Best of our wild blogs: 26 Dec 12

Short-lived scorpions
from The annotated budak

Migratory Terns: Flocking and Communal Bathing
from Bird Ecology Study Group

brahminy kites mobbing a raptor @ kranji war memorial - Dec2012
from sgbeachbum

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NGOs roped in to combat litter menace

Volunteers will undergo training, be empowered to take enforcement action against litterbugs
Woo Sian Boon Today Online 26 Dec 12;

SINGAPORE - Senior members of non-government organisations such as the Waterways Watch Society (WWS) and the Singapore Environment Council (SEC) have been roped in to undergo training to combat the litter menace.

Last month, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan wrote on his blog that, under the National Environment Agency's (NEA) new empowerment scheme, it will start conducting a "special training course" in January for senior members of environmental NGOs. For a start, more than 20 members from the WWS and SEC could be involved, TODAY understands.

The NEA's new scheme comes as the WWS - which is currently active at Kallang Riverside Park - hopes to set up another office at the Punggol housing estate, to help keep the precinct's award-winning waterway project free from litter.

After completing training, these volunteers will be issued authority cards which will enable them to "identify and take enforcement action against recalcitrant persons who insist on littering", as Dr Balakrishnan had put it.

In response to TODAY's queries, the NEA said the volunteers' training will be similar to that of its officers.

"The training will cover the respective legislation, the rules of engagement and enforcement procedures. The training will include both theory and practical sessions to equip the volunteers with the skills and knowledge to undertake their duties," an NEA spokesperson said.

She added that the NEA is "finalising the details of the recruitment" for the volunteers. The empowerment scheme will be rolled out in tandem with enhanced fines for littering. From March, the fines for first-time offenders will increase from S$300 to S$500.

WWS founder Eugene Heng, 63, said his NGO will recommend "less than 10 per cent" of its 260 members for the scheme. Mr Heng said that he understands that the prospective volunteers will first be interviewed by the NEA, before they undergo training.

He said: "We should not make the training so complex, as these are all volunteers here. Apart from equipping them with an understanding of the rules, more importantly we have to teach them how to approach people. We have to make them understand how not to abuse this enforcement privilege. We don't want to create a whole new force of vigilantes."

Mr Heng, who also sits on the Public Hygiene Council, said the council may also get involved with the NEA's new scheme in some form.

"We are targeting council members to help monitor and enforce. Whenever possible, we will get the members to share and speak out against littering. Aggressive enforcement is a last resort," he said.

"Ultimately, we should have a network of different representatives from all strata of society to combat this, instead of just relying on NGOs, and I have also shared this with the NEA."

SEC Executive Director Jose Raymond said the NEA had approached his organisation to assist in the empowerment scheme. For now, three of the SEC's staff members will be trained under the scheme.

"But this can increase depending on our workload for the year and our other projects," he said.

Mr Raymond reiterated that it is essential that the volunteers are trained "on how to approach members of the public when they spot the offender and ... how to manage difficult members of the public who may turn nasty or abusive".

He added: "Public cleanliness remains an issue which needs to be dealt with, and through various possible options ... We hope that with more hands on deck, and from ground up, we will be able to help bring about a cleaner Singapore."

Meanwhile, Mr Heng said his NGO plans to set up its second office at Punggol estate in "two to three months".

Currently, the WWS has an office under Merdeka Bridge and helps to watch over the Kallang Riverside Park. Thirty of its members were issued volunteer cards by the National Parks Board (NParks) and national water agency PUB, to enable them to approach members of the public to advise them not to litter, among other things.

Said NParks' Parks Director Chia Seng Jiang: "The WWS encourages park users to dispose of rubbish into bins and report instances of illegal entry into parks by motorised vehicles and damage to park property. The WWS also organises park clean-up activities at Kallang Riverside Park, and we have since noticed less litter there."

Mr Heng said that as more people move into Punggol, there is a risk that its waterway could be polluted.

