Sun. The muzzle of the Malayan bear is also painted golden beige. The rest of the body is almost black. Among other Malayan bears there are:

1. Miniature. The height of the animal at the withers does not exceed 70 centimeters. The length of the beast reaches one and a half meters. That's why in the photo there is a Malayan bear looks elongated, slightly awkward. The animal weighs a maximum of 65 kilograms.
2. Sticky and long tongue. The animal uses it to obtain honey and penetrate termite mounds, feasting on their inhabitants.
3. Sharper and larger fangs than other bears. With them, the clubfoot literally eats into the bark, removing insects from under it.
4. Small and blind eyes of blue color. The lack of vision is compensated by hearing and smell. However, not seeing approaching objects, the animal often attacks them, noticing them as they approach. This is associated with an aggressive disposition. Malayan bear. Weight the animal is small, but the animal can cause significant damage.
5. Round small ears. They are set wide apart. The length of the auricle does not exceed 6 centimeters, and is usually limited to four.
6. Wide, short muzzle.
7. Long, curved and sharp claws. This makes it easier to grab onto trunks when climbing them.
8. Skin folds on the neck. This is a defense mechanism against tigers and leopards encroaching on bears. They are used to grabbing victims by the neck. Cats cannot bite through the skin of the Malayan bear. In addition, the coverings on the clubfoot’s neck stretch. This allows the bear to turn its head and bite the offender in response.
9. The front paws are the most crooked among bears. This is an adaptation to climbing trees.
10. Short hair. The animal does not need to grow a fur coat in tropical conditions.
11. Maximum degree of cephalization. This is the name given to the separation of the head and the inclusion in it of segments that are found in the body in other animals. In other words, the Malayan clubfoot has the most developed head section. This makes the animal stand out not only among bears, but also among terrestrial predators in general.

In the homeland of the beast they call it biruang. The name is translated as “-dog”. Associations with the small size of the animal played a role. It is comparable in size to a large dog. This also allows the Malays to keep biruangs in their yards as guards. Like dogs, bears are kept on chains.

Lifestyle and habitat

Live what does a Malayan bear look like? can be seen on the island of Borneo. It is geographically divided by India, Indonesia and Thailand. The main population is concentrated here. There are fewer bears in Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, and the island of Sumatra. One animal once wandered into the south of China, into the Yunnan province. Distinctive features of the Malayan bears' lifestyle are:

• tendency to spend most of the time in trees
• solitary lifestyle with the exception of female bears with their offspring, who stay together
• lack of mating season boundaries, which is associated with a warm climate
• nocturnal, during the day the animal dozes in the branches of trees
• no hibernation period
• tendency to build large nests of leaves and branches in trees
• love of tropical and subtropical areas

Falling into captivity malayan bear or biruang easy to train. This has a lot to do with the animal's developed brain.

Malayan bear sleeping

Types of Malayan bear

Malayan bears are divided into subspecies conditionally. There are 2 classifications. The first is based on the size of the clubfoot:

1. Mainland individuals are larger.
2. Island Malayan bears are the smallest.

The second classification is related to the color of animals:

1. There is a light spot on the chest. Such individuals predominate.
2. There are bears without a sun mark. These are the exception to the rule. On the entire island of Borneo, for example, only one clubfoot without a spot was found. This one was found in Eastern Sabah.

There is also a division based on the cheek teeth. They are larger in continental individuals. Therefore, the classifications seem to merge.

The Malayan bear has a very long tongue

Animal nutrition

Like most bears, the Malayan is omnivorous. The animal's daily diet includes:

• termites;
• ants;
• wild bees and their larvae;
• palm sprouts;
• lizards;
• small birds;
• small mammals;
• bananas.

They eat Malayan clubfoot and other fruits of the tropics, but most of all they love honey. Therefore, representatives of the species are also called honey bears.

