Saving Sorya: Chang and the Sun Bear

THIS IS THE RAINFOREST, ON A MORNING WITHOUT RAIN. IT IS FULL OF WILD PLANTS AND ANIMALS. MY NAME IS CHANG AND I’M A WILDLIFE CONSERVATIONIST. THIS IS SORYA, A LOVELY LITTLE SUN BEAR. SHE WAS CAPTURED AND SENT TO A BEAR BILE FARM WHEN SHE WAS A BABY. MY JOB IS TO BRING HER BACK TO THE FOREST AND TEACH HER HOW TO LIVE ON HER OWN. THIS IS CAT TIEN NATIONAL PARK IN VIETNAM. IT’S HOT DAMP AND FULL OF BEAUTIFUL WILD ANIMALS. IT IS ALSO HOME TO VICIOUS MOSQUITOES. THEY CAN CAUSE A DEADLY DISEASE CALLED MALARIA. BUT LEECHES ARE EVEN WORSE. THEY ARE BLOOD-SUCKERS. LEECHES CRAWL…EVERY WHERE! My natural insect repellent Scares the mosquitoes and leeches off. Organic lime and lemongrass. I ALSO USE A STICK TO FLICK THE LEECHES AWAY. The sun is shining, a day without mosquitoes.

Sorya has learned to find honey all by herself!-Chang

A WONDERFUL MORNING! I’VE WANTED TO BECOME A CONSERVATIONIST SINCE I WAS EIGHT YEARS OLD. IT ALL BEGAN WHEN I WAS WALKING BACK FROM SCHOOL WITH A FRIEND…WE HEARD A TERRIBLE NOISE COMING FROM INSIDE A HOUSE.

WE CREPT CLOSER. TO OUR SURPRISE, WE COULD HEAR VOICES.WE PEERED INSIDE AND SAW SOMETHING AWFUL. A BIG BLACK BEAR WAS LYING ON ITS BACK WITH PEOPLE ALL AROUND IT. THE TERRIBLE SOUND WE HAD HEARD EARLIER WAS THE BEAR CRYING.

A MAN WAS STANDING ABOVE IT HOLDING A GIANT NEEDLE.WE WERE SO FRIGHTENED WE RAN AWAY. I DIDN’T KNOW IT THEN, BUT MY FRIEND AND I HAD DISCOVERED A BEAR FARM.

THEY WERE TRYING TO REMOVE A FLUID FROM THE BEAR’S BODY, CALLED BILE.

BEAR BILE HAS BEEN USED IN MEDICINE FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS.

BUT NOW WE HAVE MEDICINE THAT DOESN’T USE IT, AND DOESN’T HURT BEARS. THAT NIGHT I MADE A PROMISE TO MYSELF. I WOULD NOT LET HUMANS ABUSE BEARS, OR ANY OTHER WILD ANIMALS, IF I COULD STOP THEM. SO, THE VERY NEXT DAY, I DECIDED TO BECOME A WILDLIFE CONSERVATIONIST.

I HAD HEARD ABOUT WILDLIFE CONSERVATIONISTS ON TV. THEY ARE PEOPLE WHO PROTECT NATURE ALL OVER THE WORLD- IN DESERTS, NEAR OCEANS, AND EVEN INSIDE CAVES.

THAT’S WHEN I REALIZED: I COULD PROTECT THE RAINFOREST NEAR MY HOME.

NOTHING’S GOING TO STOP ME!

WELL, THERE WAS ONE THING STOPPING ME… ALL THE BOOKS I FOUND ABOUT CONSERVATION WERE IN ENGLISH!

PEOPLE ALSO HAD A LOT TO SAY ABOUT MY PLAN…

“HA HA HA, SUCH A KID DREAM.”

“HOW CAN A GIRL LIKE YOU WORK IN THE FOREST?”

“YOU CAN’T EVEN TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF; HOW CAN YOU PROTECT WILD ANIMALS?”

“PEOPLE DON’T DO THAT IN VIỆTNAM”

AND MY GENDER…

“GIRLS ARE SO WEAK! THERE IS NO WAY YOU CAN PROTECT WILD ANIMALS.”

“THANK YOU, BUT YOU ARE SO SMALL”

AND EVEN MY AGE. NO ONE WOULD HIRE ME.

BUT I DID NOT GIVE UP!

I’D PROMISED MYSELF THAT I WOULD BECOME A WILDLIFE CONSERVATIONIST.I TRIED TO IMPROVE MY ENGLISH SO I COULD READ NEWS ABOUT WILD ANIMALS.

I WATCHED WILDLIFE DOCUMENTARIES ON TV EVERY NIGHT.I SPOKE WITH CONSERVATIONISTS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES. THEY HAD LOTS OF INFORMATION TO SHARE WITH ME.

I INTRODUCED THEM TO THE TOUCH-ME-NOT PLANT, BUT THEY TRIED TO TOUCH IT! I EXERCISED EVERY DAY AND ATE HEALTHY FOOD, SO I’D BE STRONG NO MATTER WHERE I WAS WORKING IN THE WORLD. I ALSO LOVED DRAWING, SO I MADE A FIELD NOTEBOOK FOR MYSELF. BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, I DIDN’T STOP SENDING VOLUNTEER APPLICATIONS. EACH YEAR I APPLIED…AGAIN, AND AGAIN…YEAR AFTER YEAR…UNTIL I WAS ACCEPTED!

IT WAS AMAZING WORKING AS AN ANIMAL-RESCUE VOLUNTEER IN CAT TIEN NATIONAL PARK. I MADE FRIENDS WITH ANIMAL LOVERS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD AND LEARNED A LOT ABOUT CONSERVATION.

TOGETHER WE PREPARED FOOD FOR ALL THE CREATURES LIVING THERE. THEY WERE OFTEN SICK AND INJURED.

THE ANIMALS WERE RESCUED FROM POACHERS –PEOPLE WHO CAPTURE AND HURT WILD ANIMALS BEFORE THEY SELL THEM. WE CLEANED UP BEAR POOP AND MADE HAMMOCKS FOR THE BEARS TO USE.

WE ALSO HELPED PANGOLINS- ONE OF THE MOST ENDANGERED ANIMALS IN THE WORLD. I ALSO WORKED AT A BEAR RESCUE CENTER.

MY FAVORITE JOB WAS TO HIDE THE BEARS’ FOOD AND LET THEM SEARCH FOR IT THEMSELVES. BEARS EAT FRUIT AND POOP OUT THE SEEDS, “PLANTING” THEIR FOOD ALL OVER.

BEARS EAT WHAT THEY PLANT AND THEY PLANT WHAT THEY EAT. SICK AND INJURED BEARS WERE RESCUED AND BROUGHT IN TO BE NURSED BACK TO HEALTH.

THEY WERE THEN RELEASED BACK INTO THE WILDBEARS SHOULD BE WILD AND FREE…IN THE FOREST. BUT I NEVER FORGOT THE BEAR I SAW ON THE FLOOR OF THAT BILE FARM. SO I VOLUNTEERED AT FREE THE BEARS–AN ORGANIZATION THAT RESCUED BEARS FROM BILE FARMS ALL OVER SOUTHEAST ASIA.

THE POOR BEARS WERE FINALLY FREE FROM THEIR TERRIBLE, TINY CAGES. BUT THE BEST SURPRISE WAS FINDING MISA THERE…THE BEAR I’D MADE A PROMISE TO ALL THOSE YEARS AGO, AND THE REASON I BECAME A CONSERVATIONIST. SHE WAS SAFE AND SOUND!