"Punggol leads to two major reservoirs, Punggol Reservoir and Serangoon Reservoir ... So if we don't do well (to keep the waters clean), it's a lose-lose situation," he said. Additional reporting by Tan Weizhen

Weekly patrols to clean up waterways
by Woo Sian Boon
Soft-drink bottles and cans, balls, safety cones, and even car bumpers and a lamp. These are some of the items dumped into the Kallang River Basin which volunteers from Waterways Watch Society (WWS) have fished up over the years.

Set up 15 years ago, the environment group, consisting of 260 volunteers, has been going on weekly patrols to clean the waterway of litter so that it is safe for users - despite being mistaken at times for litterbugs serving their Corrective Work Orders. Split into land and water teams, the volunteers also look out for oil spills and other pollutants released into the river from drains on their rounds, and then pass on the information to relevant agencies.

Still, some trickier concerns remain, noted WWS founder Eugene Heng. For instance, with the PUB authorising more fishing spots recently - including the Marina Reservoir - fishing lines and hooks can pose a danger to those engaging in water sports, he said.

"The fishing lines might entangle in boat engines, kayakers can step on fishing hooks or even get cut by the lines if they fall into the water," said Mr Heng. WOO SIAN BOON

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11 structures near former Bt Timah railway station being demolished

Lip Kwok Wai Channel NewsAsia 25 Dec 12;

SINGAPORE: Since last month, demolition works have been carried out on 11 small buildings and structures near the former Bukit Timah Railway Station.

The works are expected to be completed next month.

The structures include gate huts along the Rail Corridor at Bukit Gombak, Stagmont Ring, Sungei Kadut, Blackmore Drive and Tanglin Halt.

Many of the huts were work stations of railway workers previously.

The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) says the structures have been assessed to be structurally unsound, and are being demolished for safety reasons.

The authorities have also put up signs to inform the public to keep away from the structures.

SLA will also work with relevant agencies to identify suitable existing plots along the Rail Corridor for short-term uses, such as rest stops or rain shelters for the public.

Since April this year, the former Bukit Timah and Tanjong Pagar Railway Stations have been open to individuals and organisations for activities.

They are on land formerly occupied by Malayan Railways or Keretapi Tanah Melayu, but which has since reverted to the State.

Next month, a competitive run will be held along the Rail Corridor.

SLA says since April, it has approved 28 applications to hold activities along the corridor.

As survey works are currently being carried out at the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station, it will remain closed to the public. Details on its re-opening will be announced at a later date.

Mr David Poh, Senior Director of PropNex Realty, said: "The railway tracks extend across many areas. If you conserve too many structures along the tracks, it will affect development plans. We need to strike a balance between conservation and modernity."

- CNA/de

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Saving the rhino with surveillance drones

South African farmer plans to put 30 drones in the air to help combat poachers
David Smith guardian.co.uk 25 Dec 12;

A rhino farmer in South Africa is planning to use surveillance drones designed for the US military to combat poachers who are driving the animals towards extinction.

Clive Vivier, cofounder of the Zululand rhino reserve in KwaZulu-Natal province, said he has been granted permission by the US state department to buy the state-of-the-art Arcturus T-20 drone.

He is now seeking clearance from local civil aviation authorities to put 30 of the drones in South African skies.

Radical solutions are needed, he argues, at the end of a year which has seen a record of more than 650 rhinos slaughtered for their horns to meet demand from the Far East.

Vivier believes the true figure may be closer to 1,000, a significant dent in a population of around 20,000. "We're now eating into our capital of rhino," he said. "From here they are heading rapidly towards extinction. Despite all our efforts, we're just historians recording the demise of a species. We don't have the numbers on the ground to see people and stop them killing the animals."

Around 400 rhinos have been killed this year in the world-famous Kruger national park, which spans 2m hectares – impossible for a limited number of rangers to guard effectively. Vivier estimates it as the equivalent of a town with one policeman for every 100,000 houses, "all with the doors and windows and open and rhino horn inside".

He continued: "We need to change the rules of the game. We need technology. The only thing that can see these people before they do the dirty deed is surveillance drones."

