New Wild Singapore book is launched
from wild shores of singapore and Otterman speaks
Bidadari Cemetery – soon to be a site for the living
from Bird Ecology Study Group
Job: Two Research Assistant positions for project on ‘Enhancing Singapore’s Coral Reef Ecosystem’ (deadline: 16 Nov 2012) from The Biodiversity crew @ NUS
Reflection by Lee Raphael
from Senior High Student Council EXCEL Exposure and Reflection by Jinjing
The Star 9 Nov 12;
KUALA LUMPUR: Residents in Negri Sembilan have are the latest to get hit by floods in the peninsula while the situation in flood-hit Johor and Malacca has taken a turn for the worse.
However, the flood situation was reported to be improving in Selangor and Perak.
In Negri Sembilan, Kampung Keru Hilir in Tampin was flooded by up to one metre following incessant heavy rain overnight and forced 34 people from nine families living there to evacuate.
Tampin Land Office deputy administrator Mohd Amin Ludin said the victims were being sheltered at the kampung's surau and that all necessary assistance was being rendered.
According to the National Security Council's flood portal, in Johor, the number of flood victims had increased from 767 people to 1,095 people overnight.
It said four more relief centres had to be opened in the state, two each in Johor Baharu and Kulai Jaya.
Six relief centres in Batu Pahat and one in Ledang are already in operation in Johor.
In Malacca, the number of victims more than doubled overnight, from 61 people to 134 people.
The victims are all in Jasin and are being sheltered in one relief centre.
In Selangor, the number of food victims dropped from 1,012 people last night to 983 people this morning.
All the victims are sheltered at four relief centres in Kuala Langat while three relief centres in Dengkil have been closed and the victims housed there allowed to return to their homes.
In Perak, the number of victims dropped to 134 people from 177 people Thursday night with just one relief centre still operating in Hilir Perak.
So far, no casualty has been reported since floods broke out in the peninsula since six days ago and neither has there been closure of any road.
Meanwhile, the Drainage and Irrigation Department said the water levels at major rivers in Selangor, Johor and Pahang were still above the warning level.
The level of Sungai Langat at Bukit Changgang, Selangor is now at 3.83 metres; Sungai Selangor at Rantau Panjang (7.45m), Sungai Lenik at Batu Pahat, Johor (5.32m) and the Repas Dam in Bentong, Pahang (113.67m).
The department also issued a flood warning for Selangau in Sarawak following the water level at Sungai Selangau B exceeding the danger level of 17.92 metres. - Bernama
Heavy rainfall expected over next six days
Up to 2,000 evacuated in past week because of flooding in five states
Yong Yen Nie Straits Times 10 Nov 12;
KUALA LUMPUR - If you are planning to drive to Malaysia for a break this weekend, be sure to slow down a little and take along an umbrella and raincoat.
The forecast for this weekend is more rain, which may keep some already flooded areas on the outskirts of Johor, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan inundated, and most other parts of the country wet.
So far, the number of Malaysians who are affected by floods is still low, and major tourist destinations such as the Malacca heritage town area remain accessible.
Nevertheless, the Meteorological Department expects thunderstorms to continue around the country for the next six days as the north-east monsoon season begins.
The monsoon occurs between November and March each year. However, the Met said continuous heavy monsoon rains, which last more than two days at a stretch, have not begun.
"For Malacca and Penang, we expect frequent thunderstorms to occur in the afternoon or early evening," an official from the Met told The Straits Times.
"Continued heavy rain for one hour or more can lead to flash-flooding occurrences, especially in low-lying areas."
According to the department, evening thunderstorms are also expected to hit all parts of Johor - including Mersing and Johor Baru - as well as Kuala Lumpur from today until next Thursday. However, no road closures were reported.
Meanwhile, morning rain is expected in the states of Kelantan, Pahang and Terengganu.
In the past week, some 2,000 Malaysians were evacuated because of floods in five states - Johor, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Perak and Selangor.
