Best of our wild blogs: 27 May 19

2 Jun 2019 - Balik Chek Jawa
Adventures with the Naked Hermit Crabs

Festival of Biodiversity 2019!
Butterflies of Singapore

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Malaysia: UK plastic waste found near Ipoh

Teoh Pei Ying New Straits Times 27 May 19;

KUALA LUMPUR: Plastic waste from Britain intended for recycling had been found dumped at a wasteland near Ipoh.

A British daily quoted a report by BBC, which featured British TV presenter Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall discovering a 6m-high mound of plastic waste deep in the jungle of Perak.

Daily Mail Online reported that the environmental catastrophe “has the fingerprints of British supermarkets and council recycling departments” all over it.

“It’s like some dystopian nightmare… a plastic planet,” Fearnley-Whittingstall, who is also a celebrity chef, was quoted as saying.

According to the same report, Fearnley-Whittingstall also spotted British local authority-branded recycling bags, which suggested that householders dutifully filling their green bins in the belief they were helping the environment had been lied to.

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Malaysia: More water treatment plants planned under 12th Malaysia Plan

The Star 26 May 19;

IPOH (Bernama): The Water, Land and Natural Resources Ministry plans to build more water treatment plants in order to further improve the water supply system in the country, says minister Dr A. Xavier Jayakumar.

He said the matter would be included in the 12th Malaysia Plan (2021-2025) and is expected to be realised fully within the next 10 or 15 years.

He also acknowledged that this entailed considerable expenditure.

"For example, Kuala Kangsar and Larut often face water shortage due to lack of adequate water to meet demand during festive seasons," he told reporters after attending a breaking of fast event organised by the Perak PKR here Saturday (May 25) night.

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Malaysia: Penang metal poisoning - Root of the problem still unknown

r. sekaran The Star 27 May 19;

GEORGE TOWN: Metal poisoning along the coastal areas of Teluk Bahang looks to be worsening while the root cause remains unknown.Operators of fish farms along the coast are worried for the survival of marine resources such as sea algae and other plant life, should the content of heavy metal spike further.

Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (Cemacs) director Prof Datuk Dr Aileen Tan said that two weeks ago, the heavy metal nickel was found to be 944% higher than natural off Penang National Park in Teluk Bahang.

“Now, the level of nickel detected is 1,038% more than natural in the seas near the National Park and 982% at the fish farms in Teluk Bahang.

“It is imperative that the source of the pollution is found immediately as it affects the livelihood of fishermen and is a threat to marine life in the area,” she said in an interview yesterday.

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Malaysia: Sabah going all out to step up wildlife protection efforts

stephanie lee The Star 26 May 19;

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is getting all parties including villagers and wildlife rangers to be part of wildlife protection efforts following the failed attempt to prevent the Sumatran rhino from going extinct in Malaysia.

Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew (pic) said she was not sure what happened to the rhinos over the past decade but now was not the time to dwell on it but to move forward.

"We will do our best to protect the other remaining wildlife in Sabah, including endangered species such as the banteng (wild buffalo) and pygmy elephants, as well as protected species such as the orang utan, proboscis monkeys and sun bears," she said.

She said it was the government's policies to have villagers and local communities partner with wildlife rangers and the Wildlife Department to prevent the killing of protected species in Sabah.

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Malaysia: Native market in Sarikei found selling protected wildlife

stephen then The Star 26 May 19;

MIRI: The native market in Sarikei town in central Sarawak has been found to be a venue for selling live tarsier and slaughtered pangolin.

Sarawak Society for Prevention of Animal (SSPCA) president Datin Dona Wee said they received an alert from the public on this.

"A trader inside the Sarikei Tamu building was found selling live tarsier inside a small cage.

"Inside a plastic bag nearby was the meat of a pangolin.

Tarsier is a protected primate species.

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India: Coral bleaching intensifies in Gulf of Mannar

THOOTHUKUDI The Hindu 26 May 19;

The intensity of coral bleaching has increased in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay in May. However, no mortality has been witnessed so far.

While the prevalence of bleaching was less than 3% during April in the Gulf of Mannar, it has increased significantly in May.

During a rapid survey conducted from May 15-23 by the Suganthi Devadason Marine Research Institute, a total of nine reef areas including two reef areas in Thoothukudi group (Vaan, Koswari and Kariyachalli Islands), three in Mandapam Group (Shingle, Krusadai and Hare Islands), three others in Keelakarai group (Mulli, Valai and Thalaiyari Islands) and reefs in Palk Bay were surveyed.

In the Keelakarai group, which was the most affected, the prevalence of bleaching has increased significantly up to 35% (Mulli Island) from 3% in April. In the Mandapam group (Krusadai Island), the bleaching went up from 6% to 28% during the period. Twelve percent of corals have suffered bleaching in Palk Bay.

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