Bidadari (18 November)
from Rojak Librarian
Dragonfly (41) – Nesoxenia lineata
from Dragonflies & Damselflies of Singapore
Plant-Bird relationship: 14. Miscellaneous trees and shrubs and their families
from Bird Ecology Study Group
Forests worldwide near tipping-point from drought
from Mongabay.com news by Rhett Butler
Procedure is safe but unnatural environment on trip may be stressful
Ng Kai Ling And Melissa Pang Straits Times 24 Nov 12;
IT IS rare for dolphins to die while they are being transported as all necessary precautions would have been taken to ensure their health and safety, two marine mammal experts said yesterday.
But, they added, the unnatural environment that the animals are exposed to during the journey can be very stressful.
On Thursday, a male bottlenose dolphin being transported to Resorts World Sentosa's (RWS) Marine Life Park died suddenly less than an hour before its plane landed.
Wen Wen, estimated to be 10 years old, had been on a three-hour flight from Subic Bay in the Philippines. A necropsy - an autopsy for animals - has been performed and further tests will be done here and in the United States to find out how it died.
A Marine Life Park spokesman said yesterday that the other 10 dolphins that travelled with Wen Wen are under quarantine and being monitored closely. He also said RWS and park officials were deeply saddened by the death.
National University of Singapore's Tropical Marine Science Institute biologist Elizabeth Taylor said it was "very rare" for dolphins to die in transit.
"It is usually a very safe procedure," said Dr Taylor, who heads the Marine Mammal Research Laboratory. She said the utmost precautions are usually taken to make sure the dolphins are safe.
She added that at 10 years old, Wen Wen was considered a young dolphin and in its prime.
The transportation of dolphins involves placing them in specially made stretchers and submerging them in a deep container filled with water, she said.
The dolphin's flippers are fitted into slots at the sides of the stretchers to ensure they are not tossed around in transit.
This suspended position is just one of several stress factors for the sea mammals, said American dolphin expert Ric O'Barry, speaking from Almeria in Spain, where he helps in dolphin rescue efforts.
"In their natural world, dolphins do not know gravity. It's alien to them and causes stress," said Mr O'Barry, who has helped transport dolphins in his 50 years of experience working with them.
More stress comes from the noise and vibration from cargo planes, which they are usually transported on. Their primary sense is their sense of sound, and the environment is very different from what they are used to in the ocean, he said.
Mr O'Barry said none of the dolphins he has helped to transport has ever died, but they were mostly short journeys done in cases of emergency.
Dr Taylor said it was hard to tell if the other dolphins would be affected by Wen Wen's death. "They do recognise other individuals, so they will know if one is no longer there, but we can't know for sure how they will feel."
The first batch of 14 dolphins to the park arrived without harm on Monday.
Of the 27 dolphins that RWS bought for its oceanarium, two others besides Wen Wen have died, in 2010 of a bacterial infection while in a holding pen in Langkawi, Malaysia.
Wen Wen's death has renewed calls among animal activists for RWS to return the remaining 24 dolphins to their natural habitat in the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific, where they were captured from.
The activists argue that these dolphins will not survive in captivity. They also claim the dolphins were caught unethically.
The Marine Life Park opened on Thursday, the last attraction at the $7 billion integrated resort to be ready. Its 8ha oceanarium is the world's largest aquarium and was part of the proposal which won Genting International the bid to build the Sentosa integrated resort in 2006.
RWS bought the dolphins from a Canadian dolphin trader in 2008 and 2009.
In 2009, RWS scrapped plans to have whale sharks, saying it might not be able to care for them. The park's staff include four veterinarians with a combined experience of successfully transporting more than 500 marine mammals, a spokesman said.
The dolphin exhibit - which will not feature live shows and will have opportunities for visitors to interact with the mammals - will be open to the public next year.
Subic dolphin dies on flight to Singapore
Inquirer 24 Nov 12;
MANILA, Philippines—Wen Wen, one of 25 dolphins transferred from Subic in the Philippines to a Singapore oceanarium despite protests from activists, died during its flight to the city-state on Thursday, the resort said.