However, some victims in Perak and Selangor returned home yesterday, leaving only 1,700 in evacuation centres.
Four more evacuation centres were opened in Johor yesterday, including two in Johor Baru, to accommodate more flood victims, Ms Khatijah Abdullah, a temporary relief centre officer, told The Straits Times.
The number of flood victims in Johor rose to 1,095 overnight from 767 on Thursday.
Meanwhile, 12 evacuation centres were closed yesterday in areas where waters had receded.
In Malacca, only one evacuation centre is operating in Jasin, with 134 flood victims.
Despite the continuous rain, relief officers said the flooding is not as bad as anticipated.
"We are able to keep the pace of helping flood victims evacuate and allow many to go home as soon as the waters have receded," Mr Abdul Hadi Hamzah, an officer in Selangor, said.
Malaysia faced its worst flood crisis in 2006, after experiencing unusually heavy rainfall due to Typhoon Utor that hit the Philippines and Vietnam. The floods wiped out farms and caused some 100,000 people in Johor to be evacuated.
Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also the National Disaster Management Committee chairman, said all agencies and emergency units are on standby to assist flood victims.
"We are ready. The relief centres are ready and there is a stockpile of food for flood victims," he said on Thursday.
The Met expects floods to get worse in the coming months as thunderstorms are expected to continue until March.
So far, tourists appear unperturbed.
Mr Joseph Lim, sales coordinator of Mahkota Hotel in Malacca, said bookings for hotel rooms are still brisk.
"We have recorded up to 80 per cent occupancy rate for this weekend, with the higher number of travellers arriving from Singapore due to the Deepavali holiday," he said.
Amantha Perera Reuters AlertNet 8 Nov 12;
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AlertNet) – Rapid destruction of South Asia’s mangroves, which act as a buffer against extreme weather conditions such as storm surges and rising sea levels, is endangering lives and livelihoods in the region, experts say.
Asia is home to 41 percent of the world’s mangroves, but in countries including Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India they are fast disappearing. Ajanta Dey, a project director at the Nature, Environment and Wildlife Society, a Kolkata-based organisation that works on environmental and sustainable livelihood issues in eastern India, says her organisation believes at least 40 percent of Asia’s mangroves have been lost in the last 50 years.
“There has been a lot of destruction,” she told AlertNet.
Preserving mangroves is important because they can act as a natural shield against storm surges and other severe weather. Most are also rich biodiversity hotspots, harbouring fish, shellfish and other animals that can provide food and income for people in the area.
But in Pakistan, over 80 percent of the mangrove cover has been lost in the last 80 years, according to the Pakistan office of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Mangrove forests that once covered over 600,000 hectares are now reduced to around 86,000 hectares.
And such mangrove losses are now spreading increasingly across South Asia, including to India and Bangladesh’s coastal Sundarbans region, and to regions of Sri Lanka undergoing rapid development after years of conflict.
Along Pakistan’s Indus Delta, mangroves have been cut down largely to be used as firewood, or low-lying mangrove areas have been used for landfill, IUCN research found.
Tahir Qureshi, a senior advisor on coastal ecosystems at IUCN Pakistan, told AlertNet that communities living near mangrove forests bear the brunt of the harmful impacts from their destruction.
“Livelihoods of local populations (have) decreased, poverty has increased and the coastal areas have become exposed to cyclones, tsunami and other natural disasters,” Qureshi said.
According to Siddiq Roonjha, an elderly fisherman from Kerti Bunder, a coastal village in Pakistan’s Thatta District about 200 km (125 miles) southeast of Karachi, the villagers did not fear storms and cyclones before development set in and the mangroves were destroyed.
“In those days there used to be thick mangrove forests and we would go and hide our boats in them. That is why no storm or rain was such a danger to us,’ Roonjha recounted in a short video titled ‘Sentries of the Coast’ released by IUCN Pakistan.
The old villager blames the depletion of the mangroves on the development and expansion of Karachi. As the city grew, so did the demand for firewood and the mangroves were cut down en masse.
