22 May (Sun) is World Biodiversity Day
from Celebrating Singapore's BioDiversity!
Latest Green Jobs in Singapore [9 - 15 May 2011]
from Green Business Times
Wild facts updates for May 11: some awesome fishes!
from wild shores of singapore
No lesser stars
from The annotated budak
Weaver birds - native and non-native
from Life's Indulgences
Smelly lotus pond in AMK park
from Urban Forest
Ground pecking Laced Woodpecker
from Bird Ecology Study Group
Mushroom Coral
from Monday Morgue
Antara 15 May 11;
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The annual migration of an estimated 50 billion birds representing around 19 per cent of the world`s 10,000 bird species is one of nature`s great natural wonders.
Yet each year, more and more of the natural habitats migratory birds need to complete their journeys either diminish or disappear completely, according to The Nairobi-based United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in a press statement received here on Sunday.
The theme for World Migratory Bird Day 2011, celebrated around the world on 14-15 May, is ` Land use changes from a bird`s-eye view ` and it highlights the negative effects human activities are having on migratory birds, their habitats and the planet`s natural environment.
The loss, fragmentation and degradation of natural bird habitats is occurring globally and is mainly caused by the pressures resulting from a growing human population, rapid urbanization and unsustainable human use of natural areas.
"Although migratory birds face many serious threats, the way humans use the land around them has by far the greatest negative effect. Unsustainable human land use, whether through deforestation, intensive agriculture, biofuel production, land reclamation, urbanization and mining directly removes or damages the habitats of migratory birds, affecting their populations on a global scale", said Bert Lenten, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and initiator of the World Migratory Bird Day campaign.
World Migratory Bird Day is being organized by the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) - two intergovernmental wildlife treaties administered by UNEP.
BirdLife International, Wetlands International and the Secretariat of the Partnership for the East Asian - Australasian Flyway (EAAFP) are also main partners of the global campaign.
"As the two intergovernmental treaties dedicated to the conservation of migratory animals, including migratory birds at global and flyway scale, the Convention on Migratory Species and the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement have launched World Migratory Bird Day to make people aware of the threats migratory birds face along their migration routes", added Lenten.
Dr. Marco Lambertini, BirdLife International`s Chief Executive said: "Land-use change poses an immediate and increasing threat to the world`s migratory birds. Habitats vital to these species on their incredible journeys are being destroyed or degraded at an alarming rate and the bird?s-eye view is becoming bleaker. The BirdLife Partnership, with over 110 conservation organizations along the world`s flyways, is working across borders to help stem this tide and achieve the effective joined-up conservation needed to make a difference for these inspiring birds."
Initiated in 2006, World Migratory Bird Day is an annual campaign backed by the United Nations and is devoted to celebrating migratory birds and promoting their conservation worldwide.
Events for WMBD 2011 in over 50 countries included bird festivals, education programmes, presentations, film screenings and birdwatching trips, run by hundreds of volunteers, dedicated groups and organizations around the world. (F001)
(ANTARA)
Editor: Ella Syafputri
Antara 15 May 11;
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia, along with Guatemala, India, Japan, Norway, South Africa, Switzerland and Tunisia signed the Nagoya Protocol at the UN Headquarters in New York on May 11, marking a milestone in the history of the use of biodiversity convention.
The signing ceremony took place during a ministerial segment of the 19th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-19) at the General Assembly Hall, the UN Headquarters, New York.
Thirteen countries - Colombia, Yemen, Algeria, Brazil, Mexico, Rwanda, Ecuador, Republic of Central Africa, Seychelles, Mali, Sudan, Panama and Peru - have already signed the protocol.
The protocol sets terms on how countries will permit access to genetic resources, share the benefits arising from their use, and cooperate with one another in allegations of misuse. The protocol will come into force 90 days after it has been ratified by at least 50 parties.
The protocol will serve as an important instrument to optimize the use of genetic resources and to put a halt to bio-piracy.
Indonesia is known as the world`s second mega biodiversity country.