The male dolphin, aged about 10, died suddenly less than an hour before the flight from the Philippines landed, a Marine Life Park spokesperson said in a statement.
The spokesperson of the park—which opened to the public for the first time earlier
Thursday and is part of the Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) casino—said Wen Wen appeared fine when medically examined before the flight.
“We are deeply saddened… he will be sorely missed,” the spokesperson said.
He confirmed that the other 24 bottle-nose dolphins had arrived and were acclimatizing to their new home.
“No effort or resources will be spared in ensuring the health and well-being of our dolphins and all marine animals at Marine Life Park,” the statement said.
Wen Wen is the third dolphin to die out of 27 which RWS acquired from the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific between 2008 and 2009.
Wildlife activists in the Philippines, however, are mad that the firm was able to ferry out the dolphins despite an ongoing court case and said Resorts World Sentosa and the government could expect a new round of lawsuits against them.
Trixie Concepcion of the Earth Island Institute decried the exportation of the dolphins from Subic to Singapore as “blatant disregard of Philippine laws and courts.”
She pointed out that a Quezon City court was still hearing their appeal seeking the extension of a temporary environment protection order (Tepo).
“And yet they flew the dolphins out of the country, it is a disrespect of our processes… the status quo should have been observed,” she said in an interview on Friday.
Concepcion pointed out that Wen-wen’s death only supports their argument that wild animals should not be transported.
“That is very stressful to the wild animals. And they die in the end,” she said.
Even though the dolphin died outside the country, Concepcion said they will file criminal charges under the Animal Welfare Act.
The animal welfare advocate said they will also pursue contempt charges against the government and Resorts World Sentosa.
“We are also contemplating a case before the Ombudsman against the government for obstruction of justice,” she said.
The activists had filed a lawsuit last month to stop the firm from taking the dolphins out of Subic, were they were kept and trained. They said the dolphins’ capture violated an international treaty on the trade in endangered animals and plants.
The Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 101 is hearing a case that the Philippine Animal Welfare Society and other groups filed against the Resorts World Sentosa and other government agencies seeking to stop the export of the dolphins.
The dolphins originally came from the Solomon Islands and were cared for in Subic before they were brought to Singapore.
Last month, the court issued a Tepo stopping the export of the dolphins but this order was only valid for 72 hours. The court did not extend the Tepo but is hearing the advocates’ appeal for its extension.
The first batch of 11 dolphins was reportedly transported on Nov. 19. The animal welfare advocates filed an urgent motion the following day. With a report from Agence France-Presse
Seletar fishermen may have to move to make way for major road project
Straits Times 23 Nov 12;
AFTER shelling out thousands of dollars to hire professional engineers to certify their jetties safe, fishermen and jetty owners at Seletar thought they could continue to earn a living from the sea.
But their future remains uncertain, as the jetties might have to make way for a road project.
According to the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA's) 2008 Masterplan, which maps out development plans for the next 10 to 15 years, a major road could be built parallel to Lower Seletar Reservoir Dam, in Yishun Avenue 1.
When contacted, URA could not confirm details of the proposed road, or whether the jetties, sited on a reserved site, would be affected.
The jetties, just off the eastern corner of the dam, may be boxed between two major roads and have access to the sea cut off.
The 30 to 40 full-time fishermen there - most of whom head to waters off Pulau Ubin or Changi - fear it is only a matter of time before the jetties have to make way.
Their new concerns follow a recent scare over the jetties' future because of safety violations and illegal land use.
In 1993, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) approved the use of part of the picturesque Seletar Reservoir coast as a mooring spot for boats.
Over the years, long wooden jetties and structures were built that extended from the mangrove far out into the sea.
Both the MPA and the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) declared these structures illegal in March, saying that although three temporary occupation licences had been issued for the use of state land since 1993, no approval had been granted for jetties and structures outside the licence boundary.
They noted that the structures lacked professional certification and posed a safety hazard.
However, if engineers could certify that the jetties were safe, they would not need to be removed.
An MPA spokesman said three of the four jetties have been certified safe by professional engineers, but they have to be inspected annually.
