Best of our wild blogs: 3 Feb 19

Happy World Wetlands Day!
Adventures with the Naked Hermit Crabs

The Not So Common Common Myna
BES Drongos

Singapore Raptor Report – December 2018
Singapore Bird Group

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Zero Waste Masterplan to focus on electronics, packaging, food waste: Masagos

Melanie Oliveiro Channel NewsAsia 3 Feb 19;

SINGAPORE: Singapore will relook the waste management cycle for three major streams of trash: Food waste, packing waste and e-waste, under its first Zero Waste Masterplan, Minister for Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli said.

The ministry has designated 2019 as Singapore's Year Towards Zero Waste, in a campaign that aims to raise awareness of waste issues and the need to conserve resources.

At 21 per cent, Singapore's household recycling rate is low when compared with other developed countries like Germany and South Korea.

While Singaporeans are practicing better recycling habits, many of them are still doing it wrong, said Mr Masagos in an interview with 938NOW which was broadcast on Friday (Feb 1).

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Malaysia: ‘Protecting Sarawak’s wildlife a niche tourism product’

Cecilia Sman Borneo Post 3 Feb 19;

MIRI: Sarawakians should cooperate with the authorities by not buying, rearing or trapping protected and totally protected wild animals, to prevent them from being extinct.

Assistant Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Datuk Lee Kim Shin regards continuous and strong cooperation as being vital when it comes to protecting these animals from extinction and Sarawak’s tourism focus.

“Currently among our tourism targets include promoting nature tourism to tap its rich biodiversity, which is a niche tourism product especially to naturalists.

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Indonesia: Population of Komodo dragons in national park stable

Antara 2 Feb 19;

Komodo dragons in the Komodo National Park in West Manggara, East Nusa Tenggara. ANTARA FOTO/Indrianto Eko Suwarso/aww.

Kupang, E Nusa Tenggara (ANTARA News) - The population of Komodo dragons at the Komodo National Park located in West Manggara, East Nusa Tenggara Province, reaches 2,897 and is considered to be stable.

"Based on our record, the population of Komodo dragons remains stable, which is between two thousand and three thousand heads," Jackson, the Park`s Komodo dragon monitoring officer, stated here, Saturday.

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UAE's corals suffer 'catastrophic' damage in record summer heat

The future of eight reefs in the Arabian Gulf is in doubt after high temperatures and low winds leave corals dying
Daniel Bardsley The National 2 Feb 19;

Scientists fear the future of the UAE’s reefs is in doubt after research found rising temperatures killed almost three quarters of Abu Dhabi’s coral.

Record temperatures in the summer of 2017 left more than 90 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s coral cover bleached and struggling to survive, New York University Abu Dhabi found.

Dr John Burt, associate professor of biology, said there was a remarkable amount of damage.

“The results were catastrophic,” Dr Burt told The National. “I had never seen anything like it in my career.”

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