On the occasion, Indonesian Environment Minister Gusti Mohammad Hatta speaking on behalf of ASEAN member states underscored the importance of the meeting to influence the outcome of UNCSD 2012 (Rio+20) in Brazil.
He also stressed the importance of applying the concept of green economy in support of sustainable development.
"With the Nagoya Protocol, biodiversity will serve as the backbone of sustainable development through the concept of green economy. Debates on the contradiction between the environment and economy will be over," he said.
After signing the protocol, Indonesia is expected to ratify it by enacting law in line with the effort to speed up the passage of genetic resource management bill into law.
The law is expected to strengthen the national legislation in the use of genetic resources for the benefit of the people particularly those having traditional wisdom and knowledge in managing genetic resources.
(T.D016/S012/H-NG)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Marlowe Hood Yahoo News 15 May 11;
LONDON (AFP) – If alien geologists were to visit our planet 10 million years from now, would they discern a distinct human fingerprint in Earth's accumulating layers of rock and sediment?
Will homo sapiens, in other words, define a geological period in the way dinosaurs -- and their vanishing act -- helped mark the Jurassic and the Cretaceous?
A growing number of scientists, some gathered at a one-day symposium this week at the British Geological Society in London, say "yes".
One among them, chemistry Nobel laureate Paul Crutzen, has even suggested a new name: the Anthropocene.
Whether this "age of man" will be short or long is unknown, says Crutzen, who shared his Nobel for unmasking the man-made chemicals eating away at the atmosphere's protective ozone layer.
For the first time in Earth's 4.7 billion year history, a single species has not only radically changed Earth's morphology, chemistry and biology, it is now aware of having done so.
"We broke it, we bought it, we own it," is how Erle Ellis, a professor of geography and ecology at the University of Maryland at Baltimore, put it.
"We don't know what is going to happen in the Anthropocene -- it could be good, even better," he said. "But we need to think differently and globally, to take ownership of the planet."
Dinosaurs were most likely wiped out by a giant meteor that cooled Earth's temperatures below their threshold for survival.
An analogous fate could await humans if temperatures climb by five or six degrees Celsius, which climate scientists say could happen within a century.
But dinosaurs thrived for more than 150 million years before a cosmic pebble ended their extraordinary run, while modern humans have only been around for about 200,000 years, a snap of the fingers by comparison.
Another key difference: dinosaurs didn't know what hit them, and played no role in their own demise.
Humans, by contrast, have been the main architects of the enormous changes that are threatening to throw what scientists now call the Earth System out of whack.
Since Crutzen coined the term a decade ago, the Anthropocene has been eagerly adopted by scientists across a broad spectrum of disciplines.
"It triggered the realisation that we were in an entirely new era of planet Earth," said Will Steffen, head of Australian National University's Climate Change Institute.
It also triggered fierce debate.
At one level, the issues are narrow to the point of pedantry -- rock experts quibbling over whether mankind's present and future geological imprint merits recognition by the International Commission on Stratigraphy.
At the same time, however, the concept forces us to ponder whether humanity's outsized impact on the planet could lead to undesired, possibly uncontrollable, outcomes, and what, if anything, humanity should do about it.
That leaves scientists who may be more comfortable classifying rocks than rocking the boat in a tricky position.
For now, the man in the hot seat is University of Leicester professor Jan Zalasiewicz, who heads the group of geologists tasked with recommending whether the Anthropocene should be added to the 150-odd eons, eras, periods, epochs and ages into which the last 3.6 billion years of Earth's history has been officially divided.
"Jan must recognise the implications for society if his own tribe decides, using classical criteria, that there is not yet enough evidence to formally recognise a new boundary in the geological record," said Bryan Lovell, president of the British Geological Society and a professor at Cambridge.
Evidence of abrupt change -- on a geological time scale -- wrought by human hands would seem to be overwhelming.
The burning of fossil fuels has altered the composition of the atmosphere, pushing the concentration of carbon dioxide to levels unseen at least for 800,000 years, perhaps for three million.
The resulting global warming has itself set in motion other planetary-scale changes: massive melting of the parts of Earth normally covered by ice and snow (aka the cryosphere), and the acidification of the oceans.