One jetty - which was not certified - has been dismantled. Fishermen from that jetty are believed to be now using Jenal Jetty, one of the three jetties that have been approved.
Most of the current jetty owners have been operating there for at least eight years.
Mr Yiew Lian, 60, a fisherman who docks his boat at a jetty owned by 76-year-old Toh Teck Yee, said the latter had spent about $2,000 to engage a professional engineer and make the necessary rectifications.
Another fisherman from a neighbouring jetty said he and others had pooled money to help the owner defray the cost of getting the jetty certified. "I contributed $50. What to do? There are no fish nowadays and I can't even feed myself," said the fisherman, who declined to be named.
These sums may not seem like much to some but the fishermen say they are significant given their meagre takings.
In a good month, these independent fishermen can earn $1,000. But, more often than not, they scrape by, as their catches have dwindled while prices of fuel have soared over the years.
When The Straits Times visited the place on Saturday, Mr Yiew had just returned from fishing off Pulau Ubin. His haul of mud crabs had fetched $80, out of which $50 went to foot the fuel bill.
"The $30 I earn does not take into account the amount needed to repair the nets. Compared to 30 years ago, the catch now fetches better prices but there are fewer fish," he said.
Fishermen said the fluctuating salinity of the reservoir after it was dammed and nearby land reclamation works had affected the quality and quantity of the catch.
"In the past, there was more salt water and our fish were so good that they were exported. Now water gets stuck in the reservoir and doesn't circulate," said a jetty owner who wants to be known only as Mr Teo.
With such bleak prospects, it is not surprising that the number of fishermen here is on the decline. According to the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority, which issues licences to commercial fishermen, there are 61 now. In 2009, there were 74. They sail out from locations such as Changi Creek, Pulau Ubin and Seletar.
Almost all the 30 to 40 fishermen in Seletar have been in this line all their lives. Some have retired, while those who continue are in their late 50s to 80s.
Some set up jetties as they live in the Seletar coastal area. It was once a fishing village for the Orang Seletar tribe, which made a living collecting shellfish and edible plants.
As most are illiterate and have lived from young by the sea, the fishermen hope the Government will find another site for the jetties if they need to be demolished.
"I think they will find another place for us; after all, we have shifted three times. Originally, we were at Punggol. What else can we do? We live here month by month," said Mr Teo.
Mr Oh Soon Chai, 54, who used to operate an illegal jetty in the area two years ago, said it is likely the jetties will have to go.
"The last time we were here, MPA told us we may have to move to somewhere near Yishun Avenue 6 and the Simpang area."
Should they be asked to go, some fishermen say they may take up menial jobs such as dishwashing or cleaning.
For now, they continue to fish and sell their catch to customers - mainly Yishun residents and nearby workers.
Crabs go for $18 a kilo, compared to $20 to $30 a kilo at supermarkets. Fish and prawns are also sold.
Said regular customer Lin, who paid $50 for 2.5kg of fish on Saturday: "It's cheaper and fresher than those in the market. I will order before I come, as there may not be enough for everyone if you just come.
"It's their livelihood and I hope they will still be around two to three years down the road."
Kristy Inus New Straits Times 24 Nov 12;
STUDY FINDINGS: Scientists say climate change, deforestation affect species' genetic pool
KOTA KINABALU: A RECENT scientific study has suggested that the dwindling numbers of orang utan in Borneo and the way the animal behaves have been affected by deforestation activities as well as pre-historic events like climate change.
In learning from the past, it highlighted the need to expand conservation measures to ensure no further drop in population.
The study was done by a team of scientists from various institutes in Portugal, Switzerland, France, Britain and Sabah's Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC) between the years 2000 and 2012.
The paper, which used samples collected in six different study sites in Sabah and Kalimantan, was published in the journal PLOS ONE (Public Library of Science) last week.
The study found the Bornean orang utan experienced major changes and faced extinction since 2.5 million years ago due to climate change as well as the arrival of farmers. The recent threat comes from commercially-driven habitat loss and fragmentation.
DGFC director Dr Benoit Goossens, co-author of the paper, said these results did not mean that recent forest exploitation did not leave its genetic mark on orang utan.