The answer, he believes, is the unmanned Arcturus T-20, which, with a 17ft wingspan, can fly for 16 hours without refuelling at a height of 15,000 feet. Its lack of noise and infrared camera would be invaluable for spotting poachers at night. "It can tell whether a man is carrying a shovel or firearm and whether he has his finger on the trigger or not," said Vivier, 65. "We can see the poacher but he can't see us. We're good at arresting them when we know where they are. Otherwise it's a needle in a haystack."

Vivier has spent two years in talks with civil aviation officials and is hopeful that he will soon get the green light for a six-month trial. He proposes 10 of the drones for Kruger park, and a further 20 for other vulnerable reserves in South Africa.

He estimates that each drone would cost roughly $300,000 (£184,445) to keep in the air for two years, making a total of around $9m (£5.53m).

"The drones are economical to fly and will get us information at a very low cost. We need this technology to put us in a position to catch the guys. We need to do it before they kill rhino. The drone is, in my opinion, the only solution. It is highly sophisticated and can see things no other technology can."

After the worst rhino poaching year on record in South Africa, air technology is seen as a crucial preventative step. Earlier this month, a reconnaissance plane with surveillance equipment including thermal imaging began patrolling over Kruger park.

But Vivier believes such alternatives lack the Calfornia-built Arcturus T-20's capability. "The smaller ones are like using a bucket to put out a fire at the Empire State building. We need fire engines. We're now an inferno. If we don't wake up and do something, the world will lose the rhino."

He appealed for the US, UK or other countries to help raise the necessary funds. "The company making the drone has to be paid and we don't have the money. We need the best technology because the criminals are sharp. We've had approval from the US state department and we're trying to work with them. It's a world problem and the rest of the world needs to help us."

Vivier is among a group of rhino farmers who believe that legalising the trade in horn would thwart the black market and reduce poaching. Several conservation groups disagree and call for measures that will reduce demand in countries such as Vietnam, where horn is seen as a delicacy with health benefits.

Ike Phaahla, a spokesman for South African National Parks, welcomed moves to put eyes in the sky. "In the past three months that is a strategy we have decided to use," he said. "We are able to use the intelligence to intercept the poachers, although you can't have a silver bullet for this kind of thing."

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Best of our wild blogs: 25 Dec 12

My new website!
Urban Forest: An Identification Guide to the Flora of Singapore and Southeast Asia
from Urban Forest

Purple Heron – Comfort Behaviour
from Bird Ecology Study Group

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Yangtze finless porpoise population declines

WWF 24 Dec 12;

Wuhan, China -- A total of 380 Yangtze finless porpoise have been visually identified during a survey expedition along the Yangtze River, marking a significant decline from a previous research in 2006, according to initial results.

"There is a notable downtrend in the population size of the finless porpoise based on our observation," said Wang Kexiong, deputy head of the research expedition and an associate researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Hydrobiology (IHB).

Two survey ships docked at IHB's wharf in Wuhan of Hubei on Monday, concluding a 44-day and 3,400km round-trip voyage between the Chinese cities of Yichang and Shanghai.

Meanwhile, acoustic equipment identified 172 finless porpoise during the expedition.

Results of the expedition, including the population of the finless porpoise in the Yangtze River, are to be made available in about two months after sufficient analysis, said Wang.

"Compared with the 2006 survey, the distribution areas of finless porpoise remains roughly the same, with signs of scattering in some parts," said Wang.

There are fewer finless porpoise in the mainstream of the Yangtze while more discoveries have been made in wharf and port areas.

"That could be attributed to rich fish bait resources there. Busy shipping traffic in the mainstream, especially in port regions, poses a threat to the survival of finless porpoise," said Wang.

Shipping traffic in the mainstream of Yangtze River -- the lower reaches in particular – has increased considerably, with an average of 100 cargo ships per hour passing through. Rates were even higher in the Zhenjiang-Jiangyin section of the Yangtze, with an average of 105 cargo ships passing every half hour.

"Such shipping traffic volumes would become a potential threat to the finless porpoise who rely on their sonar system to survive," said Zhang Xinqiao, expedition team member and WWF finless porpoise programme officer.

