Best of our wild blogs: 1 Jul 13

Latest Green Jobs in Singapore [24 - 30 Jun 2013]
from Green Business Times

Chek Jawa Boardwalk outing on 6 July, Saturday, is confirmed from Adventures with the Naked Hermit Crabs

Save MacRitchie Forest: 10. Plants
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Getting ready for the Festival
from wild shores of singapore

von Schrenck’s Bittern foraging
from Bird Ecology Study Group

First visit to Terumbu Hantu
from wonderful creation

Hazy woes - Bedok Jetty 25062013
from Psychedelic Nature

Garden Supple Skink
from Monday Morgue

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Amount of food waste in Singapore hits record high

Population growth, affluence behind 26% spike from 2007 to 2012: NEA
Walter Sim Straits Times 1 Jul 13;

FROM the factory right down to the dining table, more food is being dumped in Singapore.

A new record was set for food wastage last year as 703,200 tonnes were generated - a 26 per cent spike from the 558,900 tonnes produced in 2007.

This far outpaced the 15.8 per cent growth in the local population over the same period.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) said that besides population growth, a rise in tourist arrivals and increasing affluence had contributed to the problem.

Mr Jose Raymond, executive director of the Singapore Environment Council, said the "ease of accessibility to food and increased food variety" could also have worsened the wastage.

The problem has permeated every link of the supply chain. In a statement to The Straits Times, the NEA noted that food wastage "is being produced in homes, as well as food manufacturing and catering industries, foodcourts, restaurants, supermarkets and hawker centres".

But the amount of food being recycled each year remains low.

Last year, only about 12 per cent of the total output in food waste was recycled, up 1.7 per cent from the previous year. This comprised mainly clean food waste like spent grains from beer brewing and bread waste, which are converted to animal feed.

The NEA said it is studying other recycling methods, taking into account cost-effectiveness, practicality and sustainability.

Through these methods, fertilisers and biogas - which can be used to generate electricity - can be produced.

For now, restaurants said it is difficult to track food wastage, though there have been efforts to minimise the problem. At WaWaWa Bistro and Shin-Sapporo Ramen, diners who are unable to finish their meals are encouraged to pack the food to take home.

Customers at Peach Garden restaurants are also advised against over-ordering, and at its buffet outlets, excessive food waste is chargeable.

But those in the catering business said they are in a quandary. They typically provide slightly more food for customers, just in case the amount is insufficient.

"We don't want a situation where there is not enough food," said Mr T.C. Ho, assistant director of sales and marketing at Peach Garden, which also provides catering services.

Meanwhile, most supermarkets here provide discounts on perishable items to clear stock.

Dairy Farm, which owns Giant and Cold Storage, also has an ordering guide and wastage monitoring system to track stock orders and wastage at each store daily.

Similar systems need to be adopted by other food-related businesses, said Mr Raymond.

"There is no legislation that addresses this issue and most companies either do not track or do not reveal the amount of food wastage generated in their premises," he said. "At times, a lot of wastage occurs even before the product reaches the consumer."

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Singapore-funded efforts to fight haze face challenges on ground

Zubaidah Nazeer Indonesia Correspondent In Jambi (Sumatra)
Straits Times 1 Jul 13;

TWO towers that monitor the air and weather stand as reminders of the commitment made by Singapore to help Indonesia curb the forest fires that cause the haze.

But the equipment, in Jambi and nearby Muaro Jambi regency, is no longer in use, The Straits Times learnt during a visit to the area last week.

Officials here said they stopped operating the two monitoring stations after the tape used to record data ran out some time last year and was not replenished. Singapore's Government donated the equipment to Indonesia in 2009.

The comments by Mr Asrofi, an official with Jambi's Environment Ministry, spoke volumes about the challenges faced by foreign-funded projects aimed at helping to curb the haze.

He said: "The station ran out of material for recording, which is very expensive to replace. Even if we did (have the recording material), we don't want to touch it because we fear we could damage the sensitive equipment."

What then of other projects that were identified for Jambi?

Singapore's efforts to encourage farmers in Jambi to turn to fisheries - so that they would be less likely to resort to burning to clear land for cultivation - do not appear to have worked.