They hinted that older events also played a part in affecting the species genetic pool, he said.
Lead author Dr Reeta Sharma warned that recent forest fragmentation affected the genetic variability among the remaining population of orang utan.
Genetic variability in a population is important for biodiversity, because without it, it becomes difficult for a population to adapt to environmental changes, making it more prone to extinction.
Goossens said this called for stronger measures to prevent further drop in population.
"We need to expand conservation measures, such as protection of private land to connect the existing protected forest lots, corridor establishment, wildlife monitoring and law enforcement."
He added that this was also emphasised by state Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun, who had asked for a moratorium on any new land development in the Kinabatangan floodplain.
Return of the orang utan
Muguntan Vanar The Star 26 Nov 12;
KOTA KINABALU: The orang utan population in totally protected areas (TPAs) in Sabah's Lower Kinabatan-gan has risen by 20% with the increase in the number of protected forests, said a conservationist.
“The increasing population reflects a commitment by all, especially the state government, to protect more forest areas,” said orang utan conservationist Dr Marc Ancrenaz.
The latest good news came in the wake of a recent scientific study published in the PLOS ONE journal by a team of experts, who found that the Borneo orang utan began experiencing a major demographic decline between 200 and 2,000 years ago.
However, Dr Ancrenaz, who is co-director of the Hutan-Kinabatangan Orang Utan Conservation Programme (Hutan-KOCP), did not disclose the number of orang utan within the totally protected forest areas.
The Sabah Forestry Department had recently increased the acreage under its totally protected forest reserves to further help in the conservation of orang utan and other species, such as the Borneo pygmy elephant, the Sunda clouded leopard, sunbear, hornbills and others.
“The areas recently re-gazetted as Class I (totally protected forest reserve) are lowland forests, which are favoured for agriculture development.
“But the state government has shown that it places more value on environmental security in the long term by making them TPAs instead of going for short-term profits,” said Dr Ancrenaz, a wildlife veterinarian who has been working on wildlife issues in Sabah since 1998.
In a statement, primotologist Dr Isabelle Lackman, who is a co-director Hutan-KOCP, said the biggest issue for orang utan conservation in Sabah remained the problem of isolation and fragmentation of protected forests.
“While the Kinabatangan area has been protected by the Sabah Wildlife Department since its gazettement in 2005, the sanctuary is very broken up with some forests being totally isolated.
“This is not healthy for the long-term survival of orang utan in the area,” said Dr Lackman.
WWF 23 Nov 12;
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Serious gaps in protection are leaving tigers exposed to poachers, a new WWF study says, but this could be reversed if more investments are made in staff, equipment, and training programs for rangers that are working to protect the scattered populations of the endangered species in the wild.
WWF released the findings today to mark the 2nd anniversary of the historic St. Petersburg Tiger Summit, a high-level meeting hosted by the Russian Government and World Bank that saw 13 tiger range governments pledge to double wild tiger numbers from the current 3,200 to 6,000 plus by 2022 (TX2).
Covering 135 critical areas within the 12 landscapes where WWF currently supports tiger conservation, the survey found many of the sites remain poorly managed and under-resourced and therefore remain highly vulnerable to poachers.
“Poaching continues to be the single-most immediate threat to the survival of the tiger in the wild and also the greatest barrier to achieving the TX2 goal,” said Mike Baltzer, leader of WWF's Tigers Alive Initiative. “If we don't work as fast as possible towards ending poaching in these places then we cannot trust that these last remaining populations of tigers, and their prey, are safe for longer term recovery of this endangered species.”
The survey also shows that the same sites are in danger of becoming “paper parks”, i.e.
parks that are legally protected but are not being actively managed and protected on the ground.
Although 90% of the sites surveyed are legally protected, less than half have protection-specific management plans (with the exception of Russia). Across South and Southeast Asia only 12% of sites had the full number of planned staff in place and over 50% were not trained or equipped to an adequate level.
"The report shows that while important government commitments have been made, and much action has been accelerated, we are still far from what is needed to establish the very basics of tiger recovery,” Baltzer added.
