Best of our wild blogs: 29 Aug 18

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Wan's Ubin Journal

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Woman injured in wild boar incident near Punggol condo

Channel NewsAsia 28 Aug 18;

SINGAPORE: A woman in her 30s was taken to hospital on Tuesday (Aug 28) after an encounter with a wild boar in Punggol.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) responded to a call for medical assistance at 5.15pm along the road at 51 Edgefield Plains, near Waterbay condominium.

The woman was knocked over by the boar outside the executive condominium. The animal then ran into the condo's rubbish collection point, Channel 8 News reported, citing tip-offs from members of the public.

A photo of a woman with a bloodied wound on her leg has also been circulating on social media.

The Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) said it received a call at around 5pm about a wild boar in the area.

"We understand that there was an apparent conflict between the boar and a lady but unfortunately we do not have any information on that," deputy chief executive Kalai Vanan said. "To our knowledge, the boar subsequently entered a condominium where it found itself stranded."

The wild boar was sedated and relocated, he said, adding that it was likely that the animal had come from Lorong Halus.

"Development works in that area could have caused this individual to venture out and subsequently finding itself lost in the urban area," he said.

"Feeding by people may have had a part to play as well to cause the animal to venture out as well."

Channel NewsAsia has contacted the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority for comment.

Source: CNA/na(hm)


Woman injured by wild boar in Punggol
Tee Zhuo Straits Times 29 Aug 18;

A woman was taken to hospital after she was injured by a wild boar in Punggol yesterday.

The incident occurred near Punggol Secondary School, which is a few bus stops away from a forested area that is being cleared for development.

The Straits Times understands that the injured woman is an employee of the school and she had lacerations on her right leg.

The wild boar was later found in a nearby executive condominium and was captured by staff from the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres).

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it responded to a call for medical assistance around 5.15pm at 51 Edgefield Plains, the address of the school.

A woman in her 30s was taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, the SCDF added.

Mr Kalai Vanan, deputy chief executive of Acres, said that it received a call at about 5pm.

He said the boar later entered a condominium where it found itself stranded. He added that Acres sedated the wild boar and took it away.

The Straits Times understands that the condominium is the Waterbay executive condominium.

Mr Kalai said the wild boar could have come from the Lorong Halus wetland located along the eastern bank of Serangoon Reservoir.

While it was not known why the boar was roaming around an urban area, Mr Kalai said that development works might have been to blame.

"Feeding by people may have had a part to play in causing the animal to venture out as well," he said.

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Malaysia: Strong Borneo wind brings back the haze up north

arnold loh The Star 29 Aug 18;

GEORGE TOWN: A strong Borneo wind blowing east to west – over 1,600km away – is bringing up smoke from more than 20 detected forest fires in West Kalimantan into the Southwest Monsoon and towards northern Malaysia.

And this will continue for the next few days, according to Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre’s (ASMC) Regional Haze Situation Analysis yesterday.

ASMC’s satellite has so far registered 22 hotspots in West Kali­mantan and four in Sumatra as at Monday.

Wind current readings show that Kalimantan’s smoke was pushed into the southern end of the Straits of Malacca before the Southwest Monsoon took over and blew it northerly all along Peninsular Malaysia.

Even Langkawi was not spared, with a reading of 53.

The archipelago’s API was in the mild 30s early this month when the haze started worsening in Penang.

The only API gauge in the country returning a good reading was in Tawau, Sabah, at 33.

Readings for Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya were ranging from 59 to 74.

Last week, northern Malaysia had a brief respite from the haze and a tropical storm called Bebinca ravaged Vietnam with winds that exceeded 95kph.

The storm’s influence gave the region storm clouds from Andaman Sea in the west, diverting Indonesia’s haze away from the northern states.

Total ban on open burning in plantations in Sarawak
stephen then The Star 28 Aug 18;

MIRI: Sarawak has imposed a total ban on open burning in plantations.

The directive was issued by the state via the Sarawak Natural Resources and Environment Board.

Board chairman Peter Sawal issued the written directive on Tuesday (Aug 28).

The Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department is among the agencies tasked with monitoring the ban.

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Malaysia: Conservationists despair as four more Borneo Pygmy elephants found dead in Sabah's east coast

muguntan vanar The Star 28 Aug 18;

KOTA KINABALU: Four more Borneo Pygmy elephants, including a cow and its calf shot by poachers, have died over the weekend, with a fifth injured by snare traps in the state's east coast.

The latest deaths bring to 24 the number of elephants killed since April this year, with shocked wildlife officials and conservationists despairing of ever finding a solution.

According to sources, the dead pygmy elephants involved a cow and its calf, while another died after a tree fell on it, and a fourth was found dead, though the cause is not known.

The fifth is being treated for snare wounds. The incident occurred in the Lahad Datu and Kinabatangan areas.

With an estimated 1,500 elephants left in Sabah’s wild, conservationists are hoping for more tougher action to be taken by the Wildlife and state Forestry Department in tackling poaching and other problems.