Malayan bear cubs

Reproduction and lifespan

Before mating, the male courts the female for 2 weeks. Only then does the female condescend to make contact. Several days pass between it and the onset of pregnancy. The female bear bears her offspring for another 200 days, giving birth to 1-3 offspring. They:

• blind
• weigh maximum 300 grams
• not completely covered with fur

There, Where does the Malayan bear live?, he becomes sexually mature by 3-5 years. The animal spends two of them with its mother. The cubs feed on its milk until they are 4 months old. For two months the mother actively licks her offspring. Tongue pressure stimulates the cubs' urinary and digestive functions.

Malayan bear female and cub

2-3 months after birth, the cubs are already able to run, go hunting with their mother, learning from her the wild life. If kept in captivity, the Malayan can live up to 25 years. In the natural environment, clubfooted species rarely surpass the 18-year mark.

The Malayan bear is listed in the International Red Book. The population of the species is rapidly declining, in particular due to hunting. The local population considers the bile and liver of the beast to be healing elixirs for all diseases. In addition, the clubfoot’s natural habitat, that is, tropical forests, is being destroyed.

Name: Malayan bear, biruang, honey bear, sun bear. Due to its small size, the local population calls it “Bear-Dog”.

Etymology of the generic name: hela(from Greek - sun) so named because the pectoral whitish or orange spot on the chest resembles a sunrise; arcto(from Greek - bear), therefore Helarctos sometimes translated as sun bear.

Area: Biruang is found in Borneo, Java, Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula and ranges north through Tenasserim to Burma and through Arakan to Chittagong. The species once inhabited the southern part of Yunnan Province of China, where the last adult female was captured in 1972. In the mountains the view rises up to 2,500 - 2,800 m.

Description: The Malayan bear is the smallest and most aggressive of the bears. This is an animal with a rather long but awkward body, a thick head, a wide muzzle and small ears, very small blind eyes and short water-repellent fur.
The paws of Malayan bears are strong, the soles are bare, and the claws are long, sharp and curved. A distinctive feature of the Malayan bear is its elongated and very mobile muzzle, which, together with its long tongue, is perfectly adapted for catching termites. The unusually long (for a bear) tongue is likely an adaptation for extracting honey and insects.
They have the largest fangs of all bear species. The carnassial teeth are adapted for tearing meat, but since Malayan bears are not particularly carnivorous, they may use their sharp fangs as weapons or as wood-crunching tools to get at the insects they desire. The Malayan bear has 74 chromosomes (diploid set).

Color: Short but thick, shiny fur of black tar color, with the exception of grayish-yellow or orange sides of the muzzle and a horseshoe-shaped (less often round) patch on the chest. It is speculated that the colored patch on the chest may be used to intimidate competitors by adopting a bipedal threat posture. Sometimes the legs are light.

Size: Body length ranges from 120 to 150 cm. Males are 10-15% larger than females. The height at the nape is 70 cm, the tail is short - 3-7 cm. The ears are small - 40-60 mm and round. Hind legs 180-210 mm. The longest skull length is 232 mm.

Weight: From 27 to 50 kg for females and up to 65 kg for males.

Lifespan: In captivity, the life expectancy of the Malayan bear is much longer than in nature, reaching 24 years.

Habitat: Biruang inhabits montane and lowland tropical and subtropical forests, but can also be found in more mountainous areas and swampy undergrowth.

Enemies: The main enemies are tigers and leopards. To protect itself from predators, the bear has a special adaptation: very loose skin around its neck. If grabbed, the bear can easily turn around and bite an unsuspecting predator with its strong fangs.

Food: Bears are omnivores. Their diet includes fruits, earthworms, wild bees, termites and other insects, lizards, small mammals and birds. It sometimes damages coconut trees (by eating their tender shoots), bananas and cocoa plantations. When it feeds on leaves and fruits, it breaks branches in the same way as a Himalayan bear does. Strong jaws and teeth help this bear even open coconuts!
Biruang, with the help of strong paws and extremely long (up to 15 cm!) claws, easily destroys durable termite mounds and bee hives, getting to honey and bee larvae. Its long, sticky tongue makes it easy to extract termites from nests, insects from trees, and honey from bee hives.
At the San Diego Zoo, Malayan bears are fed and eaten all kinds of fruits, vegetables, bones to chew on twice a week, as well as mealworms, crickets, and even peanut butter!