The team encountered 9,643 cargo ships and 736 fishery ships during voyage, which ran from 11 November – 23 December 2012.
.
Researchers found dense distributions of finless porpoise in waters that are not open to navigation, such as the Jiajiang River, and attribute this to less human disturbance.

Less optimistic was the discovery of illegal fishing practices in these areas, including traps that could affect finless porpoise. .

"Generally, the finless porpoise are scattered in the Yangtze mainstream, with a small group of them living in a comparatively narrow area. Such an isolation is not necessarily a positive thing for their reproduction," cautioned Wang.

The scattered distribution pattern could be the result of shipping traffic that made migration harder, projects that altered hydrological conditions in the middle and lower reaches and habit loss, said Wang.

The findings on the number of population and variation trend are to be finalized according to a model that takes validity of calculation, density of distribution, width of the river, sailing length and areas covered into consideration.

The results are to contribute to the drafting of Action Plan for the Yangtze Finless Porpoise Conservation by the Ministry of Agriculture and proposals concerning the conservation areas.

Led by China's Ministry of Agriculture and organized by the IHB, WWF and Wuhan Baiji Dolphin Conservation Fund, the expedition first set sail on 11 November and comes only six years after the Baiji dolphin - another rare cetacean and close relative of the finless porpoise - was declared functionally extinct.

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Best of our wild blogs: 24 Dec 12

Latest Green Jobs in Singapore [17 - 23 Dec 2012]
from Green Business Times

Cotton pygmy-geese - Preening and stretching
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Asian Koel
from Monday Morgue

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Illegal animal trade active on Singapore local sites

Study finds 23 websites offer banned wildlife, parts
Feng Zengkun Straits Times 24 Dec 12;

A "PET" tiger, a grey tundra wolf and exotic parrots were some of the animals that online wildlife traders tried to sell to Singaporeans last year.

A new research project by the National University of Singapore (NUS) has thrown a spotlight on dark corners of the country's online animal marketplace.

It found that 23 local websites carried more than 1,300 new advertisements selling trade-restricted animals and their parts - many of them exotic and possibly illegal - in the second half of last year.

The price-tags on the animals added up to $680,000, and this excluded those ads which featured no prices.

In all, more than 50 new advertisements were posted each week during the 28-week study, and the traders could have netted almost $1 million, the project estimated.

The research, likely the first of its kind here, involved monitoring popular local pet and classified ad sites such as Pet.sg and eBay between September last year and January.

The project also included search results of ads posted on the sites in July and August last year.

It found that three-quarters of the ads hawked live animals as pets - either legal or illegal ones. Dead animals and parts such as ivory, horns, skin and fur made up the remainder.

Worryingly, one in three of these creatures and parts was banned here by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA).

Some animals were likely to have been smuggled in. For example, eight advertised species of non-native birds were not imported here between 2002 and last year, according to records.

Species included the vulnerable red-necked Amazon parrot and military macaw.

The report acknowledged that some of the ads were probably scams, such as those hawking pet tigers and wolves.

Also, the ads may not have translated to actual sales.

"But the persistence of the new ads and the views they get suggest there is interest in Singapore in paying for the exotic animals," added the report.

The study also captured only ads in English, so the total number of online animal ads here is likely to be much higher.

Wildlife activists said such ads were "mushrooming" in every part of the world.

Mr Louis Ng, executive director of the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society here, said regular sting operations to nab online traders would reduce the virtual traffic. The group recreated the NUS project between June and August this year after conducting several stings with the help of the AVA, and found fewer ads.

When asked, the AVA said it monitors retail outlets and online sources of sales of illegal wildlife and their parts and products. Between January and last month, it investigated eight cases related to online sales. Of these, three were prosecuted in court.

"AVA also works with online sites such as forums, classified ad pages and auction sites to share information on the laws prohibiting the possession and sale of illegal wildlife in Singapore," a spokesman said.

It is an offence for people to import, export and re-export protected wildlife, including parts and products, without an AVA permit. It is also an offence to possess, sell or advertise wildlife which has been illegally imported or bought. Offenders can be fined up to $50,000 per animal, up to $500,000 in total, and/or jailed for up to two years.

