Locked, Hungry, And Left Alone: A Sun Bear Cub's Cries For Help Alert KL Condo Residents
The owner of the unit has been detained for keeping a protected species.
By Sadho Ram — 08 Jun 2019, 01:17 PM
Earlier this week, residents of Sentrio Suites Condominium in Desa Pandan, Kuala Lumpur, discovered that a sun bear cub was being kept locked in one of the apartment units after the poor cub was seen sticking its head out of a window and screaming for help
A less than 20-second long video of the cub roaring through the window went viral on Thursday, 6 June. The cub's roars were so loud that it shocked the condo residents.
According to a Facebook post uploaded last night, 7 June, the residents initially thought it was just a prank. "Perhaps somebody put on a costume to scare the kids. But then, one of the tenant from the lower floor took a video," read the post on Facebook.
And it wasn't just the residents, even the authorities thought that some bored people on holiday were trying to prank the bomba
A resident named Jay, who was interview by The Star Online about the incident, said that the "roaring shocked them" and prompted the residents to seek help.
"One of my neighbours called the authorities. They thought it was a prank but they arrived quickly," he was quoted as saying by the English daily today, 8 June.
The tenant of the unit, said to be a local singer, wasn't home. She had locked the cub, left him alone and had gone to her village.
According to the person who had uploaded the less than 20-second long video of the cub, the tenant was keeping the animal secretly in the condo.
"The tenant said they found this little "injured sun bear" somewhere and rescued it. I don't believe it! If you are so kind of heart how can you be so inhumane left the "injured sun bear" alone and balik kampung?" the uploader wrote on her Facebook post.
The owner of the unit was, however, responsive when approached by authorities. She rushed back from her kampung and confessed to keeping the cub.
While the woman has now been detained, no explanation was given regarding how the cub was smuggled into the apartment unit
The 27-year-old local recording artist was detained by the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) for keeping a sun bear cub, a protected animal under the law.
Perhilitan director-general Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim said the woman was detained at 8pm yesterday, 7 June, saying it was to facilitate investigations into the case under the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010, also known as Act 716, NST Online reported.
"The woman did not present any document for ownership of that bear," he said.
The cub, about six months old, is now in Perhilitan's custody
"The department's veterinarians are examining the cub for injuries or sickness," Perhilitan director-general Abdul Kadir was quoted as saying by The Star Online.