Behavior: Malayan bears are the most arboreal species of all bears. Thanks to long sickle-shaped claws on all four paws, they perfectly climb any trees, leaving characteristic claw marks on the bark of tree trunks. Bears are largely nocturnal creatures.
In the Malay language bears are called "basindo nan tenggil", which means "one who likes to sit high." Indeed, Malayan bears are arboreal animals and spend a significant amount of time in trees to feed and avoid predators. Here, on trees, at a height of 2-7 m, they often build decks or nests, breaking or bending tree branches in which they sleep, rest, and sunbathe. There is no shortage of food in the Malayan bear's habitat, so there is no need to cover long distances in search of food.
Malayan bears have an interesting gait - when walking, all four paws turn inward.
His life in freedom has been little studied. It has a reputation for being an aggressive animal and will attack without provocation. There were times when he, if forced, attacked people and killed them. In general, on the mainland it is not considered dangerous, and only mothers taken by surprise who think that their cubs are in danger dare to undertake such attacks on people.
In general, Malayan bears are harmless and timid unless disturbed, and even females with pups will try to avoid humans as long as possible.
This bear does not hibernate, probably due to the fact that they live in tropical areas and their food sources are present throughout the year.
In their homeland, the biruang is often kept in captivity as a funny and kind animal; even children are allowed to play with it and the animal is allowed to run freely around the yard without supervision. One bear demonstrated its intelligence in captivity: having received rice for food, it did not eat it, but scattered it on the ground at the entrance to its lair, and then caught the birds that had flown in to eat it.
Of the sense organs, smell and hearing are the most developed, and their vision is weak.

Social structure: Malayan bears lead a solitary lifestyle, with the exception of mothers with puppies and mating season.

Reproduction: Biruang is a monogamous species. The mating season (when the female is ready to mate) lasts from two days to a week, during which the mating pair is recorded. In this case, the male and female engage in characteristic ritual behavior, such as hugging, fake (play) wrestling and jumping.

Breeding season/period: Mating is observed at all times of the year, indicating the absence of a regular mating season.
At the Berlin Zoo, the Biruang gave birth twice a year, first in April and then in August, but this is rare.

Puberty: Between 3 and 5 years of age.

Pregnancy: The gestation period lasts approximately 95 days, but there is evidence of delayed implantation of the fertilized egg. Thus, at the Fort Worth Zoo, three pregnancies of bears of this species lasted 174, 228, and 240 days.

Offspring: The female usually brings 1-2, and sometimes 3 cubs, which are born in some secluded place on the ground, in a specially prepared nest. Babies are born blind, naked and helpless, weighing about 300 grams.
The survival of newly born cubs depends entirely on their mother. Puppies require external stimulation of their excretory systems for normal urination and bowel cleansing during the first 2 months. In nature, this stimulation is provided by the female through licking, but in captivity, puppies must be washed several times a day to stimulate excretion.
Puppies develop quickly, and within two or three months they can already run, play and feed with their mother, but continue to feed on mother's milk until they are 4 months old. The babies' skin is grey-black with a dirty white U-shaped mark on the chest and a whitish or pale brown muzzle. Their eyes begin to open by 25 days of age, but they develop full vision only by 50 days. By this time they begin to hear. Primary canines appear at 7 months, and a full set of adult teeth is acquired at 18 months.
From their mother, young puppies must learn what is suitable to eat, where to find food and how to get it. Cubs usually stay with their mother for 1.5-2.5 years.

Benefit/harm for humans: People hunt the Malayan bear for sport and for sale.
The use of bear body parts in medicine probably began in China around 3500 BC, and the first evidence of a bear gall bladder prescription dates back to the 7th century AD. Bear bile is used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to treat inflammation and bacterial infections. It is a popular belief that the gall bladders of bears can increase sexual potency in men and women. Bear bile is considered an important medicine in the treatment of serious, painful and sometimes fatal ailments.
On the island of Borneo, the Dayaks sew hats from Malayan bear fur. In certain regions, bears play an important role in dispersing the seeds of certain plants (one sample of these bears' scat was found to contain 309 viable seeds of certain plant species).
Bears can sometimes cause damage to coconut and banana crops.