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Malaysia: East-West Highway easy game for poachers

Nuradilla Noorazam New Straits Times 24 Dec 12;

GRAVE CONCERN: 100 points along East-West Highway for illegal hunters to enter Belum, Temenggor forests

KUALA LUMPUR: EASY access into the Royal Belum state park and Temenggor forest reserve along the East-West Highway has allowed poachers to make a killing on the country's rich wildlife.

Connecting the state of Perak and Kelantan, the highway stretches up to 124km between Grik and Jeli.

According to wildlife conservationists, there are more than 100 access points along the road for poachers to enter the forests.

As a consequence, seizures of wild animal parts in the northern part of the peninsula and its borders had raised concerns about poaching activities in Belum and Temenggor.

Almost four times the size of Singapore, the forests are home to 274 species of birds, 100 species of mammals and 69 species of reptiles. It also contains 3,000 species of flowering plants.

Statistics from the international wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic Southeast Asia (TSEA) showed that 122,880 individuals had been caught nationwide for possessing endangered animals between 2001 and last year.

The largest seizure was in 2010, when National Parks and Wildlife Department (Perhilitan) officers confiscated over 26,000 pieces of python gall bladders, 35,000 pieces of python skin and three pangolins in Kedah and Perak.

TSEA senior programme officer Kanitha Krishnasamy said lucrative animals in the wildlife trade such as Malayan tigers, honey bears, Asian elephants, pangolins and leopards could also be found in those forests.

"Since 2008, our information revealed that at least 400 wild animals had been poached and traded illegally in these two landscapes, including tigers, serows, gaurs, pangolins, sun bears, birds and deer."

Members of TSEA, together with the World Wide Fund for Nature-Malaysia (WWF-Malaysia), had discovered and removed 150 snares from the vast forests.

In April 2009, a five-year-old male tiger was caught in a snare set by poachers near the highway and released by Perhilitan officers.

The tiger was found with tears in its eyes and suffering severe injuries. The cable wire from the snare had cut into its flesh when the animal struggled to escape.

It was then sent to Malacca Zoo for treatment but died two weeks later, much to the disappointment of its rescuers.

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Tree that weeps dragons blood among new discoveries

A tree with “dragons blood” running beneath its bark, a rare mountain top snowdrop and a critically-endangered orchid are among more than 60 new species discovered by botanists in the past year.

Richard Gray The Telegraph 23 Dec 12;

Scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew made the discoveries during a series of expeditions to some of the remotest corners of the world.

Yet despite only recently being catalogued, many of the new plants could disappear all together due to threats to their habitats.

One tree, found growing on top of a ridge among knife-like limestone blades of rock in Thailand, oozes a dark red sap - rumoured in local folklore to be “dragons blood” and drunk as a medicinal tonic - is already considered threatened.

Dr Paul Wilkin, a team leader at the herbarium at Kew who identified the tree as a new species, said the limestone outcrops where it grows are quarried for building material while it is also heavily collected by locals who consider it to be lucky.

With tough leathery leaves and a dark red sap that oozes from the bark when damaged, it is known as the Red Dragon Tree, or Chan Daeng in Thai. The botanists have now given it the scientific name Dracaena jayniana.

Dr Wilkin said he found the tree after being led up a trecherous ridge of limestone near Chiang Mai by local scientists and believes he has found a second new species growing in similar locations.

He said: “The tops of these karsts are covered in weird vegetation. The limestone mountains are very steep sided and have knifelike ridges, so you can’t have any farming there, so you get these quite remarkable plants growing there.

“There is a real overlooked diversity of plants in Thailand. The Red Dragon Tree is related to other species that are also used for medicinal purposes. They are used for everything from curing wounds, fractures, piles and stomach ulcers.

“This one seems to be used as a general pick me up tonic, but what the exact medicinal function is will need some more research.”

Scientists at Kew also discovered a new snowdrop, which they named Galanthus panjutinii, or Panjutin’s snowdrop after a famous climber and naturalist in the Caucasus Mountains called Platon Sergeevich Panjutin.

