Rantau, S Kalimantan (ANTARA) - Head of South Kalimantan Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) Mahrus Aryadi said that sun bears that were frequently seen breaking into villages in Tapin District, came from Meratus Mountains.
"Definitely the bears are from mountains. In Meratus Mountains (there are) still a lot of bears," he said when confirmed here on Monday.
The struggle for space, Mahrus said, was the reason for the migration of sun bears, or locally known as honey bears, from highlands to lowlands.
"(Because of) limited space, intimidation occured," he pointed out.
Limited space to intimidation from various factors, according to Mahrus, have caused these protected animals to starve then moved to other places.
Appearance of honey bears in Tapin, he said, was not the first. Previously, these animals were also seen in the area of coal companies.
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In the last on week, adult and cub bears were often appeared in Teluk Haur Village, which is geographically located in the lowlands or swampland in the Sub-district of Candi Laras Utara.
If a straight line is drawn from the satellite imagery, the shortest distance highland area is more that 50 kilometers from the sighting location.
That is, if Mahrus's prediction is correct, these animals had to go the long way from highlands to lowlandsby passing through mining industrial areas, settlements, city, highway, to rivers.
This media search is based on public testimony that honey bears have been around for a long time. Meanwhile, their appearance was said to be due to habitat destruction. They were starving, so they scavenged food waste in residential areas.
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