There had been great hopes for an "aqua-culture" project, one of many environmental programmes initiated in Jambi under a two- year, $1 million collaboration that Singapore and Indonesia signed in late 2007.

But The Straits Times was unable to find any new fish farms in Jambi that were associated with the programme.

"There was much interest in this," said a spokesman for Singapore's Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) in an e-mailed response.

"But the aqua-culture project did not manage to take off due to lack of infrastructural support for the export of the produce."

Despite such glitches, data obtained from the Forestry and Environment Ministry in Jambi shows that the province has reduced the number of hot spots here by about 70 per cent since 2006.

Activists and experts attribute the significant drop to several factors. Chief among these is that residents in Jambi now have a greater awareness of the detrimental effects that slash-and-burn methods bring to them and their surroundings.

Indeed, in Muaro Jambi alone, the number of hot spots shrank to less than 10 per cent of what was recorded in 2006 - from 1,909 hot spots in 2006 to 189 in 2011.

This made it a model in Indonesia's battle against haze, say green campaigners. The regency - one of nine in Jambi - had been the main source of much of the burnings and the resulting haze in Singapore, Malaysia and other parts of the region.

In its official collaboration with Jambi, Singapore also focused on efforts to teach farmers zero-burning practices, and train local officials to interpret satellite pictures so that they could monitor hot spots.

In 2008, Singapore Delft Water Alliance, Singapore's National Environment Agency (NEA) and Jambi University also joined hands to organise two technical workshops and seminars to train local farmers about how to better manage the peatlands.

About 40 per cent of Jambi sits on peatland, one of the most fertile soils but also the most vulnerable to burning during scorching weather as the water in it evaporates.

Mr Husni Thamrin, founder of a forest conservation NGO called Pinang Sebatang, said: "Some of these residents have formed their own small communities to be on fire alert. There is certainly more awareness across villages there."

But the activist, whose non- governmental organisation has also formed a team of volunteers who help in fire alerts across villages in Muaro Jambi, suggests that Singapore should conduct follow-ups to its programmes.

"I have not heard of more programmes since the initial phase," he said. "If this is aimed at changing mindsets, such efforts cannot stop at just workshops or short programmes. There has to be a sustained commitment of several years for there to be meaningful impact."

Asked about this, the MEWR spokesman said the ministry was awaiting approval from the Indonesian government for the next phase of its collaborative project with Jambi.

The spokesman gave no details about potential new projects, but characterised the joint efforts to date as "successful".

With the region's environment ministers expected to meet in Kuala Lumpur on July 17 to discuss the haze situation, expectations are high.

Forest campaigner Rudi Syaf, founder of a respected forest conservation group in Jambi called Warsi, said such efforts were commendable. But he also said that any future environmental collaboration with Singapore or other countries should incorporate "a better understanding of how things actually work here".

"A masterplan from the (Singapore-Jambi) programme has remained largely a reference and not implemented," he explained.

"In Indonesia, expecting a change in laws or habits takes years as the system may not be as efficient as in Singapore."

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ASEAN ministers agree on trilateral process to task officials to look into haze issues

S Ramesh Channel NewsAsia 30 Jun 13;

BRUNEI: In a major step to resolve the transboundary haze problem, ASEAN's foreign ministers have agreed on a process to task officials from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia to examine what is happening on the ground and to report to the leaders in managing it.

Singapore’s Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said the details would have to be worked out on how this trilateral process will be implemented.

China's new foreign minister, Wang Yi, also met his 10 ASEAN counterparts as a grouping for the first time at the ASEAN-China Ministerial Dialogue.

In a significant move, China has agreed to start formal consultations on the South China Sea territorial dispute by September.

On Saturday, Mr Shanmugam, together with his counterparts from Malaysia and Indonesia, met to discuss the haze issue and to recommend to the grouping ways to tackle the problem.

Mr Shanmugam felt it was a very positive development as it gave ASEAN a framework to move ahead on the matter.

He said: "It focuses on the importance of putting out the fires, it focuses on the importance of monitoring, verifying and prevent recurrence in the future, it tasks the officials to look at the issues and report to the leaders on the sidelines of the ASEAN Ministerial Meetings, so a number of concrete steps that are recommended and have been agreed upon.