Past shifts in the biosphere -- the realm of the living -- show up in sediment and rock, especially mass extinctions that have seen up to 90 percent of all lifeforms disappear within the geological blink of an eye.
There have been five such wipeouts over the last half billion years, and most scientists agree that we have now entered the sixth, with species disappearing at 100 to 1,000 times the so-called "background" rate.
Another key index is the rise of invasive species travelling in a globalised world via ship ballasts, air travel and old-fashioned smuggling.
"The mass homogenisation event" -- finding the same species everywhere -- "will be quite a clear signal in the archaeological record a million years from now," said Zalasiewicz.
Even the planet's outer skin, or lithosphere, has been transformed.
"We are sculpting the surface of the Earth," said James Syvitski, a professor at the University of Colorado, pointing to two centuries of industrial-scale mining, damming, deforestation and agriculture.
Thousands of dams built since the mid-19th century have "completely altered the planet's terrestrial plumbing," he said.
To validate the Anthropocene, all these changes will be measured against the range of variation in our current geological period -- the Holocene epoch -- which began some 12,000 years ago as Earth emerged from the last ice age.
"Human influence on the global environment must push the Earth system well beyond the Holocene envelope of variability," said Steffen.
By one key measure, at least, we already have: the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere -- measured in parts per million -- remained in a narrow range of 260 to 285 for nearly 12,000 years. Today is stands at 390 ppm, and is sure to rise considerably higher in coming decades.
If the hugely complex web of chemical and biological interactions that sustains most life does tip seriously out of kilter, the planet will find a new equilibrium, as it has in the past.
Earth, in other words, will do fine. Humans, on the other hand, may find the transition more than difficult.
"It is a planet that will be much warmer, much stormier, much less biodiverse," said Steffen. "We will need to be very resilient as a species."
In nailing down the Anthropocene, there is also a question of timing. Some scholars favour dating it to the start of agriculture, some 8,000 years ago.
Most, however, favour hammering the "golden spike" in the middle of the 19th century when the steam engine and then fossil fuels kicked off an exponential explosion in population and consumption that is still gathering pace.
Starting around 1950, the "Great Acceleration" has seen dozens of key indicators, plotted on a graph, take off like a rocket: population, damming of rivers, water and fertiliser use, paper consumption, tourism, and vehicles, to name a few.
These, in turn, have sparked correspondingly sharp rises in greenhouse gas concentrations, ozone depletion, great floods, depletion of fisheries, loss of forests, species loss.
The dramatic transformation we have seen so far has been driven mainly by the 20 percent of the world's population living in rich nations.
Crutzen said he hopes that putting a name -- the Anthropocene -- to these changes may help focus humanity's mind on the challenges ahead.
"It could well be a paradigm shift in scientific thinking," he said at the London meeting.
"But it will probably take another 20 years before it is formally accepted."
16-21 May: Wayang at Ubin
from wild shores of singapore
Butterfly of the Month - The Green Imperial
from Butterflies of Singapore
Along Old Upper Thomson Road Part 2
from Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature
Chek Jawa with the Naked Hermit Crabs
from wild shores of singapore
Collared kingfisher - breeding along canal
from Bird Ecology Study Group
Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve
from Fahrenheit minus 459
Seagrass Watch Magazine issue 43 (April 2011)
from teamseagrass
Joel Cooper Straits Times 15 May 11;
Whenever I get a day off work, I like nothing better than to relax in the company of my new friends.
They are a lively, free-spirited bunch who really know how to have fun.
OK, they can be a little boisterous at times. Fights have been known to break out, and I once caught two of them sharing an, ahem, intimate moment in full view of several shocked passers-by.
Not that my friends cared. After all, they are only long-tailed macaques.
My friendship with the wild monkeys of MacRitchie Reservoir Park is perhaps a little one-sided. Most of the time they either ignore me or simply stare with a slightly bored expression that seems to say: 'Give me some food, or get lost.'
But even though I'm far from the first Homo sapien to intrude on their territory, every moment I spend with them feels like a rare and magical privilege.
