Sun bears are the smallest bear species and face dual threats from bile farming in Southeast Asia and deforestation of their Bornean and Sumatran forest habitat, making them one of the most welfare-compromised wild bear species globally.
The welfare of bile-farmed sun bears is among the most severe documented in any farmed animal context. Permanent confinement in cages preventing normal posture, chronic pain from bile extraction procedures, untreated infections from catheter wounds and social isolation from a species that shows some social tolerance in the wild create conditions of prolonged severe suffering. Wild bears captured for farms experience the acute trauma of capture and transportation. Deforestation affects wild bears by reducing food availability — sun bears are dietary generalists but require large areas of diverse forest for year-round nutrition — and increasing exposure to human contact and hunting pressure.