Malaysia: Juvenile clouded leopard successfully rescued in Ranau

The Star 13 Jul 19;

KOTA KINABALU: A male juvenile clouded leopard, believed to have become separated from its mother, was rescued at a village in Ranau district early Saturday (July 13) morning.

The Sabah Wildlife Department's wildlife rescue unit (WRU) went to Kampung Perancangan on Friday evening, after a villager said he spotted the animal roaming around the village a couple of days before.

Read more!

Malaysia: 250 turtle eggs confiscated from Lahad Datu market

Hazsyah Abdul Rahman New Straits Times 13 Jul 19;

LAHAD DATU: Marine police have seized 250 turtle eggs from the Lahad Datu wet market here yesterday (July 12).

In the 10am operation, the eggs, worth RM500, were found in a bucket and a basket near the market's chicken slaughter station.

Read more!

Malaysia: Researchers find microplastics in sea salt

The Star 14 Jul 19;

THE increase in news reports of marine wildlife washing up dead on shores due to complications from ingesting plastic, brings to light the severity of plastic consumption, disposal of plastic and garbage, and pollution of our waterways and oceans.

The Great Pacific garbage patch so far is the largest accumulation of ocean plastic in the world. There are smaller accumulations scattered all around the world. If marine life has been affected, are humans at risk?

This is what piqued the interests of senior lecturers, Dr Jane Gew Lai Ti and Dr Yow Yoon Yen of the Department of Biological Sciences, School of Science and Technology at Sunway University.

Read more!

Indonesia: Man arrested for trying to smuggle elephant tusks from Malaysia

Dyaning Pangestika The Jakarta Post 12 Jul 19;

The authorities in Nunukan, North Kalimantan, have arrested a 54-year-old man for allegedly trying to smuggle 10 elephant tusks from Malaysia.

Investigators from the Kalimantan Law Enforcement Center (Gakkum) foiled the smuggling attempt after receiving a tip-off from the Nunukan Customs and Excise Office on Tuesday.

Read more!

Indonesia: Living with drought

The Jakarta Post 13 Jul 19;

There is nothing new about the long droughts the country is now enduring. This nation has umpteen times proved its resilience in withstanding climate phenomena, that can have disastrous impacts on human beings and their environment. But inaction, assuming that it will eventually pass, is a mistake that will not only exacerbate the damage but also leave us unprotected when the disaster recurs in the future.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has warned that the dry season may be drier and more intense this year than last year as a result of the El Nino phenomenon. The agency has classified West Java, Central Java, most parts of East Java, Yogyakarta, Bali and Nusa Tenggara as the regions most vulnerable to extreme drought, or more than 60 days without rain. Jakarta, Banten, Sumatra, Kalimantan and South Sulawesi are the second-most prone regions.

Although the dry season will only culminate in August, its impacts have already been felt in many areas. A number of regional governments have reported scarcity of clean water, declining supply of irrigation water and potential crop failure. Most recently, health authorities in Pacitan, East Java, reported an outbreak of Hepatitis A that infected more than 1,000 people as a result, albeit an indirect one, of drought.

Read more!

Indonesia: Pekanbaru shrouded in haze from forest fire

Antara 14 Jul 19;

Pekanbaru. Riau (ANTARA) - Tampan and Senapelan Sub-districts in Pekanbaru, Riau Province, Sumatra Island, on Sunday were shrouded in haze coming from forest fire.

"Haze shrouds Panam (in Tampan sub-district)," Tanjung, a local inhabitant, said here on Sunday.

The Terra and Aqua satellites detected 38 hotspots on Sunday morning, an increase from 35 hotspots on the previous day, the Pekanbaru meteorology, climatology and geophysics (BMKG) station, said.

Read more!

Vietnam: Urban heat islands make Vietnam’s cities hotter than ever

Vietnam News 12 Jul 19;

HCM CITY — Urban heat islands in HCM City and other large cities in Việt Nam are causing heat waves with some of the highest recorded temperatures ever in the country, affecting public health.

