Best of our wild blogs: 7 Dec 18

Loss of Ceriagrion chaoi in Bishan Park - Fragile Urban Ecology
Everyday Nature

Successful fledgling of pair of White-bellied Sea-eagles
Singapore Bird Group

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Malaysia: Pangolin scales worth RM36.62mil incinerated

Mohd Helmi Irwadi Mohd Nor New Straits Times 6 Dec 18;

PORT DICKSON: A total of 2.8 tonne of pangolin scales worth RM36.62 million were incinerated by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia (Perhilitan) at the Pusat Kualiti Alam here.

Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar said all the scales were confiscated in operations conducted by the Royal Malaysian Customs Department (JKDM) since last year.

He said 407kg of scales were seized at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in May, 2017 while 2.1 tonne were seized at the West Port, Port Klang in Selangor, in September.

“In addition to that, a total of 291kg of scales were also confiscated through other operations in July last year.

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Shocking report details massive illegal turtle trade network

A series of recent sting operations has led to dozens of arrests, thousands of reptiles seized
DINA FINE MARON National Geographic 6 Dec 18;

IN A POSH hotel room in Kuala Lumpur, a 35-year-old man wearing a dark button-down shirt smiled. He had two suitcases crammed with 55 live turtles, and he was hoping to make a sale.

He watched as his customer, a man wearing shorts and sneakers, carefully examined the reptiles crawling across the hotel rug.

Bakrudin Ali Ahamed Habeeb, had posted on Facebook some seven months earlier that he had reptiles to sell, triggering a flurry of text messages and price negotiations. Now, Habeeb just needed to prove that his animals were in good health so he could pass them off into the exotic pet trade.

It was May 2017, and he was anticipating a big payday.

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Sea levels may rise more rapidly due to Greenland ice melt

Run-off from vast ice sheet is increasing due to manmade global warming, says study
Jonathan Watts The Guardian 5 Dec 18;

Rising sea levels could become overwhelming sooner than previously believed, according to the authors of the most comprehensive study yet of the accelerating ice melt in Greenland.

Run-off from this vast northern ice sheet – currently the biggest single source of meltwater adding to the volume of the world’s oceans – is 50% higher than pre-industrial levels and increasing exponentially as a result of manmade global warming, says the paper, published in Nature on Wednesday.

Almost all of the increase has occurred in the past two decades – a jolt upwards after several centuries of relative stability. This suggests the ice sheet becomes more sensitive as temperatures go up.

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