"WE ARE AFRAID FOR THE FUTURE"
“We are afraid of the future. There is no cover. We are left with nothing,” Roonjha lamented. The fisherman said his catch had been reduced so much that he had gone hungry on some days.
A similar scenario is evolving in Sri Lanka and India, where rapid cutting of mangroves is threatening the incomes of local communities while putting them at increased risk from extreme weather.
After the devastating 2004 Asian tsunami that killed over 30,000 people, interest in protecting Sri Lanka’s mangroves grew because of the protection they offered.
But as the island recovers from over two decades of civil war, rapid development is now threatening mangroves on the northwestern, eastern and northern coasts.
Such development “is likely to impact on the remaining mangrove areas” in the country’s Northern and Eastern Provinces, an IUCN study said.
Delicate natural habitats along Sri Lanka’s northwest Mannar lagoon are already threatened by rapidly advancing tourism projects. The Coast Conservation Department says the area is now prone to heavy coastal erosion because of changing monsoon rain patterns that mean the rain now comes in short, intense bursts.
In India, depletion of mangroves in the low-lying Sundarbans region is affecting the lives of millions who live close to them.
“Everyone knows that mangroves are essential to their existence in this vulnerable area,” Dey told AlertNet. In particular, the mangroves help protect delicate sand embankments around villages from cyclones and storm surges.
Dey said that research by her organisation found that there was a direct link between the income levels of nearby communities and depletion of their nearby mangroves.
In Kolkata, Dey and her group are engaged in a project to replant around 6,000 hectares (13,200 acres) of mangroves, with a target of replanting 4,500 hectares (9,900 acres) in 2012. By the end of 2011, close to 2,500 hectares (5,500 acres) had been replanted.
In Pakistan the IUCN has so far replanted around 30,000 hectares (66,000 acres) while the government has agreed to replant 100,000 hectares (220,000 acres) by 2018.
“We need to keep focused and stick to our targets,” Dey said.
Eileen Ng Associated Press Google News 8 Nov 12;
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian activists lost a court battle Thursday to halt Australian miner Lynas Corp. from firing up a rare earths plant that has sparked health and safety concerns.
After months of delay, Lynas in September obtained the Malaysian government's approval to start processing rare earths, which are minerals crucial for manufacturing high-tech products.
But villagers and civic groups took the case to court, calling for the Australian company's operating license to be suspended until the court rules on whether it would permanently block production.
Coalition leader Tan Bun Tet said the High Court refused Thursday to suspend Lynas' license before a final decision on the plant's fate is made.
"The court ruled that our fears are premature because the plant is not in operation yet. We are disappointed with the decision but we will appeal. We will fight to the end," Tan told The Associated Press.
The court ruling paves the way for Lynas to start operations immediately but it can still face obstacles later on if the court rules in favor of the villagers.
Lynas Malaysia managing director Mashal Ahmad told AP that the company plans to start operations "as soon as possible, definitely by this year."
The 2.5 billion ringgit ($818 million) refinery in northern Pahang state is to be the first in years outside China, which has restrictions on rare earth exports.
Rare earths are 17 minerals used in the manufacture of hybrid cars, weapons, flat-screen TVs, mobile phones, mercury-vapor lights, and camera lenses. China has about a third of the world's rare earth reserves but supplies about 90 percent of what is consumed.
Residents living nearby the plant and civic groups have staged protests for months over fears of health and environmental risks posed by potential leaks of radioactive waste. Lynas has said its plant has state-of-the-art pollution control.
Controversy over the project poses a headache to the government with general elections expected to be called by April.
The Lynas plant is expected to meet nearly a third of world demand for rare earths, excluding China. It will refine ore from Australia. Lynas said output for the first phase has been sold out for the next decade.
Malaysia's last rare earths refinery — operated by Japan's Mitsubishi group in northern Perak state — was closed in 1992 following protests and claims that it caused birth defects and leukemia among residents. It is one of Asia's largest radioactive waste cleanup sites.