Population/Conservation Status: The biruang species is listed in the International Red Book as one of the rarest bears. The exact number of individuals found in nature is not known, but there is evidence that their numbers are decreasing every year. Habitat destruction forces these bears to live in smaller and more isolated areas. Poachers hunt biruangs to sell their internal organs, although all international trade is prohibited.

Copyright holder: Zooclub portal
When reprinting this article, an active link to the source is MANDATORY, otherwise, use of the article will be considered a violation of the Law on Copyright and Related Rights.

Biruang, Malayan bear, Sun bear or “Bear-Dog” are all names of the same bear, which refers to family of bears and is a distant relative of the Giant Pandas. The Malayan bear is the smallest of the bear family. Its weight varies between 27-65 kg.

Helarctos is the name of a bear, sometimes translated as sun bear, because... the first part of the name Hela (from Greek - sun) is given to Biruang because the pectoral whitish or orange patch on his chest resembles the sunrise; arcto (from Greek - bear).

Biruang is distributed from northeast India and southern China through Myanmar, Thailand, Indochina and Malacca to the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan. It lives in tropical and subtropical forests of the foothills and mountains of Southeast Asia. It is well adapted to climbing trees and, being a nocturnal animal, often sleeps or sunbathes all day long in the branches of trees, where it builds a kind of nest for itself. Here he feeds on leaves and fruits, breaking branches as a Himalayan bear does.

Let's explore it a little more...

Photo 1.

This is an animal with a rather long but awkward body, a thick head, a wide muzzle and small ears, very small blind eyes and short water-repellent fur.

The paws of Malayan bears are strong, the soles are bare, and the claws are long, sharp and curved.

A distinctive feature of the Malayan bear is its elongated and very mobile muzzle, which, together with its long tongue, is perfectly adapted for catching termites.

Photo 2.

Biruanga males are slightly larger than females, but they do not even reach half the mass of adult bears.

The color of the Biruang is black, but there is a striking feature. This is the bright yellow color of the bear's neck. The “sunny” bear, as Biruangs are also called, received this name precisely because of the yellow circle on its neck.

It's like a sun mark for a bear. Biruang is found in Borneo, Java, Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula and ranges north through Tenasserim to Burma and through Arakan to Chittagong.

Biruangi feed on termites, bird eggs, insects, as well as plant roots and honey.

Photo 4.

The biruang is a nocturnal animal and during the daytime it mostly sleeps and also sunbathes in the foliage of trees. By the way, Biruangs make excellent nests.

In Malay, bears are called “basindo nan tenggil”, which means “one who likes to sit high”.

Yes, you heard right, they really do build nests. And they feel great in trees. Biruangs also feed on carrion; they do not at all disdain the leftover food of other predators.

The main enemies are tigers and leopards. To protect itself from predators, the bear has a special adaptation: very loose skin around its neck. If grabbed, the bear can easily turn around and bite an unsuspecting predator with its strong fangs.

Photo 5.

The Biruang has a reputation for being aggressive and will attack without provocation. There were times when he, if forced, attacked people and killed them. In general, on the mainland it is not considered dangerous, and only mothers taken by surprise who think that their cubs are in danger dare to undertake such attacks on people.

In general, Malayan bears are harmless and timid unless disturbed, and even females with pups will try to avoid humans as long as possible.

This bear does not hibernate, probably due to the fact that they live in tropical areas and their food sources are present throughout the year.

Photo 6.

Biruang is a monogamous species. The mating season of the Biruang (when the female is ready to mate) lasts from two days to a week, during which the mating pair is registered. In this case, the male and female engage in characteristic ritual behavior, such as hugging, fake (play) wrestling and jumping.

The female usually brings 1-2, and sometimes 3 cubs, which are born in some secluded place on the ground, in a specially prepared nest. Babies are born blind, naked and helpless, weighing about 300 grams.

Biruangs are one of the rarest species of bears. This species is listed in the International Red Book with the status of “endangered species”.

