An endangered bear with a mysterious illness has been found and rescued more than two months after footage of the “alien-like” animal went viral online.
“The bear is in a good and safe place,” Nickson Robi, from the Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC), told The Dodo. “She has eaten the food and drank the water we gave. But she still is hairless and sick, and we need to find out what the sickness is.”
The “strange” animal was first spotted in late January by a group of plantation workers near the village of Sibu in Borneo. Uncertain of what she was, the workers reportedly hit her with sticks, driving her back into the forest.
A video showing the animal fleeing her attackers has been viewed online nearly 6 million times.
Despite wild speculation on Malaysian social media that the animal was otherworldly in origin, authorities believed her to be a sun bear suffering from an illness. The species is protected in Borneo, Robi said, “so we needed to do something, to rescue and give her medical attention.”
Since January, a team from SFC had been scouring the area for any sign of the bear, but it was only on Wednesday that she was finally discovered on another plantation nearby, reports the Borneo Post.
The ailing bear is said to be frightened and aggressive, which isn’t a surprise after all she’s been through.
Now she’s getting the help she needs.
“I just took the bear to our wildlife center here,” Robi said. “A veterinarian there will check up on everything to find what medication should be given to the bear. We are hoping that the bear will recover quickly, so we can put her back to the wild.”
