It is with much sadness that I write to inform you of the loss of one of our female Sunbears, Dewi.

Dewi touched the lives of so many people in her 16 years at Adelaide Zoo – from the array of Keepers who looked after her, to the thousands of school children who met her through our education programs, and more recently to the groups of visitors who met her through the Bears @ Breakfast tours. She was a great ambassador for her species and enthused many to take up her cause of the plight of bears in the wild.

I don’t think it is a coincidence that a large percentage of our Zoo Volunteers are also members of Free The Bears, an organisation that helps rescue and rehabilitate bears in South East Asia –  I believe that knowing and meeting Dewi has in some way contributed to that fact.

Dewi was actually one of the lucky ones. Dewi (and Akbar our male) were victims of the poaching trade. Although records are sketchy the story goes they were small enough to fit into a shoe box, confiscated by officials in the Pahang area and taken to Melaka Zoo. They then made their way to Taiping Zoo before heading to Adelaide Zoo in November 1994. A year after that they became the first inhabitants of the brand new South East Asia section.

Although she had the sweetest nature Dewi did have her share of health issues – allergies! She was allergic to many airborne particles that would see her blow up like a balloon and become very itchy. After trial and error, we were successful in controlling these outbreaks with medication.  She was also discovered to have a wheat allergy – so her diet was strictly controlled – it is amazing where wheat products can turn up!

Her last illness was relatively short. We noticed an increase of fluid around her belly, and she had just began some medication for a heart condition (which causes this fluid retention). However her condition continued to deteriorate and the heart breaking decision was made that her time had come and the most humane thing to do was euthanize. Never an easy decision to make. (Check out our Wildlife Vets & Nurses blog for more information.)

Dewi may have been small - averaging around 48kg to Akbar's 62kg – but she kept him in line – she would nab the hammock, or wait patiently while he did the hard work of opening a coconut... and then pinch some! She had the typical bears love (obsession) of food and would go to great lengths for a spoonful of peanut butter!

It was a great privilege to work with her, and I, like many others, will miss her enormously.

RIP Dewi

Mandy Smith
South East Asia Keeper.