The photos show 3 different sun bears which came to feed on a single crop of fallen Ficus dubia figs.
The camera trap photos above were taken by WONG Siew Te during his study of Sun Bear ecology at based at the Danum Valley Field Center in 2000.
Wong et al (2002) Food habits of Malayan Sun bears in lowland forests of Borneo
Sun Bears can and do climb fruiting fig trees to feed on ripening figs but obviously it is much quicker, easier and less dangerous to feed on the fallen figs.
See: Ficus minahassae and Sun Bear dispersal
This particular Ficus dubia strangler was hosted by a very large dipterocarp. Two large drop down roots of Ficus dubia can be seen on the right hand side of the very wide dipterocarp trunk. Note that although Ficus dubia is a member of the fig stranglers (Section Conosycea) it does not usually “strangle” the host tree but relies on the host tree for structural support throughout the life of the host tree. However providing the host tree lives long enough the fig may have the enough time for one of the drop down roots to develop enough width to provide structural support as seen here on Gaya Island.
Ficus dubia is a Sundaland specialist confined to virgin primary forest in Borneo, Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula. The very large orange spotted figs can only be swallowed whole by birds with very large gapes such as hornbills and large green pigeons.
