Best of our wild blogs: 11 Aug 08

Thoughts on Reef Celebrations
comments in the Celebrations Guestbook on the singapore celebrates our reefs blog

IYOR Singapore launch: Welcome address by Francis Lee
on the singapore celebrates our reefs blog

Reefer madness
more reefy stuff on the budak blog

Spotted Dove on a pot of mint: Final saga
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog

Soft Launch of the Butterfly Lodge @ Oh's Farm
on the Butterflies of Singapore blog

Read more!

Rare ant-eater killed along Jalan Bahar

Jane Ng, Straits Times 11 Aug 08;

A PANGOLIN or scaly ant-eater has been found killed along Jalan Bahar in Jurong West.

Head of Nature Trekker Singapore, Mr Ben Lee, 46, found the endangered animal on Saturday while travelling along the quiet stretch of road.

There are about 50 such pangolins left in Singapore, with three being studied at the Singapore Zoo.

The nocturnal animal lives in burrows and is usually solitary in nature, foraging on forest floor looking for ants. It is also able to climb trees.

According to Mr Lee, who has been studying the natural history of Singapore fauna for the past 30 years, this species is rare and usually not seen by people except when it is killed on the road like in this case.

He believes the forested area along Jalan Bahar has some of Singapore's most precious remnants of wildlife, including the leopard cat, mouse deer and civet cat.

He said a leopard cat was also killed along the same stretch of road at Jalan Bahar a few months ago.

Rare scaly anteater a victim of road accident
Straits Times 11 Aug 08;

A pangolin or scaly anteater has been found dead along Jalan Bahar in Jurong West.

The head of Nature Trekker Singapore, Mr Ben Lee, 46, found the animal - part of an endangered species - on Saturdaywhile travelling along the quiet stretch of road.

There are about 50 such pangolins left in Singapore, with three being studied at the Singapore Zoo. The nocturnal animal lives in burrows and is usually solitary in nature, foraging for ants on the forest floor. It is able to climb trees.

Mr Lee believes the forested area along Jalan Bahar has some of Singapore's most precious remnants of wildlife, including the leopard cat, mouse deer and civet cat. He said a leopard cat had also been found killed along the same stretch of road a few months ago.

NATURE TREKKER SINGAPORE

Related articles

Pangolins in Singapore

Our Pangolin on the Wildlife Singapore website

Norman Lim's study of our Pangolins on the Department of Biological Sciences NUS website.

Pangolin at Bukit Panjang Straits Times 30 Jan 08;

Pulau Ubin: Illegal animal traps getting bigger Tracy Sua, Straits Times 8 Jan 08;

Tekong's treasures Chang Ai-Lien The Straits Times 25 Apr 05

Pangolins in general

Huge Pangolin haul shows crackdown is working
WWF website 5 Aug 08;

Call for regional effort to save pangolins
Shobana Kesava, Straits Times 3 Jul 08;

Tons of pangolins seized in a week WWF 21 Mar 08;

Thailand saves pangolins bound for China restaurants Yahoo News 10 Nov 07;

Read more!

Ideas abound to encourage spectators to keep parade ground litter-free

Lynda Hong, Channel NewsAsia 10 Aug 08;

SINGAPORE: As environmental issues continue to occupy the global spotlight, this year's National Day Parade at Marina Bay also took on a greener theme.

Organisers reprised their lucky-draw idea from last year, giving out numbered garbage bags in each parade goodie bag. This encouraged revellers to toss their trash at the collection points for a chance to win prizes if their bags were picked.

Other novel ideas to promote recycling included unusual art installations where spectators could deposit their plastic bottles and aluminium drink cans. Some 300 plastic bottles were collected this way.

Still, cleaners had to comb through the spectator stands for the remaining trash that were left behind.

Over at the nearby Padang where thousands had gathered to watch the fireworks, volunteers from the "Dunk it@NDP" were on hand to help the cleaners.

The volunteer group, which started this green initiative in 2006, said people have become more responsible.