Without referring to the latest deaths, on Tuesday (Aug 28), WWF Malaysia said that more elephants were dying despite actions taken by the enforcement authorities and NGOs to end the problem in Sabah.

Noting that some 25 elephants died since the beginning of 2018, WWF said that at least four have died due to snare trap-related injuries at plantations around Sg Taliwas Forest Reserve and Sapagaya Forest Reserve.

WWF-Malaysia together with the Sabah Forestry Department and the Sabah Wildlife Department have worked together to conduct joint anti -snaring operations (Ops Jerat) to remove snares in the forest reserves that are bordering plantations.

A total of five operations have been carried out and have so far unearthed 25 snares in forest reserves, 16 hunting platforms in both forest reserves and surrounding plantations, and five pitfall traps that measured about seven feet deep.

WWF Malaysia will continue the Ops Jerat collaboration with the government, particularly in identified poaching hot spots.

WWF Malaysia said that snares are commonly used by poachers, where they are placed along animal trails in forest reserves bordering plantations with the intention of catching wild boars and deer.

“Though elephants are very rarely the target of poachers, they commonly fall victim to these devices.

“This is because elephants use the same trails as other wildlife causing them to become a product of by-catch since snares indiscriminately kill wildlife,” WWF said.

“The time has come for someone to shoulder the responsibility for the death of elephants, especially those occurring on their land.

"In order to stop the premature deaths of one of Borneo’s most iconic species, strong actions must be taken and they must be taken now,” WWF added.

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Indonesia: Six more orangutans set free in forest habitat

Antara 29 Aug 18;

The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) released six orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) in the Kehje Sewen jungle, Kutai Timur, East Kalimantan. (ANTARA/Yudhi Mahatma)

Balikpapan, E. Kalimantan, (ANTARA News) - The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) has marked the country's 73rd Independence Day commemoration by releasing six orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) in the Kehje Sewen jungle in East Kutai district, East Kalimantan.

"The wildlife also are entitled to enjoying the Independence Day celebration especially orangutan, which is the wildlife species protected by the state," Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BOSF Dr Jamartin Sihite said here on Monday.

The six orangutans were the 19th group released since 2012. They had been years in the Reintroduction Center in Samboja Lestari, 47 kilometers north of Balikpapan taught how to live as wild orangutans.

Dr Sihite gave stress on the importance of preserving orangutans. He said wild orangutans have important contribution to preserving forest ecosystem. Orangutans are species which move around all corners of forests that the varieties of flora in forest area better protected sustaining their regeneration.

"They scatter flora seeds through their feces. Orangutans also open a bit the canopy of forests allowing the sun ray to penetrate the forest land, helping small trees to grow," Dr Sihite said.

In turn, protected forests will provide clean and fresh water and air, in addition to various forest products and keep conducive climate change, he added.

Not all of the six orangutans released came directly from the Samboja Lestari Reintroduction Center. Two of them, 11-year-old females Menur and Josta, lived for months in the Kehje Sewen jungle, a 82.84 forest area surrounded by wide ditch and river bordering on an oil palm plantations PT Nusaraya Agro Sawit in Muara Wahau, Kutai Timur.

The other four are males - Mads (8), Riva (7), Biber (7), and Restu (6).

In the past several years BOSF has involved many agencies and organizations in the preservation of orangutan.

"It is because the big conservation job could not be handled alone by BKSDA and BOSF," head of the Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) of East Kalimantan Sunandar Trigunajasa said.

Reporting by Novi Abdi
Editing by A. Saragih
Editor: Sri Haryati

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Indonesia: Police may punish officers in whale shark incident in Yogyakarta

The Jakarta Post 28 Aug 18;

The Yogyakarta Police are considering punishing three officers who were photographed standing on top of a dead whale shark that was stranded on a beach in Parangkusumo.

The photo, which shows the officers posing with their fists raised, was uploaded by television host Robby Purba on his Instagram account.

In the picture, two officers stand on the back of the whale shark’s carcass, while one officer squats on its head.

The picture sparked outrage among netizens and animal lovers, who claimed that what the officers did was inappropriate.

The Yogyakarta Police offered an apology on its official Twitter account @PoldaJogja following the protests.

“Regarding the incident of our three officers who were caught on camera climbing on the top of a dead whale shark, we apologize. There was no specific intent behind the incident,” it said.

Yogyakarta Police spokesperson Adj. Sr. Comr. Yulianto said the police's internal affairs division had launched an investigation into the officers' conduct.

“We’re currently determining what kind of punishment is appropriate for them,” he said on Tuesday, as quoted by kompas.com, adding that the officers deeply regretted their action.

Early on Monday morning, a fisherman found the 4-meter whale shark stranded on the beach.

The animal was still alive at the time it was found by the fisherman but died within an hour.

Yogyakarta Water Police arrived at the scene in the afternoon to help the Yogyakarta Natural Resource Conservation Agency (BKSDA) retrieve samples from the fish, as well as to bury it on the beach.

Residents flocked to the beach to see the dead fish, as well as to watch the authorities bury it, which took two hours with the help of an excavator. (ris/ipa)

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