"The focus is in two broad terms - to put out the fires and also to try and prevent recurrence in future and what concrete steps can be taken. All these processes, whether trilateral, multilateral or ASEAN-wide, is an agreement that we will all work together. Sovereignty is an exercise of sovereign power within your own country but that doesn't preclude you from going out to say what you will do in the international arena, how you will cooperate with others. But of course that doesn't mean other countries can come into your country and do what they like."

In their joint communique at the close of the ASEAN ministerial meeting, the foreign ministers also emphasised the importance of implementing steps to overcome the haze problem and one way, they said, is to strengthen national and regional capacities. Also important is for regional countries to uphold their international obligations and work together to tackle the haze pollution problem.

They have called on countries which have yet to ratify and operationalise the ASEAN Agreement on Trans-boundary Haze pollution to do so expeditiously.

Mr Shanmugam said discussions on the South China Sea territorial dispute were positive.

He said: "We have had cooperative, consultative good meetings at the officials’ levels with China and I believe that will continue. What China has said to us is that it believes in peaceful co-existence in development and being partner in peace."

"If there is an increase in tension, if there is conflict, it is not in anybody's interests. It is not in ASEAN's interest, it is not in China's interest. China recognises it, ASEAN recognises it, other countries recognise it. And that is why we have been talking about the DOC (Declaration on Conduct) and the importance of starting negotiations on the COC (Code of Conduct)."

2013 marks the 10th anniversary of the ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership and ministers are looking forward to the formal consultations between ASEAN and China at the senior officials meeting level on the Code of Conduct.

- CNA/fa/xq

Asean reaffirms commitment to fight haze
Senior officials directed to consolidate initiatives, propose preventive steps
Leonard Lim In Bandar Seri Begawan Straits Times 1 Jul 13;

ASEAN yesterday showed its resolve to tackle the haze that has choked the region in recent weeks, by directing its senior officials to both consolidate current initiatives and recommend steps to prevent a recurrence.

A joint communique issued after the 10 foreign ministers met here also said there would be a progress report on these efforts to top leaders at the next Asean summit in October.

Asean also reaffirmed its commitment to establish effective monitoring, rapid response and firefighting systems. It called on countries which have not ratified a 2002 Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution - Indonesia is the only one - to do so "expeditiously".

The consensus was worked out by foreign ministers from Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia during an informal meeting last Saturday, and agreed to by the rest during yesterday's Asean Ministerial Meeting.

Last Saturday's meeting, which involved the three countries worst hit by the haze, took place at the suggestion of Singapore's Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam. He said the haze paragraph in the communique focuses on "the importance of putting out the fires, of monitoring, verifying to prevent recurrences in the future".

Details have yet to be worked out but Singapore has emphasised as recently as a week ago that the long-term solution is for Indonesian farmers to adopt a more sustainable method of clearing plantations.

While it may not be possible to totally stop poor farmers from slash-and-burn practices, Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong said on Facebook that it "should be easy" to prevent commercial plantation owners from doing so next year.

"With satellite technology, new laws if necessary, and political will, smoking guns can be identified, confiscated and made to pay if they are fired," he wrote, on a day when the Pollutant Standards Index in Singapore fell to its lowest level in a fortnight.

Separately, Mr Shanmugam said Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia had also agreed on a trilateral process where officials will look at what is happening on the ground and make recommendations on the way forward. These officials could come from the foreign affairs and environment ministries, and Indonesia's forestry ministry. The group will also give an update at the Asean summit.

Indonesia's Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said it was good to have an outcome that recognises the haze as an issue that must be addressed at the national level, and in synergy with regional efforts.

Asked if Singapore's objectives had been achieved, Mr Shanmugam said: "What you really want is for the entire region to be free of haze, and that will involve actions over a period of time."

The challenge would be in implementation but "I would say our views as to how Asean needs to deal with it have come true".

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency said the number of hot spots has fallen from a peak of 265 last Monday to one last Saturday.

ESM Goh also thanked Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for showing will, graciousness and dignified statesmanship in dealing with the haze.

"This is appreciated, in contrast with the boorish remarks of some of his ministers," he added.

Additional reporting by Zubaidah Nazeer in Pekanbaru (Riau province)

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Indonesia: Air quality index in Riau improving

Antara 30 Jun 13

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Air quality index in Riau has continued to improve in line with the declining number of forest and land fires following fire fighting operations.