It reminds me of a wildlife documentary I watched as a child, in which the presenter manages to ingratiate himself with a band of mountain gorillas, who lovingly groom him for insects as if he were just another member of the family.
My monkeys do not actually touch me, of course - except for one time when a surprisingly heavy patriarch trod on my foot with his front paw. I could tell by his bulging belly, bushy white sideburns and the way he sauntered confidently around that he was Commander-in-Chief of Monkey Land, so I let the insult pass.
I can't honestly say that my new friends recognise me, either. This is fair enough, as although I might think I've seen an individual monkey before, I have no way of genuinely telling them apart.
When they interact as a family, however, their personalities begin to shine through. Glued to the spot, I crouch in the shade of the jungle canopy and watch as a vibrant tableau of familiar relationships takes shape before me.
There are the bickering, hormone-charged youths who wrestle on the boardwalk next to the reservoir. They remind me of my brother and I as kids growing up in England. In fact, their furry fringes look a bit like the haircut I had as a teenager.
Then there are the lovers, stretched out languorously in a haze of conjugal bliss, tenderly picking bugs from one another's hairy flanks. Ah, the joys of romance.
But by far the most arresting sight I have witnessed during my day-pass visits to Monkey Land was that of a wide-eyed baby, clinging fearlessly to its mother's belly as she leapt through thin air from branch to branch. Safely back on solid ground, she cradled her baby in a tender embrace.
Meanwhile, the clan formed a protective shield around the curious infant, gently batting its paw away each time it reached out to touch my shoe.
The bond between mother and child moved me deeply and I could not help thinking about the happy day when, I hope, my wife and I will have a little monkey of our own.
Fascinating as they are, it was not the macaques that first drew me to MacRitchie. Instead, I was attracted by its winding forest trails, which are ideal for running. During my seven years spent living in London, I would often jog along the banks of the River Thames, in the shadow of Big Ben.
Impressive though that route was, nothing compares to the freedom of racing through the jungle, with shafts of milky sunlight filtering through the foliage and the shrill cry of cicadas filling your ears.
When I moved to Singapore in October, I found it a frustrating place to jog. My late working hours on The Straits Times news desk meant I had no time to run at night, away from the sun's relentless glare.
As for jogging during the day - forget it. My ang moh face would turn red as a tomato within minutes.
I ended up pounding away week after week on a gym treadmill, with nothing to occupy my brain but daydreams of tackling more interesting routes - up and down Arabian dunes with the desert sand whipping through my hair, or across polar glaciers, pursued by hungry bears.
Then I discovered MacRitchie, a place where I could jog to my heart's content, shielded from the sun by lush vegetation. Nowadays, I do far less actual running there, as my attention is distracted by the monkeys. I guess I should try to do more.
After all, there is a saying: 'The traveller who drags his feet raises only dust.'
Its author? The legendary Sun Wukong, otherwise known as the Monkey King. Maybe my new friends aren't so simple after all.
The writer, from England, is a Straits Times copy editor. He has lived in Singapore for seven months.
Joel Cooper
Retailers are increasing variety to meet demand and farms are using technology to boost yield
Jessica Lim Straits Times 15 May 11;
More consumers are going 'organic', and supermarkets here are happy to oblige, while bringing prices down too.
Organic vegetables are grown without pesticides and other chemicals.
Pasar Organic - the housebrand organic range of supermarket chain NTUC FairPrice - now stocks white asparagus, sugar snap peas and chayote shoot.
By August, 27 other greens will be added, doubling the number of organic items under this housebrand. Cost savings can go up to 70 per cent less than the brand-name counterparts.
FairPrice reckons that demand for its organic greens has grown 25 per cent year on year since 2008, when the trend first took off.
Cold Storage and Jasons Market Place too have had organic vegetables on their shelves for some years.
Over the past two years, they have increased their range of organic vegetables by 30 per cent, with demand seeing year-on-year double-digit percentage point growth during that time.