Tia Ghose, LiveScience Yahoo News 7 Nov 12;
The expansion of European settlement in Australia triggered a massive coral collapse at the Great Barrier Reef more than 50 years ago, according to a new study.
The study, published Nov. 6 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, found that runoff from farms clouded the pristine waters off the Queensland coast and killed the natural branching coral species, leaving a stunted, weedy type of coral in its place. The findings suggest that decades before climate change and reef tourism, humans were disrupting the ecology of the Great Barrier Reef.
"There was a very significant shift in the coral community composition that was associated with the colonization of Queensland," said study co-author John Pandolfi, a marine biologist at the University of Queensland Australia.
Europeans began to colonize Queensland, Australia, in the 1860s, cutting down forests to make way for sheep grazing and sugar plantations. By the 1930s, large amounts of fertilizer and pesticide-laden runoff poured from rivers into the nearby ocean.
Several recent studies have shown that snorkelers and climate change kill coral, and one study found that half of the majestic Great Barrier Reef has vanished over the last 30 years.
But Pandolfi's team wondered whether humans had been altering reef ecology for much longer.
To find out, the team drilled sediment cores, 6.5 to 16.5 feet (2 to 5 meters) long, from the seafloor at Pelorus Island, an island fringed by coral reefs off the Queensland coast. When coral dies, new coral sprout on the skeletons of old organisms and ocean sediments gradually bury them in place, Pandolfi told LiveScience.
By dating different layers of that sediment, the team reconstructed the story of the reef.
The fast-growing Acropora coral dominated the reef for a millennium. This massive, three-dimensional coral can grow to 16 feet (5 m) high and span 65 feet (20 m) across, forming a labyrinth of nooks and crannies for marine life to hide in, Pandolfi said. [Image Gallery: Great Barrier Reef Through Time]
"They're like the big buildings in the city, they house a lot of the biodiversity" he said.
But somewhere between 1920 and 1955, the Acropora stopped growing altogether and a slow-growing, spindly coral called Pavona took its place.
That spelled trouble for the panoply of animal species that shelter in the reef, and for the nearby coastline, because the native Acropora species provide wave resistance to shelter harbors.
The team believes that over time, polluted runoff clouded the normally pristine Pacific water and poisoned the native species. The same polluted water fueled an algal bloom that choked out the native coral species when they tried to grow back, he said.
"They just weren't able to come back after the 1950s."
While the findings suggest humans have been damaging reefs far longer than previously thought, the problem has a straightforward, local solution: Reduce polluted runoff into the ocean, Pandolfi said.
"Any kind of measures that are going to improve the water quality should help those reefs to recover."
2013 TeamSeagrass dates now open for sign up!
from teamseagrass
Plant-Bird Relationship: 10. Anacardiaceae, Annonaceae and Apocynaceae
from Bird Ecology Study Group
Some complain that Asian Koel disrupts their sleep, but others sing its praises
David Ee Straits Times 8 Nov 12;
The calls of the male Asian Koel (above) are territorial, and the birds stake their first territorial claims in the early morning, said the Nature Society's Bird Group chairman Wing Chong. -- PHOTO: COURTESY OF WEE YEOW CHIN
WITH its early morning cry of "ko-wel, ko-wel", it is a familiar feature of dawn in Singapore.
But not everyone is singing the praises of the ubiquitous Asian Koel.
Last week, a writer to The Straits Times Forum Page complained that the birds disrupt his nightly rest. He called on the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) to step in. His letter was followed by others yesterday, with one deriding the bird and another fighting in its corner.
But three out of every four Facebook users who subsequently wrote on The Straits Times' homepage had no complaints about the Koel. Some said it showed that their urban residences were truly immersed in nature. Others loved the bird simply for its familiar call.
Teacher Mandy Low, 42, said she used to "wake up to the flute-like music" of the Koel when she lived in Yio Chu Kang. She said: "The lush greenery together with the Koel and other migratory birds... simply brightened my day."
Others wrote in support of the bird, calling it their "resident alarm clock".