The head of public relations and information data center of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, said here on Sunday until the 10th day of operations to eradicate haze in Riau several indicators had shown a positive trend.

Based on the results of monitoring through NOAA satellites on June 22 the number of fires was still recorded at 92 while on June 24 it reached 265 but on June 29 only one was left over.

This has resulted in the improvement of air quality in the region and visibility, he said.

On June 20 he said the standard air pollution index in Duri reached 1,048 and in Dumai 688 signalling hazard.

But on June 29 it dropped to 98 SPI in Duri, 78 in Dumai, 59 in Singapore, 48 in Kuala Lumpur and 44 in Selangor, Malaysia.

SPI reading between 300 and 500 shows danger while from 50 to 100 mild effects and below 50 is good.

Sutopo said before operations began on June 21 average visibility was less than 100 meters but from June 26 to 30 it reached one to ten kilometers in several places in Riau.

Efforts to fight land and forest fires are still continuing including water bombing and artificial rain making, he said.

He called on all people to never again conduct burning to clear land as fire hazards remained high in the current dry season until October.

(H-YH/A014)

Editor: Jafar M Sidik

Sumatra and Region Breathe Easier as Rains Quell Smog
ID/Aris Cahyadi & ID/Ridho Syukra Jakarta Globe 30 Jun 13;

Whether due to firefighters’ efforts or simply a fortuitous dousing of Riau’s forest fires by rain, which fell last week, new figures show the pall of smog finally lifting from the province and surrounding areas.

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency’s (BNBP) data center chief and spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said on Sunday that visibility levels had improved significantly in several areas of Riau, now up to between one to 10 kilometers from a murky 100 meters during the peak of the fires early last week.

“The air quality index has also shown an increase,” he said in a text message to BeritaSatu.

Early last week readings on the Pollutant Standards Index, or PSI, in the towns Duri and Dumai in northern Riau had reached 1,048 and 688, respectively.

On Sunday Sutopo said the PSI reading in Duri had now improved to 98, and 78 in Dumai. PSI readings of 300 or higher are categorized as “hazardous,” with anyone exposed possibly subject to “serious health effects,” while readings between 50 and 100 are termed “moderate” and considered to bring few or no health risks for the general public.

Neighboring countries have also enjoyed improving air quality, with pollution levels falling to 50 PSI in Singapore, 48 in Kuala Lumpur and 44 in Selangor.

Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Rajasa said the Riau fires would have no impact on the economic partnership and investments between Indonesia and Singapore, despite inflammatory public statements in a spat that seemingly risked ties between the two countries.“It is not true that the haze has caused a disruption in the partnership between Indonesia and Singapore,” he said in Jakarta on Saturday.

Hatta emphasized that the central government, the Riau regional administration and the National Police were jointly still investigating the fires, which had also affected Malaysia.

The minister said the ongoing investigations may lead to prosecutions.

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Malaysia: Finding treasures of 'lost world'

New Straits Times 1 Jul 13;

MALIAU BASIN FIELD SURVEY: Besides finding evidence of poaching activities, 137 researchers also made some exciting discoveries

DESPITE efforts by the authorities, the Maliau Basin Conservation Area (MBCA), dubbed as Sabah's "Lost World", is still facing environmental and wildlife disturbance as poachers and gaharu (sandalwood) collectors intrude into the protected area.

This was the shocking discovery during a 10-day intensive resource and wildlife inventory survey in the pristine rainforest by local researchers recently.

Members of the team not only found fresh evidence of encroachment, such as bullet casings, camping sites, hunting and fishing paraphernalia and graffiti on tree trunks, but also had close encounters with a band of suspected poachers or gaharu collectors.

Three suspected poachers made their presence known by peeping into one of the 132 camera traps set up in several areas by the survey team to capture wildlife presence in the Class 1 protected forest.

"After we destroyed the suspected poachers' camping site, we were surprised when they suddenly appeared. Fearing for our safety, we had to run away," said Sharon Koh from World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF Malaysia), who participated in the field study.

A check with the Maliau Basin Studies Centre, an administrative centre for MBCA, revealed that the poaching and gaharu collectors' activities were mainly confined to the MBCA buffer zone area, which played a critical role in the protection of the MBCA.