Ng Zhi Kai, co-chairperson of Dunk it@NDP, said: "(In 2006) when we started, (we saw) people litter all over the Padang.....and there were comments like "walking on litter" on Padang. We have achieved a new milestone and we are actually moving towards recycling already. The people are now more environmentally conscious.

"Although they think that littering may not be an environmental problem, I think that it is a basis for recycling... for us to promote a clean and green environment."

- CNA/ir

Clean up awareness
Letter from Sandra Lee, Today Online 15 Aug 08;

MY FAMILY and I were disturbed when we saw scenes of the clean up after the National Day Parade (NDP) on TV.

Trash bags were provided in the goodie-bags and the idea to have a lucky draw to encourage spectators to clean up is laudable. But most people were either too busy watching the parade to look through the goodie bags or were unaware of the clean up event.

The NDP hosts could have raised public awareness of the clean up campaign and the lucky draw. The motivators could also have served as “litter inspectors” and reminded spectators to dispose of their trash in the bags.

Some suggestions that could be implemented include broadcasting a short video clip about proper litter disposal, and starting a mass clean up project at the end of the show.

Ending a mass celebration with no litter at the venue would surely be another celebratory act.

Read more!

Microchipping helps AVA in management of stray dogs

Letter from AVA, Today Online 11 Aug 08;

WE REFER to “Can more be done?” and “We donate to humans but not to animals” (July 28) fromMs April Chia and Mr Calvin Teo.

The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) is already working closely with animal welfare groups in an on-going programme to promote responsible pet ownership.

In addition, AVA also gives talks on responsible pet ownership and animal welfare to schools to encourage students to become responsible pet owners and show care towards animals.

AVA has implemented microchipping to manage the stray dog population. AVA has consulted animal welfare groups, pet shops and the public before the requirement was introduced.

This measure will help AVA locate the owner/licensee of an abandoned dog. Abandonment of a dog is an offence. The penalty on conviction is a fine not exceeding $10,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both.

There is no evidence to suggest that microchipping contributes to more dogs being abandoned.

Over the years the number of stray dogs has decreased although there are still pockets of stray dogs which are loosely kept and fed by private individuals or groups.

Rabies, a disease fatal to man if bitten by a rabid dog, is endemic in this region.

AVA culls stray dogs to manage the stray population which poses a risk to transmission ofrabies should this be introduced into Singapore.

As sterilised and unsterilised dogs are susceptible to rabies, even strays which have been sterilised should be properly licensed and homed and not be returned to the environment.

We thank the writers for their feedback.

Goh Shih Yong
Assistant Director, Corporate Communications
for the Chief Executive Officer

Read more!

Thousands rally to mark 'death' of Australian river

Yahoo News 10 Aug 08;

Thousands of people rallied in southern Australia Sunday to protest the dwindling water levels in one of the country's greatest rivers, claiming the loss was causing an environmental disaster.

The 5,000-strong crowd gathered near the mouth of the 2,530 kilometre (1,569 mile) Murray to hold two minute's silence to mark the 'death' of the river, which forms part of Australia's most important agricultural region.

Kym McHugh, mayor of the local Alexandrina Council, said the ceremony near the South Australian town of Goolwa was to "underscore this eleventh hour bid to save the nation's greatest river."

"It sent a very clear message by saying we've had a lot of talk about the river system, a lot of science, we all know what the problem is -- we just want politicians to have the will to fix it up," he told national news agency AAP.

"They need to secure water upstream and send it down."

Water levels are so low in the Murray River, due to drought and irrigation, that the freshwater lakes the river feeds into are turning to acid.

The federal government last week said there was not enough water in the system to save the freshwater lakes, leading to suggestions that ocean water could be used to prevent the lakes from drying out.

But the council wants the government to release water held in storage in upstream states into the river so it can flow down and prevent an environmental, economic and social disaster in the region.

"We need to give these lakes another chance," McHugh said.

The Murray, along with the 2,740-kilometre Darling River and 1,690-kilometre Murrumbidgee River, form the Murray Darling Basin, which accounts for some 40 percent of the nation's agricultural production.

Read more!

