Malaysia: Tigers spotted in Kampung Besul

Rosli Zakaria New Straits Times 18 Jul 19;

KUALA TERENGGANU: Yesterday, a pair of killer whales made a huge splash all over the news when they appeared near the oil rigs in Dulang, off the Terengganu coast, and today, villagers in Kampung Besul in Dungun were shocked when a pair of usually nocturnal tigers roamed along a road in the village in broad daylight.

Facebook user Adli Mohamed uploaded three pictures of the tigers, one leaning against a car and another resting under a tree.

He claimed in his posting that the pictures were authentic and that the incident happened today.

“They appeared before my eyes and I now know the experience of trying to escape from dangerous animal on a motorcycle,” he said, adding that the pictures were taken with his mobile phone camera.

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Malaysia: Vietnamese fishermen targeting sea cucumber in Sabah waters

Norasikin Daineh New Straits Times 19 Jul 19;

KOTA KINABALU: Vietnamese fishermen are now targeting sea cucumbers apart from other seafood in Malaysian waters especially in Kudat.

State Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) deputy operations director captain Asmawati Mohd Tujeri said the agency was aware that there was a change of trend with foreign fishermen now focusing on the species.

She described the rampant catching of sea cucumbers during its recent arrests as worrying as the activity would destroy the marine ecosystem.

"We notice that the foreign vessels did not only take our fish but also aiming for the species.

"This is serious as they used metals along the seabed to take those sea cucumbers which would damage coral reefs,” she said.

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Indonesia: 11 provinces should declare alert status for forest fire - Ministry

Antara 18 Jul 19;

Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA) - The Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs has appealed to 11 provincial administrations prone to land and forest fires to impose emergency alert status in their respective regions.

"Regions must soon declare an emergency alert status, because of the total 16 provinces (prone to forest fires), only five have imposed the status," the ministry's Deputy for Public Order and Security Coordination Insp. Gen Carlo B. Tewu remarked during a coordination meeting to evaluate and take precautionary measures against land and forest fires here on Thursday.

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Indonesia: North Sumatra catches tiger that killed farmer

Apriadi Gunawan The Jakarta Post 18 Jul 19;

After two months of hunting, the North Sumatra Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA North Sumatra) has succeeded in catching a Sumatran tiger that killed a farmer.

The agency found the tiger alive on Tuesday in Huta Bargot subdistrict, Sosopan district, Padang Lawas regency, after it entered a trap the agency’s team had prepared.

The tiger was suffering from wounds on its right leg when caught, believed to have been caused by snares placed by residents.

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Indonesia: Komodo Island to be closed in 2020

THE JAKARTA POST 18 Jul 19;

East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Tourism Agency head Wayan Darmawa announced on Thursday that Komodo Island is to close by the beginning of 2020.

“It is definite; we have decided to close Komodo Island next year,” Wayan said, as reported by Antara news agency.

The closure is intended for the environmental rehabilitation of the island and to improve the conservation efforts for the Komodo dragons .

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Thailand: Marine experts push to plan to protect dugongs

The Phuket News 18 Jul 19;

KRABI: Calling on local fishermen to preserve dugong sea grass grazing areas and establishing a dugong protection zone are just two strategies to be rolled out under a plan to try to stem the rising number of dugongs found dead along the Andaman coast.

The proposals were put forward at a meeting in Krabi on Tuesday (July16) headed by Marine and Coastal Resources Department Director-General Jatuporn Buruspat. Also present were Rear Admiral Nunthapon Mararat of the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command and Krabi Vice Governors Somkuan Kunngen and Sompot Chotichuchuang.

So far this year 15 dead dugongs have washed ashore or been found in the sea off the coast of the southern provinces, much higher than the yearly average, the meeting was told.

Mr Jatuporn unveiled a plan comprising short-term, mid-term and long-term phases.

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Thailand: Dramatic drop in Mekong water level sparks alarm

Pratch Rujivanarom The Nation 18 Jul 19;

Mekong River water levels that fell dramatically on Thursday under impact from dam operations will soon recover, says the national water management agency.