Engineer Harinder Singh, 30, who moved to Singapore in 2003, said the Koel brings back fond memories of his childhood years in a village in India, where he grew up hearing its call.
But Madam Low conceded that what was music to some might not be so to others. This was especially so for those whose curtailed sleep literally left them with a headache.
"If I don't get enough sleep, I get headaches and I can't study well," said student Chen Jiawen, 19, who lives in Chai Chee. The Koels start calling from 5am, she said, and their "sharp and irritating" calls wake her up.
The same is true for Ms Jasmine Wong, 35, a Bukit Merah resident. She has had to make do with three to four hours' sleep on some nights because of the Koel's call. "If it is during the day, it's fine, but it's in the middle of the night and it goes on for hours," she said.
The Asian Koel is a large, migratory black bird that has settled here over the past two decades, drawn by abundant food sources such as palm fruit.
It is protected under the Wild Animals and Birds Act, which includes all species except domestic dogs and cats, horses, cattle, sheep, goats, domestic pigs, poultry and ducks. This means that Koels cannot be trapped, killed or kept without a licence.
Bird experts said they are drawn to residential areas as they are a brood parasite of the house crow, which frequents the same areas as a scavenger.
Koels lay their eggs in the crows' nests. The Koel population here is unknown, as no census has been carried out.
The calls by males of the species are territorial, said Mr Wing Chong, chairman of the Nature Society's Bird Group. Although they may call at any time of day, they stake their first territorial claims in the early morning.
Residents need to be more tolerant, said Dr Wee Yeow Chin of the Bird Ecology Study Group, as the Koels "are part and parcel of the nature in our Garden City".
The AVA said it is working with town councils to remove crows' nests and food sources, and prune trees, to discourage Koels from remaining in residential areas.
It added that "while we are aware that there are Singaporeans who have been inconvenienced... there are also others who enjoy the presence of such wildlife in our environment".
Dr Lena Chan, director of the National Biodiversity Centre, said that Singapore's transformation into a "City in a Garden" means nature can be "part of everyday life for all Singaporeans".
"The more we learn about our rich biodiversity, the more we grow to appreciate it," she said.
Grace Chua Straits Times 8 Nov 12;
THE other day, as I stood drying my hands in a Botanic Gardens bathroom, I saw a crimson sunbird flitting about, not 3m from the roar of the hand-dryer.
The common bird is a scarlet, palm-length marvel, right there for the viewing for anyone with a little patience and a good set of eyes.
It's not the only surprise Singapore's biodiversity has in store.
As a tropical island, Singapore has an impressive list of species both resident and visitor - more than 300 bird species, 58 mammal and 68 freshwater fish species.
Its marine biodiversity is even richer. Singapore waters host a third of the world's hard coral species and more than 100 species of intertidal sponge.
Among the species found are some "fellow Singaporeans", such as the rare mangrove Bruguiera hainesii or berus mata buaya, the crocodile's eye in Malay; the Elysia singaporensis, a 3cm, leaf-shaped aquatic slug; and the Johora singaporensis, a highly endangered freshwater stream crab found nowhere else on Earth.
They live cheek by jowl with other introduced species that have decided to settle here and breed.
Some, like the green crested lizard, are pushed further into the forest by foreign competitors such as the changeable lizard.
Who knows what other species have been lost to development? Singapore's mangroves have shrunk from 6,400ha in 1953 to about 500ha today, and field biologists have seen old sites, such as Tanjong Gul in Tuas and Tanah Merah beach, turned into indus-trial areas and runways.
Still, its current diversity belies the line, often used by proponents of further development, that urbanised Singapore is a sterile place.
Arguably, biodiversity in a highly urbanised city-state is a balancing act.
Singapore has one of the world's busiest ports, but it is also carrying out its largest-scale audit of marine life yet to better understand what is out there and how best to protect it.
Why protect Singapore's wildlife, though?
I'd argue that the story of Singapore's biodiversity is really the story of Singapore the city.