The Centre for Regional and Urban Studies said this year is forecast to be the hottest ever since temperatures began to be recorded in 1880.

In large cities like HCM City and Hà Nội, temperatures reached 40-50 degrees Celsius in March and April.

Read more!

Wildlife Traffickers Use Facebook, Instagram to Find Black-Market Buyers

‘If there were T-Rexes alive, they would be selling them,’ one researcher says
Kurt Wagner Bloomberg 11 Jul 19;

Ali Ahamed’s black satchel was overflowing with turtles, their tiny heads poking out. Just a few feet away, on the hotel room floor, roughly 20 larger turtles with dark brown shells were removed from black suitcases and flipped onto their backs to keep them from crawling under the couch.

Ahamed had arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital and a popular stop for animal traffickers, from India a few days earlier to meet with his buyer, who had discovered the turtle broker through Facebook Inc.’s social network months earlier. The two negotiated a sale on Facebook Messenger. The 55 turtles in his bags included red-crowned roofed turtles, known for their brightly colored necks, and black spotted turtles with little yellow dots on their shells. Both species are endangered, and both have become popular pets in mainland China and Hong Kong.

Read more!

Best of our wild blogs: 12 Jul 19

14 Jul (Sun): Registration opens for Sisters Islands Intertidal walks in August 2019
Celebrating Singapore Shores!

Read more!

Novel reusable hydrogel could harvest clean, desalinated water from humid air above sea surfaces

National University of Singapore Phys.org 11 Jul 19;

The novel hydrogel developed by a team from the National University of Singapore, led by Assistant Professor Tan Swee Ching (extreme right), can be used to harvest clean water from humid air above sea surfaces, just by using natural sunlight. Credit: National University of Singapore
Huge amounts of water evaporate from water surfaces such as reservoirs and the open sea each day. To address this issue, especially in water scarce areas, researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) found an innovative way to harvest water from the humid air above water surfaces.

The solution lies in a unique zinc-based water-absorbing hydrogel that was developed last year by a research team at the NUS Faculty of Engineering. This gel-like material is over eight times more absorbent than commercial drying agents and only natural sunlight is required to harvest water from the water-saturated hydrogel.

"Due to the hot climate in Singapore, about 45 million cubic metres of water is lost from reservoirs through evaporation each year. Our hydrogel can convert moisture present in humid air to water without the need for any external energy input. By harnessing the moisture-rich air that is commonly found above water surfaces, we can collect water, which would otherwise be lost to the environment, for different uses," said research team leader Assistant Professor Swee-Ching TAN, who is from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the NUS Faculty of Engineering.

Read more!

Indonesia to build country's longest bridge linking islands near Singapore

Reuters 11 Jul 19;

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia plans to build a 7 km (4.35 mile) bridge to connect two islands in the Malacca Strait, close to Singapore, as part of efforts to develop industry and tourism in the area, the government said on Thursday.

The bridge connecting Batam and Bintan islands will cost an estimated 4 trillion rupiah ($284.35 million), the office of the cabinet secretary said in a statement on Thursday, and will be the longest in the Southeast Asian country.

The bridge aims to capitalize on expansion of Singapore’s Changi Airport with the development of a new Terminal 5, which will have transport connections to Bintan.

Read more!

Indonesia: Environment ministry intensifies land and forest fire control

Antara 11 Jul 19;

A technical evaluation has been done in each agency, local government, stakeholders (stakeholders), the community
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) and related stakeholders are working together to intensify patrols to prevent and control land and forest fires (karhutla). "A technical evaluation has been done in each agency, local government, stakeholders (stakeholders), the community," said Director of Forest Fire and Land Control of KLHK Raffles B Panjaitan when contacted from Jakarta Thursday.

Manggala Agni fire-fighting brigades in North Sumatra, Riau, Riau Islands, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, and Central Kalimantan, in addition to South Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, and North Sulawesi routinely conduct daily patrols in an effort to prevent and control forest and land fires.

The company is also involved in forest fire control efforts in accordance with Minister of Environment and Forestry Regulation Number 32 of 2016.

Read more!