Somkiat Prajumwong, secretary-general at the Office of National Water Resources (ONWR), offered the reassurance despite warnings from experts that the dams are destroying Mekong ecosystems and doing long-lasting harm to millions of people who depend on the river.

Over this week, Mekong River levels on the Laos-Thailand border in the Northeast fell at an alarming rate after China’s Jinghong Dam reduced its discharge and Xayaburi hydropower dam in Laos began trial operations.

Somkiat admitted that Thai authorities had no measures to mitigate the rapid change in water level but said the river would return to normal quickly, as Jinghong Dam had already resumed its regular discharge rate and the Xayaburi Dam trial would conclude soon.

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IUCN red list reveals wildlife destruction from treetop to ocean floor

Latest list shows extinction now threatens a third of all assessed species, from monkeys to rhino rays
Damian Carrington The Guardian 18 Jul 19;

From the tops of trees to the depths of the oceans, humanity’s destruction of wildlife is continuing to drive many species towards extinction, with the latest “red list” showing that a third of all species assessed are under threat.

The razing of habitats and hunting for bushmeat has now driven seven primates into decline, while overfishing has pushed two families of extraordinary rays to the brink. Pollution, dams and over-abstraction of freshwater are responsible for serious declines in river wildlife from Mexico to Japan, while illegal logging is ravaging Madagascar’s rosewoods, and disease is decimating the American elm.

The red list, produced by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), is the most authoritative assessment of the status of species. The list published on Thursday adds almost 9,000 new species, bringing the total to 105,732, though this is a fraction of the millions of species thought to live on Earth. Not a single species was recorded as having improved in status.

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Best of our wild blogs: 17 Jul 19

Sea slug overdose on Changi Creek shores
wild shores of singapore

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Wanted: Public feedback on how to reduce Singapore’s carbon emissions beyond 2030

NAVENE ELANGOVAN Today Online 17 Jul 19;

SINGAPORE — Singaporeans may now give their suggestions on how to make Singapore cleaner and greener.

The National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS) launched an online public consultation exercise on Tuesday (July 16) to get feedback from the public regarding its long-term strategy to reduce Singapore’s carbon emissions beyond 2030.

It would like to seek views on measures and actions that can be taken by the Government, businesses, households and individuals towards becoming a low carbon city, to minimise carbon emissions.

The NCCS, which comes under the Prime Minister’s Office, oversees Singapore’s domestic and international policies to tackle climate change.

It is working on a strategy which builds on Singapore’s ongoing effort to achieve its pledge under the Paris Agreement — where Singapore has committed to reduce its emissions intensity by 36 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030.

WHY IT MATTERS

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‘Time is running out’: Tackling climate change a priority for Singapore, says Masagos

Matthew Mohan Channel NewsAsia 17 Jul 19;

SINGAPORE: Facing the “loud and unmistakable” warning of climate change, Singapore needs to act, said Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli on Wednesday (Jul 17).

Speaking at the 2019 Partners for the Environment forum, Mr Masagos stressed that tackling climate change is a “pressing priority” and an “existential challenge” for Singapore.

“Time is running out,” he said. “Last year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued one of the starkest warnings from the scientific community – an increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius in global warming could occur as early as 2030.

“The warning is loud and unmistakable: We must act now or we may well face the ultimate threat to human survival ... the end of ‘life as usual’.”

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More mosquitoes or mutating virus? Experts have different views on dengue spike

Ang Hwee Min Channel NewsAsia 16 Jul 19;

SINGAPORE: Singapore could see more cases of dengue than usual in 2019 after a lull of a few years, but it is not clear what is causing the current spike, infectious diseases experts told CNA.

Dengue cases rose to 666 last week, which the National Environment Agency (NEA) said was the highest recorded in a week since a previous peak in January 2016, when the number of cases hit 637.

As of 3pm on Monday (Jul 15), there were 7,438 recorded cases of dengue in Singapore, about five times more than the 1,481 cases in the same period last year, NEA said. Five people have died from dengue this year.

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