Once upon a time, during an ice age, sea levels were much lower than they are today. Singapore the island was physically connected to the greater Asian land mass by a chunk of land called the Sunda shelf. Then, animals could cross from what is now Sumatra to what is now Borneo, or from today's Singapore to Malaysia.
Today, these countries share overlapping sets of land animals, testament that they were once a continuous land mass, just as languages, ethnicities and food dishes Singapore shares with its neighbours point to a common heritage.
Fast-forward a few millennia. Singapore the city has its own rhythms: the shipping port, the hawker centres, schools, offices, buses, trains. Singapore's ecosystems have their own: night, day, the tides, the seasonal bloom of durian flowers, the spawning of coral.
To see all these, one has to get out almost before dawn. Then, flocks of swifts wheel overhead, snapping up insects on the wing. Low tide can be in the middle of the night but is the best time to spot exposed shore life.
Sometimes, nature comes straight to you. Early one morning, I nearly tripped over a pangolin on a MacRitchie nature trail.
Those who study it are a different breed from the rest of us. National University of Singapore biologist Zeehan Jaafar spends her time staring at gobies, small fish the size of an ikan bilis - and they are all brown. As time goes by, she said, they do look different. One spot? Two spots? One stripe? Three?
"I think people like to study the big sexy things, but in terms of biomass, the small ones are very important," she said, referring to the sheer mass of living organisms.
There is a lesson here.
In an ecosystem, just as in a city, every species counts. Not just the big charismatic ones or the flashy pretty ones. The small brown ones are predators and prey for other, larger fish. They are what keep the ecosystem chugging along.
And no one knows what is there until someone bothers to look.
In the last few years, both public and private funding has gone to a comprehensive marine biodiversity survey, which has already revealed several species such as a fat, bumpy anemone that could be entirely new to science.
I may never have seen all of Singapore's organisms alive but it should be a point of national pride to know they are out there. Even the small brown ones.
Today, Singapore is building its first natural history museum in decades.
"It's not about dead specimens," said Professor Leo Tan, a biologist who was chairman of the National Parks Board and director of the Singapore Science Centre and is now helming fund-raising for the new Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum.
"The dead animal tells me a lot about how they live, how they survive."
Other spaces can be living museums as well, Prof Tan said.
For example, the Labrador Nature Reserve holds the mainland's only remaining coral reef.
Without places like it, "your future generations will never appreciate how far we have come because they will never see what Raffles saw, what Singapore was when he landed", he said.
The story of Singapore's biodiversity, then, is a crucial part of Singapore's history.
"Biodiversity does not observe national boundaries," pointed out Dr Lena Chan, director of the National Biodiversity Centre at NParks.
So just as Singapore negotiates its place in international trade and other agreements, it is also a party to international conservation agreements such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, and has helped come up with an index for cities to gauge how well they are protecting their nature.
Singapore's biodiversity is also clawing itself back. Seeds dropped on farms or kampungs cleared 30 years ago are now mature trees.
Now it must be managed, both to keep it thriving and to slow its approach as plenty of uses compete for the same space.
But where such natural spaces are available, both human and animal life can thrive. And it does so despite the odds, with the building of condominiums next to forest areas and the bustling ship traffic and refinery activity.
Prof Tan likes to tell of sea turtles hatching at East Coast Park several times in the last few years. Human volunteers shepherded them the right way, out to sea.
They may have swum around the world, and East Coast Park may be a flat patch of reclaimed land far too bright at night for their liking, but it makes no difference to them.
In 20 years, provided there is a beach to swim up on, when it comes time for these hawksbill turtles to lay their eggs, they will come home.
This is a Singaporean story indeed.
TREASURES IN OUR BACKYARD
PHOTOS: ST FILE, TROPICAL MARINE SCIENCE INSTITUTE, JEAN YONG, NUS, WILDSINGAPORE
CRIMSON SUNBIRD: In 2002, this eye-catching sunbird - which could be described as a little red dot and is native to Singapore - won a Nature Society competition for the title of Singapore's national bird.