One wholesaler, Zenxin Organic Food, a major organic greens supplier to supermarkets and restaurants, has seen a 20 per cent jump in sales over the past two years. It now sells 100 types of organic vegetables, up from 70 two years ago. Among the new items it has started importing are four-angled beans, silverbeets, kale, Swede and lemongrass.
'Customers requested these items so we decided to bring them in,' said the company's director, Mr Tai Seng Yee, 28, who owns five farms in Malaysia.
He felt that the generally lower prices of such greens now have helped to spur demand. 'Last time you could not get any organic vegetables for less than $2 per 250g. Now, you can,' he said.
Mr Tai sells organic xiao bai cai at $1.99 for 250g, and sweet potato leaf at $1.80 for 250g. Two years ago, these items would have cost more than $2.
Mr Tng Ah Yiam, FairPrice's managing director of group purchasing, merchandising and international trading, attributed the lower prices to increased supply from the region as a result of improved technology and the heightened demand.
'Previously, many farmers in these places did not know how to get high-yield levels without using pesticide. Improved technology has changed that,' he said. He added that increased demand encouraged more farmers to grow such crops. 'The trend is really catching on. Consumers are now more educated and health-conscious.'
Consumers also benefit price-wise when more farmers in the region grow organic vegetables, since it is cheaper to transport vegetables from such areas than from farther-flung countries.
FairPrice pushes prices down even further for Pasar Organic by cutting down on middlemen. It goes straight to the source - 11 farms in Thailand, sweetened by long-term contracts.
The chain also helps the farms to source for organic seeds, increase their yield and transport their harvests to Singapore in air-conditioned trucks.
Pasar Organic also comes with its own certification label guaranteeing that the items are truly organic. Some rules: The farms in Thailand have to be about 10km away from industrial land, and organic produce must be packed in special containers away from non-organic ones.
The chain aims to stock its organic brand at 50 of its stores by 2013. It now stocks it at 30 stores, including all FairPrice Finest outlets, up from 20 in 2008.
Teacher Christine Teo, 24, started going organic a month ago.'I've read a lot about the harmful effects of pesticides and now it's not as expensive as before. I pay just a little more, so why not?' she said, adding that the recent food scares also played a part in her decision to go organic.
Others, like Madam Fang Qiu Li, 52, a civil servant, eat organic vegetables for health reasons and the added nutrition.
Experts, however, say this is a myth.
'The term organic describes a method of production rather than the characteristics of the food,' said Mr Lim Meng Thiam, a dietitian at the Health Promotion Board's Adult Health Division.
'There is no conclusive evidence that organic food is nutritionally superior to conventionally produced food.'
The Star 14 May 11;
KUCHING: The Sarawak Natural Resources and Enviroment Board (NREB), a state-owned environmental protection and preservation agency, is now on alert over the possible return of haze in view of the prolonged hot and dry season.
NREB controller Peter Sawal said NREB offices in Kuching, Betong, Sibu, Mukah, Bintulu, Miri and Limbang had been directed to monitor any activity, especially open burning, in the urban and rural areas that might cause a haze.
"At the moment there will be no blanket ban on open burning in Sarawak but if the weather continues to be drier, then we will take immediate measures," he told Bernama, here Saturday.
Peter said one of the protocols that needed to be adhered to when imposing a blanket ban on open burning was that the Air Pollution Index (API) reading must reach an unhealthy level of above 100.
"As of now, the API is still below 100 but with the weather expected to get humid in the coming weeks, the NREB will monitor (the situation) closely," he said.
Peter, however, said the ban on open burning would be based on a case-to-case basis depending on weather conditions in their respective areas.
"If the weather gets drier, even those who had the permission from NREB to conduct open burning will be required to stop their activities as soon as possible," he said - Bernama
Sarawak on the alert as dry spell prolongs
New Straits Times 14 May 11;
KUCHING: The Sarawak Natural Resources and Environment Board (NREB), a state-owned environmental protection and preservation agency, is on the alert for haze in view of the prolonged hot and dry season.
Bernama reports that NREB controller Peter Sawal said NREB offices here, in Betong, Sibu, Mukah, Bintulu, Miri and Limbang had been directed to monitor any activity, especially open burning, that might cause haze.
