A note from Borneo
October 15th, 2007
Well, here we are in Borneo - 3 weeks into our BEARTREK film shoot. This place is amazing. Right now I'm using my Blackberry phone to blog directly from the field. Its 620am here and we're on the river tracking bears, proboscis monkeys, orangs and elephants in cell range! In front of us are two bearded pigs - strange looking creatures that dwell in this damp tropocal rainforest. Overhead proboscis monkeys are jumping through the treetops anda along the river bank crocodiles and huge monitor lizards dart away. All these creatures are helping us to film this most complex of bear ecosystems. Which brings us to the star of the show - Chura - a 10 month old sun bear cub that is preparing for a life in the wild thanks to the work of my friend and colleague Siew Te Wong. She's the first of several orphan candidates that Wong is working with. We had an incredible time following her through the rainforests as she discovered new smells and sounds for the first time since her mother was killed and Chura taken captive by the poachers. It brought tears to my eyes watching her play in the forest - climbing vines and digging termites just like a wild bear would!

Another amazing experience has been following Borneo elephants with tracker Bert Joseph - his incredible skills brought us to within 20 feet of 87 elephants! A huge herd that was absolute magic to witness.

More soon.
Chris Morgan