CROCODILE'S EYE: In 2003, plant expert Jean Yong, then at the National Institute of Education, found one of these rare, slow-growing and highly endangered mangrove species in Pasir Ris. There are only 10 to 12 known specimens in Singapore of Bruguiera hainesii, also known as berus mata buaya, or crocodile's eye in Malay. Conservationists have started a nursery to grow this and other uncommon mangrove species.
A GOBY NICKNAMED ZEE: This goby fish, measuring about 2cm, may be entirely new to science. It was found during a Comprehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey at the Lim Chu Kang mudflats last year and is now being studied by Dr Zeehan Jaafar of the National University of Singapore.
BILL THE ANEMONE: This bumpy anemone was also found in the mudflats of Lim Chu Kang during a biodiversity survey. It is new to science and does not have a scientific name yet.
GREEN CRESTED LIZARD: This bright-green lizard, which grows to half a metre long, was once commonly seen along roadsides and in shrubs. Males have a distinctive head crest. Today, it can still be seen in parks and gardens but its range is shrinking due to the more aggressive, non-native, changeable lizard. It is native to Singapore, Malaysia, Borneo, Indonesia, the Philippines and other parts of South-east Asia.
Isabelle Lai The Star 8 Nov 12;
PETALING JAYA: Fishermen should not fear surrendering turtle bycatch to the authorities for rehabilitation and healing as they could help save lives, said sea turtle expert Dr Nicolas J. Pilcher.
Many fishermen were often unsure of what to do should they find a turtle accidentally caught (turtle bycatch) in their fishing nets, said the Marine Research Foundation (MRF) executive director.
“In Malaysia, it is illegal to kill a sea turtle. So if a turtle comes up that is alive in your fishing net, it would be a really good time for fishermen to bring it to the authorities,” he said.
Dr Pilcher confirmed that fishermen would not get into trouble by doing so, pointing out that the Fisheries Department had a very proactive turtle conservation programme.
“Accidental capture of sea turtles is probably the biggest problem in South-East Asia,” he said.
Dr Pilcher was currently working with fishing communities in Terengganu, Tioman, Sabah and Sarawak to help fishermen understand how they could help preserve the sea turtle population.
He also cautioned against over-collection of turtle eggs in areas where populations had experienced drastic decline.
Dr Pilcher pointed out that leatherback turtles in Terengganu had gone extinct due to 100% collection of eggs for two generations for commercial sales purposes.
“If the turtle population is doing very well, I don't see a big problem in taking some eggs to eat.
“But we should not be collecting the eggs of declining populations because we are not giving them the chance to recover,” he said.
New Straits Times 8 Nov 12;
JUMBO TROUBLE: Pachyderm on four-month crop destroying rampage meets its match
THE Kelantan Wildlife Department finally captured an elephant which had been destroying crops since July.
The department's director, Rahmat Topani said the male elephant, aged between 20 and 25, was captured by rangers about 3.30pm on Tuesday.
"The team, led by Mohammad Sallehuddin Yusoff, went out in search of the pachyderm after receiving reports it had entered a smallholding and destroyed plants belonging to villagers in one of the three areas it had been roaming for the past few months.
"They carried out six operations to find the elephant but failed. The seventh operation was held on Monday morning and ended the next day with its capture."
Rahmat said besides Kampung Cheker, the elephant had also destroyed crops at Kampung Bukit Yong and Kampung Gong Genor.
He said the jumbo, which had been named Awang Cheker, weighed between four and five tonnes and was the 12th captured by the department this year.
It is set to be sent to the National Park.
Captured female elephant dies of infection
Ivan Loh The Star 10 Feb 13;
IPOH: The female elephant captured near Kampung Jalong, Sungai Siput, on Thursday has died of a bacterial infection of the blood known as septicemia.
State Perhilitan director Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim said the elephant, aged between 15 to 20 years, was found lifeless at midnight yesterday.
“A post-mortem was conducted and we found that the elephant had been suffering from septicemia for some time,” he said.