African 'tree of life' recast as European superfruit

Stephanie van den Berg Yahoo News 10 Aug 08;

In Senegal, villagers have always known about the health benefits of baobab fruit, which only now have been discovered by Europe in what could spell magic for localities like Fandene.

The ancient, hardy species also known as the "tree of life" is scattered across the African savannah, some said to date back to the time of Christ.

Locals use nearly every part of the tree, whose processed fruit was approved for European import last month.

"You use the monkey bread fruit if you have a belly ache," said farmer Aloyse Tine, using the local name for baobab fruit. "If you're tired you eat the leaves, they are good for you."

The seeds can be pressed to extract oil used for cooking and the bark can be used to make ropes. In the past, the hollow bark was also used to bury "griots", a special West African cast of poets, musicians and sorcerers.

Farmer Tine, like others, used to lug his fruit to sell in the market in the nearby town of Thies.

Three years ago, he started selling instead to the Baobab Fruit Company, a Senegalese firm run by three Italians. It is the country's only industrialised producer of dried baobab fruit pulp, which it exports for use in cosmetics and certain dietary supplements.

The new income has already made changes. It "allows me to send my kids to school," he said.

Enter PhytoTrade Africa, a non-governmental organisation that focuses on developing fair trade and environmentally sustainable natural products.

Sensing potential, it launched in 2006 the process that would open European Union markets to this nutritious African oddity. Under EU rules, any "novel" food -- one not commonly consumed in Europe before 1997 -- requires special approval for use in the 27-member bloc.

"Approval for the baobab is fantastic news for Africa," said PhytoTrade's Cyril Lombard after the EU decision.

"Opening the European market to this product will make a real difference to poor rural communities there, offering them a potentially life-changing source of income."

One of these is Thiawe Thiawe, where 41-year-old Delphine farms some 20 baobab trees scattered outside her house.

"I've collected the fruits since I was a little girl with my grandmother," she told AFP. Like Tine, her life is a little easier since she started selling to the Baobab Fruit company rather than hawking her own goods.

"It's better to sell here than there, you don't have to wear yourself out going to Thies."

The Baobab Fruit Company says it already sees a spike in interest from Europe, where the pulp will likely be used in cereal bars and health drinks.

"Now we collect 150 to 200 tonnes of baobab fruit each harvest. In the last weeks there has been an explosion in demand," Laudana Zorzella told AFP at the factory in Thies.

"We are thinking we will need a much bigger harvest next time," she said. "In Senegal alone we estimate we could collect 13 thousand tonnes of fruit."

But what can baobab fruit, also known as monkey's bread, bring to health-conscious Europe?

According to the International Centre for Underutilized Crops at the University of Southhampton, the baobab is "a fruit of the future", rich in vitamin C, B1, B2 and calcium and chock-full of anti-oxidants.

In Senegal, its pulp is mostly used to make Bouye, a milky, tart juice made by boiling the pulp and seeds with water and sugar.

Some scientists calculate the fruit has three times as much vitamin C as oranges and has more calcium than a glass of milk.

And the tree is well adapted to arid conditions, tolerating both drought and poorly drained soil, and is fire resistant. Also known as the "upside down tree" for its bulbous trunk and spindly branches that look like roots, it can grow to be hundreds if not thousands of years old.

A study for PhytoTrade Africa conducted by the Natural Resources Institute in Britain suggested that wild harvesting of baobab fruit could generate trade of up to one billion dollars (640 million euros) a year for African producers.

Some environmentalists fear such commercial exploitation could lead to extinction of the iconic tree.

But Zorzella dismissed this, stressing that her company uses only the fruit and leaves the tree intact. "And if it becomes an important revenue the farmers will know that they have to protect the tree," she said.

In Fandene, Aloyse said this lesson has already been learned. As new baobabs sprout spontaneously, they are protected and allowed to grow.

"There are cattle herders that cut the leaves (to feed their animals) but we are starting to stop them now. That's not good because we need the trees to produce fruit," he said.

After the EU's approval, "everybody is asking for our products so they can test them," Zorzella said.

She estimated Europe's major food companies would need up to eight months for research and development before consumers there can actually get their own sip of a baobab smoothie or health bar.

Read more!