Photo 7.

It is also included in Appendix 1 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Their exact number is unknown.

Biruangs are often kept in captivity; they tolerate zoos and even private property very well. The pregnancy of the Biruang female lasts 95 days, and then a calf is born, which weighs only 300 gm.

Photo 8.

Biruangs are active both day and night and are excellent climbers. During the day they like to sunbathe, settling among tree branches at a height of 2 to 7 meters. This species of bear does not have a hibernation period, probably due to the fact that it lives in tropical areas and food sources exist year-round. Biruang is a very adaptable animal, an omnivore. Bees, termites and earthworms form the main part of its diet. It also feeds on the fruits of various trees. There is no shortage of food in its habitat, so there is usually no need to travel long distances in search of food. Sun bears have a long and sticky tongue, which makes it easy to extract insects from trees, termites from nests, and honey from bee hives. Given the opportunity, the biruang may eat small rodents, birds and lizards.

In addition, biruangs eat small rodents, birds and lizards, as well as carrion left over from tigers' meals. In densely populated areas, it can rummage through garbage, attack livestock and destroy plantations (bananas, coconut palms). Powerful jaws allow it to crack coconuts.

Photo 9.

The sun bear is one of the rarest bears. The exact number of individuals found in nature is not known, but there is evidence that their numbers are decreasing every year. Habitat destruction forces these bears to live in smaller and more isolated areas. Not much has been done to preserve this species, mainly because it is poorly studied. Poachers hunt biruangs to sell their internal organs, although they have no medicinal value.

One bear of this species demonstrated its intelligence in captivity. Having received rice for food, he did not eat it, but scattered it on the ground at the entrance to his lair, and then caught the birds that had flown in to feast on it. In captivity, the life expectancy of a sun bear is much longer than in nature, reaching up to 24 years.

Photo 10.

People hunt the Malayan bear for sport and for sale.

The use of bear body parts in medicine probably began in China around 3500 BC, and the first evidence of a bear gall bladder prescription dates back to the 7th century AD. Bear bile is used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to treat inflammation and bacterial infections. It is a popular belief that the gall bladders of bears can increase sexual potency in men and women. Bear bile is considered an important medicine in the treatment of serious, painful and sometimes fatal ailments.

On the island of Borneo, the Dayaks sew hats from Malayan bear fur. In certain regions, bears play an important role in dispersing the seeds of certain plants (one sample of these bears' scat was found to contain 309 viable seeds of certain plant species).

Bears can sometimes cause damage to coconut and banana crops.

Photo 11.

For some reason, the sun bear is called the most primitive among its relatives. Most likely due to poor knowledge of his abilities. Meanwhile, there is a lot of evidence of the beast’s intelligence. For example, when in one of the zoos a biruang was given a bowl of rice as a “ration,” the crafty slave poured its contents onto the floor and, waiting for the birds to fly in “for free” to peck the grain, dined on a small one, i.e. meat of stupid birds. And how cleverly “honey” fights off his enemies, the main of which are tigers and leopards! They simply cannot understand that the very loose skin on the “Malay’s” neck allows him to turn his head very dashingly, and, insidiously attacking from behind, they are unexpectedly bitten by strong bear fangs.

Photo 12.

The aborigines apparently have their own relationship with these bears, incomprehensible to the uninitiated. They have long tamed them, kept them in villages for fun, and even as pets, allowing children to play with them (hard to imagine, right?). That is why the Malays call the animal “bear-dog”. And the four-legged animals easily take root, giving up their old habits and pleasures, among which one of the favorites is to bask in the sun, build a nest in a tree and lie down in it to “sunbathe.” Maybe the love for the warmth of the sun was the reason why the biruanga was called the sun bear? He, the tree clubfoot, really not only makes a “nest” for himself in the trees (or a hammock?), breaking and bending tree branches, but also spends every day in it. And when hungry, it will stretch out its paw for an edible leaf or fruit, chew it and again doze off in the sun’s rays. Sybarite!

Photo 13.

Photo 14.

Photo 15.

Photo 16.

Photo 17.

Photo 18.

Photo 19.