The buffer zone is where most threats to the 58,840ha MBCA are addressed in a tactical sense, including blocking the intrusion of hunters, loggers and gaharu collectors from entering the areas.

Yayasan Sabah rangers, with cooperation from other government agencies, especially the Sabah Wildlife Department, have been regularly patrolling the buffer zone as well as MBCA's core areas to check for intruders, while rangers' posts were also set up in several places, including Sungai Kuamut and Lake Linumunsut.

The intensive field survey, however, produced an impressive listing of mammals and birds, including rare and endangered species, living in the untouched wilderness, characterised by diverse assemblage of forest types with complex river systems and dozens of beautiful waterfalls.

The local researchers, comprising 137 participants, were from Yayasan Sabah, University Malaysia Sabah, Sabah Wildlife Department, Sabah Parks, WWF Malaysia, Sabah Institute for Development Studies and Kinabatangan Orang Utan Conservation Programme (Hutan- KOCP), forest rehabilitation project Inikea and Sabah Environmental Trust.

The flora and fauna inventory survey, which started on June 14, covered almost the entire conservation area, except the 15,000ha heritage zone set aside for future generations to explore in the next 50 years (no sooner than 2050).

The intensive study confirmed that the protected area, which is slightly larger than Penang island, is home to some of Sabah's most rare and endangered species, including pygmy elephants, orang utan and proboscis monkeys.

Researchers also recorded the presence of other mammals through direct sighting or captured by camera traps. These included the clouded leopards, Malayan sun bear, barking deer, mousedeer, banded palm civet, bay cat, short-tail mongoose, Borneon gibbon, porcupines, pangolins and langur.

The exciting list of birds recorded included Bulwer's pheasant, giant pitta, bathawk, red-bearded bee-eater, Borneo ground cuckoo, white-fronted falconet, crested fireback, Borneon bristlehead, scarlet-rumped trogon and Borneon bristlehead.

Bird expert Alim Biun, from Sabah Parks, confirmed that all eight living species of Borneo hornbills, including the helmeted hornbill, were also found in the 588.4 sq km conservation area.

Augustine Tuuga, deputy director of Sabah Wildlife Department, said the survey, headed by the department, was a huge success despite the many poaching activities.

"These poachers are a real threat to the wildlife population, not only at Maliau Basin, but to all the state's conservation areas like Danum Valley and Imbak Canyon. These are not only a national heritage, but of world interest and we must protect it at all cost."

Sabah Foundation group manager for conservation and environmental conservation, Dr Waidi Sainun, said the survey would provide a baseline input about flora and fauna studies, and human impact on the area, including rivers and morphology.

"The findings will be documented to help charter the inter-Agency Maliau Basin Management Committee's management plan, while the inventory survey will be a regular affair at five-year intervals.

"This (survey) is intended to be a regular affair as we want to monitor the situation of the conservation area (including Imbak Canyon and Danum Valley conservation areas) every five years.

"Through this effort, we will be able to know the increase or decrease in the wildlife population within the conservation area."

Waidi, who also participated in the survey, said the field study was supported by Inikea, a collaboration between Innopprise of Sabah Foundation and Ikea, a Swedish organisation involved in environmental projects.

He said intensive field surveys on Maliau Basin started in 2000, as part of the preparation of the Maliau Basin Conservation Area Management Plan. And in 2001, the first major expedition reached Lake Linumunsut in the northern part of the basin. Bernama

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Indonesia: Park Rangers Seize Ill-Gotten Wood in East Kalimantan

Tunggadewa Mattangkilang Jakarta Globe 29 Jun 13;

Officials in East Kalimantan have seized 20 cubic meters of a rare and highly prized tropical hardwood logged from inside the Kutai National Park, highlighting what they say is a losing battle against illegal loggers.

Hernowo Supriyanto, the head of the park’s management, said on Friday that the seizures were made by forest rangers on Wednesday.

He said that in addition to the hauls of Borneo ironwood, five cubic meters of which were found earlier on Friday, the rangers also confiscated a chainsaw, a motorcycle and two tents believed to have been used by the loggers.