"At the moment, there is no blanket ban on open burning in Sarawak but if the weather continues to be dry, we will take immediate steps."
Sawal said imposing a blanket ban on open burning would only be considered if the Air Pollutant Index (API) reading was above 100.
"As of now, the API is below 100 but with the weather expected to get more humid in the coming weeks, we will monitor the situation closely."
He said the ban on open burning would be carried out on a case-to-case basis depending on weather conditions.
"If the weather gets worse, even those who have the NREB's permission to conduct open burning will be required to stop their activities."
Meanwhile, Minderjeet Kaur reports that the air quality nationwide remained at "good" and "moderate" levels yesterday for the second time this week, with isolated thunderstorms and rain.
Sporadic rain is also expected next week.
The downpour three days ago helped clear the hazy skyline which had enveloped most cities since the start of this week. The temperature dropped from 36.2oC a few days ago to 33.5oC yesterday.
People were also breathing in better air quality with API readings of below 70 compared with 90 and above earlier this week.
Johor and Bukit Rambai in Malacca recorded an API of 70 while the rest of the country recorded readings of 65 and below.
Tanjung Malim, which recorded an unhealthy API of above 100 earlier in the week, had a reading of 34 yesterday, while Miri recorded the lowest at 16.
According to the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry website, air quality readings nationwide ranged from 30 to 60.
(API readings of 50 and below are categorised as healthy; 51 to 100, moderate; 101 to 200, unhealthy; and, above 300, hazardous.)
The Meteorological Department's website said isolated thunderstorms and rain continued up to last night with a maximum temperature of 34oC, which dropped to between 25oC and 27oC at night in most parts of the country.
The department had earlier said hot temperatures were expected to last for the next few weeks with sporadic showers.
Perhilitan traps female panther in Negeri Sembilan
New Straits Times 14 May 11;
KUALA PILAH: The Negeri Sembilan Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) has caught a female panther in Kampung Tanjung Limau Purut, Ulu Bendul here yesterday.
Its director, Mohd Zaide Mohamed Zin, said the three-year-old female panther, weighing 20kg, was caught after she fell into a trap behind a villager's house, which was set since May 5 using a goose as bait.
"At 7.55pm yesterday, the villager heard the fall of the trap-door and believing that the panther had been trapped, he contacted our officials.
"We have sent the panther to be taken care of by the Melaka Zoo," he told Bernama when contacted, here today.
Mohd Zaide said this was the second panther caught in the village after the first one in February.
Prior to this, he said a villager, Muhamad Yunus, who is also goose breeder, had filed a complaint to Perhilitan after some of his geese and turkeys, were devoured by the panther, causing him to suffer losses amounting to RM400.
"We have carried out investigation and identified the possible predator before setting up the trap," he said. -- Bernama
Bet your bottom dollar
from The annotated budak
14 May (Sat) is World Migratory Bird Day
from Celebrating Singapore's BioDiversity!
Chek Jawa Boardwalk trip this Saturday, 14th May
from Adventures with the Naked Hermit Crabs
Kids’ Musang Watch!
from The Diet of the Common Palm Civet in Singapore
Back to Ubin! and an unexpected civet poop site!
from The Diet of the Common Palm Civet in Singapore
croc on the path @ SBWR 08May2011
from sgbeachbum
Unwelcome tips
from The annotated budak
Been to Cyrene: "Exceeding expectations"
from Cyrene Reef Exposed!
'Massive oil-gas hub' planned in Pengerang, Johor
from wild shores of singapore
Green Volunteers update
from The Green Volunteers
Channel NewsAsia 13 May 11;
SINGAPORE: The National Parks Board (NParks) on Friday reminded members of the public not to release animals into the wild on Vesak Day (May 17) as they would be doing more harm than good.
Its director of conservation, Mr Wong Tuan Wah, said: "We would like to appeal to the public not to release animals into the wild, as they are not likely to survive.
Many die within a day as they are not used to the surroundings and are not able to cope in the wild."