It was found on just one moutain ridge in Russia and joins 30 other species of snowdrop previously known in the world. The scientists, however, fear the new flower could already be under threat due to the small area it is found in.

They are refusing to reveal the exact location for fear that bulb hunters will raid the mountain side in search of the new species to sell to gardeners.

A new orchid, named Ornithocheirus cacharensis, was also discovered in the Cachar region of Assam, in northern India, a region better known for its tea. There are thought to be just ten of these red and purple plants in an area that measures less than three square miles.

Botanists also discovered 15 new species of palm tree. One example Indonesia, called Adonidia maturbongsii, has huge bat-like leaves while another from Papua New Guinea, called Heterospathe barfodii, produces clusters of purple flowers.

They also found 14 new species of Indigofera, a type of plant that was widely used to produce indigo dyes.

One expedition to the South Atlantic Island of St Helena, a UK Overseas Territory, discovered a new species of grass, which they named Eragrostis episocpulus, or wavy hair grass.

David Simpson, acting head keeper of the herbarium at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, said: “St Helena is a small island, so you might have thought that almost everything should have been found there, but the fact this has only just been discovered makes it more interesting.

“A lot of species on that island are not found anywhere else in the world and that makes them very special.”

Many of the new species discovered by Kew’s scientists, however, are already under threat.

The scientists also discovered some new species had already been collected in the past but had been misidentified before being locked in drawers in Kew’s vast herbarium.

They found 11 new species of Orania, a type of palm tree, hidden in the archives.

Dr Simpson added: “Techniques like DNA sequencing is helping us to work out relationships with other plants and it is a tool we have not had available in the past.

“In general we think there are something like 70,000 news species still out there waiting to be discovered.

"You often find these things more by chance than by anything else – if you happen to be in the right habitat when a particular plant is flowering.”

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Best of our wild blogs: 23 Dec 12

Life History of the Banded Swallowtail
from Butterflies of Singapore

Straw-headed Bulbul – contact calls?
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Is this really Singapore? Pasir Ris shoreline covered with rubbish
from Lazy Lizard's Tales

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ACRES seeks public debate on dolphins

Channel NewsAsia 22 Dec 12;

SINGAPORE: Animal welfare group ACRES wants a debate on the dolphins which are at the heart of the controversy surrounding Resorts World Sentosa's Marine Life Park.

ACRES said it has invited Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) to a public debate on January 19 next year.

The group said the debate will provide the public with facts so that they will be able to hear both sides of the story and make an informed decision about the dolphins.

The Marine Life Park, which opened earlier this month, is the world's largest oceanarium.

It is home to more than 100,000 marine animals, including 24 bottlenose dolphins which were caught from the wild.

ACRES said it has also sent an email to Resorts World Sentosa to clarify statements that RWS has made on the dolphins, urging RWS to respond to the concerns that ACRES and members of the public have raised.

Among the concerns raised are public safety issues during the proposed dolphin contact sessions, as well as animal welfare and conservation issues.

ACRES' chief executive, Louis Ng, said RWS has turned down his requests for meetings for more than a year, and he hopes that RWS will accept his latest invitation for a "positive discussion".

Twenty-seven dolphins were captured from the Solomon Islands between 2008 and 2009, and sent to Malaysia and the Philippines for training while the Marine Life Park was under construction.

One of the dolphins died en route to Singapore in November, while two others died in 2010 in Malaysia from bacterial infections.

Singapore's Marine Life Park has said that its acquisition of the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins followed international requirements.

When asked if it would agree to the public debate, RWS reiterated what it said in a letter published in the TODAY newspaper on Wednesday.

RWS said the "acquisition and care of our dolphins have and will continue to meet and, wherever possible, surpass international guidelines and regulations".

It added that this commitment is not generated from a legal obligation, it is because "we want to do the right thing for our animals".

It said RWS "will not compromise the well being of our marine animals", and that the dolphins, now in their required quarantine period, are acclimating well to their new home at Marine Life Park.

It urged ACRES to "contribute constructively to marine conservation while appreciating that it requires many strategies, experts and resources to turn the tide for the future of marine life".

- CNA/al/xq

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