Hernowo said the fact that the loggers had managed to cut down so many of the slow-growing trees underscored the point that park rangers were underfunded and undermanned in cracking down on illegal logging, even within an ostensibly protected national park.

“We only have 23 forest rangers who are helped by a corps of 45 volunteers, and they’re responsible for patrolling the entire 200,000 hectares of the national park,” he said.

“And even if the volunteers find illegal loggers, they’re not allowed to arrest them unless they have a park ranger with them. So we’re really badly short of manpower.”

Hernowo said that the Borneo ironwood tree, known locally as ulin, was the single most targeted kind of tree in the park, thanks to high demand for it in East Asia, where it is typically smuggled by way of Malaysia.

The wood, described as one of the densest and most durable types of timber in the world, typically sells for around $2,000 per cubic meter abroad, but is banned for export by the Indonesian government.

By comparison, ramin, another tropical hardwood and the most valuable commercial tree species allowed for export by Indonesia, sells for around $1,000 per cubic meter.

Ulin is virtually depleted in Malaysia, while logging in Indonesia is restricted to trees with a diameter less than 60 centimeters.

Hernowo said the illegal loggers in Indonesia would only get around Rp 8 million ($800) per cubic meter of ulin, but that this had become such a lucrative trade for them that they had built an extensive network of roads, bridges and campsites in the national park to ship out the timber more easily.

He said one of the main factors allowing the practice to persist was the fact that some 65,000 people still lived within the park’s borders. With such a heavy human presence, the incidence of forestry crimes was bound to be high, he said.

He added that programs aimed at getting the residents to take up other activities, including growing oil palms, had so far proven less than effective.

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Philippines: Taking endangered wildlife as pets against the law, says DENR chief

Jeannette I. Andrade Philippine Daily Inquirer 30 Jun 13;

MANILA, Philippines — Let’s not pet them.

Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Ramon Paje urged the public on Sunday to refrain from keeping wildlife species as pets and taking them away from their natural habitats because they are highly vulnerable to stress.

Paje made the call following last week’s death from pneumonia and cardiac arrest of a male tarsier, which had been rescued from the Manila Golf and Country Club in Makati City.

In a statement Paje said, “We have very interesting wildlife species, such as the tarsier. Most of the time we are tempted to buy them and take them as pets. But these are very different from domesticated animals like dogs and cats. They are very sensitive and highly vulnerable to stress and diseases.”

He added that the survival rate of wildlife animals kept as pets has been very low.

The environment secretary stressed that the death of the tarsier should serve as a wake up call and said, “If we want our children to see our precious wildlife species alive, let us leave them alone in the wilds where they belong. Let’s not pet them.”

Paje likewise warned that the collection of wildlife species, both flora and fauna, from the wild without a permit would be illegal. Mere possession, he said, of an endangered animal would be punishable under the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act with a maximum of four years of imprisonment and a P300,000 fine.

Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB) director Mundita Lim said that based on the result of the necropsy, the tarsier died of pneumonia and cardiac arrest. She said that the cause of death was an indication of exposure to stress.

The PAWB director said that the tarsier was found dead at around 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday last week inside its cage at the intensive care section of the wildlife rescue center in Quezon City.

Lim said that arrangements had previously been made with the Philippine Airlines last Tuesday for the tarsier’s flight back to Bohol for re-introduction into the wild.

She explained that taking into consideration the frailty of the tarsier when taken out of its natural habitat, she had dispensed with the standard 90-day observation period and ordered the primate flown back to Bohol as soon as it showed signs of appetite improvement.

Lim said, “To keep the tarsier from further stress, our veterinarians decided against subjecting the animal from outside contact. Getting blood samples to determine its condition was totally out of the question,” and stressed that the animal’s appetite was the only way to go by to determine its condition at the time.

The tarsier showed signs of appetite improvement until Wednesday morning, when the caretaker noticed that the animal did not eat and was on the floor of the cage. It eventually died past noon.

The Philippine tarsier (tarsius syrichta) is one of the smallest known primates in the world. Its size ranges from 118 to 149 millimeters (4.6 to 5.8 inches) while its average weight is between 113 and 142 grams.

The Philippine tarsier is among “endangered” wildlife species listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Conservation Monitoring Center in 1986 and is now included in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species of “near threatened” animals.

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