Last year, NParks saw five cases where people released animals into the wild.
These included fish, frogs and crickets, which can be easily bought at aquarium shops.
To raise public awareness on the harm of releasing animals into the wild, NParks is working with volunteers to carry out 'Operation No Release' in the nature reserves and reservoirs this weekend.
Mr Henry Baey, President of the Buddhist Fellowship, agreed that releasing animals into reservoirs and nature reserves would not be productive.
He said: "Furthermore, they will upset the existing eco-system and may be harmful to the native wildlife. It is therefore not necessarily a kind act."
NParks is also targeting a special group of people to spread the eco message - children.
To celebrate the International Year of Forests, this year, NParks is, for the first time, organising three full-day camps for children aged between nine and 12 years old.
Themed "Our Forest", the camp is part of the two-year Nature Keeper Programme to raise children's appreciation for nature and Singapore's natural heritage.
They will participate in nature walks and hands-on activities.
The full-day camps will be held on May 21, May 28 and Jun 10 from 9am to 5.30pm.
-CNA/ck
Complaints about aggressive dogs, so move to ensure public safety: NParks
Jessica Cheam & Grace Chua Straist Times 14 May 11;
TWO tenders for the catching and culling of stray dogs roaming free in some parks have upset civic society groups and dog lovers.
Called by the National Parks Board (NParks), one contract is for removing 20 stray dogs from Ang Mo Kio Town Garden West, and the other, for 15 to be rounded up in East Coast Park, Changi Beach Park or Pasir Ris Park.
When contacted, NParks told The Straits Times that it was appointing an external agent to remove the dogs in response to the more than 100 complaints it has received in the past year from members of the public.
NParks' general manager of parks Chia Seng Jiang said park users or their pets have been chased and nearly bitten, and that public safety was NParks' primary concern.
But Action for Singapore Dogs (ASD) and other animal-welfare groups are distressed that the contractors who eventually clinch the tenders may not use humane methods in rounding up the dogs or putting them down.
The NParks tenders call for the contractor to provide 'paper evidence' of the culling; the contractor has nine months to do the job, and will be paid when documentary proof is shown for each animal caught and euthanised.
NParks clarified yesterday that the contractor must send the animals to the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) to be euthanised.
Online forums like Facebook got wind of the tenders on the Government's e-procurement portal GeBiz on Tuesday and started buzzing.
Ms Bhavani Prakash, founder of an environment website here, said in an online post that it was 'cruelty to the animals'.
'We should know the methods used, and consider a holistic treatment of stray dogs to take a longer-term view,' she later told The Straits Times.
Separately, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals executive director Deirdre Moss acknowledged that stray dogs presented a safety issue, but said urbanisation and pet abandonment lay at the root of the problem of strays.
'It's not the dogs' fault they're out there. There was a beginning and the root cause was probably abandonment. Either way you look at it, there's no happy solution all round,' she said.
Mr Chia said NParks has been monitoring the situation with the AVA, and because of the number of strays involved, decided to engage an external contractor to catch them and get them culled.
He said dog catchers are required to use humane methods that comply with established guidelines on the capture, transportation and handling of stray animals.
An AVA spokesman said all caught stray animals must be surrendered to it to be put down.
AVA also does its bit to manage stray dogs. When it receives complaints, it sends its officers to catch them and put them down humanely; sometimes, it hires external contractors for the job.
It confirmed that contractors are not allowed to use poisoned bait.
But ASD president Ricky Yeo said his group and other animal-welfare agencies want more to be done: They want the operating procedures for contractors spelt out, to ensure that humane methods are used.
And instead of culling the dogs, he proposed they can also be caught and sterilised to control breeding.
Mr Eugene Tay of environmental consulting firm Green Future Solutions, who said culling was a short-term solution, told The Straits Times: 'How does NParks define 'aggressive' and decide which dog to kill? Loud bark, fierce-looking, ugly face, chases people, attacks other dogs? Or what the dog-catcher decides?'
The more humane solution is to work with animal-welfare and non-government groups to see whether these strays can be housed and rehabilitated, and to explore sterilisation for other strays in the long run,' he said.