Septicemia can be fatal if not treated.
The elephant matriarch, which was part of a herd of four, was captured by Perhilitan personnel after about four days of tracking the animals.
Kampung Jalong villagers had complained to Perhilitan on Monday that the elephants had destroyed their crops and vegetables.
Abdul Kadir said the elephant had looked sickly when Perhilitan personnel caught it.
He said they had tried to treat the sick elephant but were not able to save its life.
“We will bury its body to prevent the bacteria from spreading,” he added.
On the remaining three elephants, Abdul Kadir said they were still monitoring the forest for any sign of the animals.
Phuket Gazette 7 Nov 12;
PHUKET: A dugong spotted injured off Cape Yamu, on Phuket’s east coast, last Saturday has died from its injuries after suffering severe cuts to its head and body inflicted by a boat propeller.
Kongkiat Kittiwattanawong, head of the Marine Endangered Species Unit at the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC), told the Phuket Gazette that the sea cow was an adult female about 2.7 meters long and weighing 388 kilograms.
“It was a perfect breeder. We believe she had many sea cow babies before,” he added.
Dr Kongkiat explained that the PMBC received a report from a villager saying that a badly injured sea cow was seen trying to swim to the shore.
“Myself and other officers from the PMBC went to find her on Saturday morning, right after we received the report. After several hours, we spotted her in the bay. We kept her under observation on Saturday and Sunday to make sure she was able to dive and feed herself. We did not want to catch her and bring her to the center as we did not want her to be under added stress,” he explained.
“On Monday, she stopped eating and yesterday we brought her to the center. She was exhausted and she had seven deep wounds on her back. The wounds were starting to rot.
“She also had other wounds that looked like she had been stuck in a fishing net,” said Dr Kongkiat.
However, their efforts were too late. The sea cow died en route to the PMBC, located only a few kilometers away at Ao Yon, he added.
TRAFFIC 7 Nov 12;
New Delhi, India, 7th November 2012—TRAFFIC is warning of a possible increase in illegal owl trade and sacrifices around Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights, which this year falls on 13th November.
Owls are sacrificed on auspicious occasions such as Diwali and their body parts used in ceremonial pujas and rituals, when Shaman or black magic practitioners, also referred to as tantriks, prescribe various uses for owls and their body parts, including the skull, feathers, ear-tuffs, claws, heart, liver, kidney, blood, eyes, fat, beak, tears, eggshells, meat and bones.
“It is unfortunate that although many people consider the owl sacred in Indian culture and a vehicle (vahan) of Goddess Lakshmi, superstitions and false beliefs manipulated over the ages have created a demand for owls and their body parts in black magic ceremonies,” said TRAFFIC’s Abrar Ahmed, an expert on the Indian bird trade.
Although hunting and trade in all Indian owl species is banned under the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, hundreds of owls are trapped and traded every year.
Owl species most highly sought after by traders are large species, particularly those with false “ear-tufts” (feather extensions on the head), since these are considered to have the greatest magical properties.
In 2010, TRAFFIC released Imperilled Custodians of the Night, a report highlighting the various ways owls or their body parts are used in black magic, street performances, taxidermy, consumption, occult medicines, for capturing other birds and even their eggs used for gambling.
The report highlighted that of the 30 owl species recorded from India, 15 had been recorded in the domestic live bird trade with the Spotted Owlet, Barn Owl and Rock Eagle-Owl the most commonly recorded species.
“Owls play an extremely useful ecological role by controlling the population of rats and large insects. In an agrarian country, where 60% of the population is dependent on agriculture, the role of owls should be recognized and strict protection should be given to these magnificent nocturnal birds,” said Ahmed.
MKS Pasha, Associate Director and Interim Head of TRAFFIC in India added, “Enforcement officers from forest departments, railways, Customs and police need to monitor and control the illegal bird trade through making regular raids and taking legal action against the perpetrators.”
He also noted the need for establishment of rescue and rehabilitation centers for seized owls and also adherence to proper release protocols.
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