But those who have been terrorised by these strays also want a say: Mr H.B. Choo, 60, who lives near Ang Mo Kio Town Garden West, told The Straits Times that the strays - there are at least eight of them in the area - have chased residents and children.
'At night, they bark constantly, disturbing the peace of the neighbourhood. What if they injure residents? Who will answer for it?'
35 stray dogs to be chipped, not culled
Grace Chua Straits Times 18 May 11;
THE 35 stray dogs that the National Parks Board (NParks) wanted removed from two parks will no longer be put down, but sterilised, micro-chipped and sent to a shelter instead.
The Straits Times understands that the change came about after animal welfare groups met NParks on Monday.
The decision, welcomed by the animal groups, is the latest development that began with The Straits Times' report last week that NParks had called two tenders for the catching and culling of 20 stray dogs in Ang Mo Kio Town Garden West, and 15 more in East Coast Park, Changi Beach Park or Pasir Ris Park.
Upset civic society groups and dog lovers had said they could not be sure the dogs would be humanely handled and culled by appointed contractors.
NParks explained that it was calling the tender on the back of some 100 complaints from park users after people or pets had been chased and nearly bitten.
Now, after talks with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), wildlife group Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres), Action for Singapore Dogs, and Mutts & Mittens animal shelter in Pasir Ris, the dogs will still be rounded up but not put down. They will be sterilised and micro-chipped, probably with at least partial financial support from NParks.
They will then be sent to Mutts & Mittens, which will try to find homes for them.
In addition, the animal welfare groups will likely be allowed to observe the dog trapping, to ensure it is done humanely.
SPCA executive director Deirdre Moss said: 'I look forward to the fact that the dogs are going to be given a chance, and that it's not automatic that they are going to be caught and culled.'
Acres founder Louis Ng said that all NParks wanted was for the animals to be removed for park users' safety, but that it should have consulted the public before making the decision. He said that although there were some complaints, many other park users were concerned about the culling of the dogs.
Mr Cohen Ng, the director of Mutts & Mittens, conceded that mongrels and former strays could be tough to rehome.
He noted that Housing Board rules prevent flat-dwellers from keeping larger dogs, and that many potential adopters have the impression that mongrels are 'wild and not trainable', which he dispelled as a myth as they can be 'just as affectionate as pedigree dogs'. 'But we're taking the chance and trying to find them homes,' he said.
NParks should explain culling decision
Straits Times Forum 18 May 11;
WE SHARE the National Parks Board's (NParks) concerns with regard to public safety, but is culling dogs a long-term solution? ('Some upset over call for tenders to cull strays'; last Saturday).
We understand that its decision was 'in response to the more than 100 complaints it has received in the past year from members of the public'. Can NParks clarify how many people actually complained, as each person might have complained more than once?
We should also bear in mind that thousands of people have used the parks and have not complained, and are concerned about the culling of dogs. Any decision made should also consider the sentiments of this group of park users.
Lastly, can NParks clarify if it has consulted animal welfare groups like Action for Singapore Dogs or the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to find alternative solutions before it called for the tenders?
As stated in the article, a more humane solution is possible and should be looked into as well.
Louis Ng
Executive Director
Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres)
Stop culling strays
Straits Times Forum 18 May 11;
I REFER to last Saturday's report on the National Parks Board (NParks) calling for tenders to cull stray dogs in some parks ('Some upset over call for tenders to cull strays').
Culling of strays is a short-term answer. The long-term solution is to work with animal rescue groups on neutering and releasing strays. Controlling the stray population can be done humanely.
It is unfair to round up strays just because some people think they will hurt someone. I have never seen a stray that does not run off when approached. But I have seen people taunting them with sticks and stones.
Children harass and corner them, only to run away like raving banshees at the slightest reaction, and upset parents subsequently label strays as dangerous and a nuisance.
The money NParks has set aside for contractors to cull the dogs would be better spent on veterinarian fees to have them sterilised. Alternatively, give animal rescue groups time to carry out the neuter-and-release project.
Sharon Lee (Ms)
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