Moving forward: six ways to increase tiger numbers
The survey examined six key elements related to effective management and protection against poaching: legal protection status, protection management, effective patrolling, intelligence networks, arrests and prosecutions as well as training and resources for field staff.
Investments in these areas are needed to not only achieve Zero Poaching, but to demonstrate to that the commitments made at the Summit are being actively pursued and are evident in the increased efforts to protect tigers. WWF is committed to Zero Poaching and will use the survey results to help identify gaps for future investments.
Global Tiger Recovery Program and Cards4Tigers
The 2010 Tiger Summit, governments also endorsed the Global Tiger Recovery Programme, an amalgamation of national tiger conservation actions and global targets towards meeting the TX2 goal. As a follow-up to the Tiger Summit, government officials met during the 2nd Asian Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation conducted in Bhutan in October 2012, where they committed to taking immediate and specific action over the next year to strengthen protection.
Since the Tiger Summit, WWF has been working with governments, NGOs and private partners to find ways to improve the effectiveness of ranger patrols through the development of law enforcement monitoring systems across Asia, training teams and key stakeholders in the latest methods in patrolling, prevention and conservation. WWF is presently supporting protection field staff and rangers through the Tigers Alive Initiative's "Cards4Tigers"
Thuy Binh Inter Press Service Reuters Alertnet 23 Nov 12;
AN BIEN, Vietnam, Nov 23 (IPS) - For the last decade, many families in this southwestern Vietnamese province have been uprooted at least once every two years - but this is not due to economic or political upheaval.
Rather, extreme weather has forcibly turned many of these coast-dwellers into unwilling travellers, as raging storms and a rising sea level lead to continued loss of land - and home.
"Each year, sea waves have eroded about three to four metres of land," says a 47- year-old fisher from the Tay Yen commune. "Our family had to move five times, (and) now our house is four metres from the sea."
But this is obviously not far enough. Already, the floors of the house are wet with seawater and a tree standing in what was once the fisherman's front yard has now become the marker for his casting point.
The fisherman, who has lived in this commune for the last 20 years, says he would have pulled up stakes and moved on once more if only he had money.
He finds no comfort in the fact that throughout Vietnam's many other coastal communities, and even in the Mekong Delta, thousands of others are suffering the same plight.
Vietnam has long been subject to typhoons that would typically lash the central coast and the Mekong River Delta. But in the last several years those typhoons have become even more intense and, accompanied by a rising sea level, have put coastal areas and communities in the Mekong Delta at great risk.
Indeed, a December 2010 World Bank report said that Vietnam is experiencing longer typhoon and flood seasons while "storms are tracking into new coastal areas".
It also noted that Vietnam "may be one of the top five countries in the world likely to be most affected by sea level rise", adding that records already show a sea level increase of about three millimeters annually from 1993 to 2008.
The report lists coastal erosion among the effects of these changes, with some areas already experiencing erosion of about five to 10 metres a year, while others are suffering erosion of as much as one kilometre annually. Increased salinity of coastal aquifers and inundation can also be expected from significant sea level rise, it warned.
Already, says Tran Van Giang, vice chairman of Tay Yen commune, "Five out of six hamlets in the commune are directly affected by sea water."
Many areas in Kien Giang, located about 250 kilometres from Ho Chi Min City, are actually experiencing erosion of 25 metres a year, and experts estimate that as much as one-third of Kien Giang's coast has been lost to landslides.
That erosion has destroyed vast swathes of this southwestern province's famed mangrove forests, leading one provincial environmental official to lament, "Forest belts have been lost."
Officials from Binh Dinh province in south-central Vietnam are equally worried about continuing erosion there.
"Every year, at least two to three rows of houses were washed away (about 80 to 90 houses)," says Do Van Sang, director of the province's Centre for Land Development, which oversees reallocation and resettlement for households in the high-risk and affected areas in Binh Dinh.
"Local resistance efforts and local people could not keep up."
Meanwhile, Pham Van Hung, chairman of the people's committee of one of the coastal communes in Bin Dinh, points to increasingly vicious storms as the primary cause of property damage or outright loss.
"Since 2000," he says, "the area has been affected by the strong tides. Storms in 1998 and 2001 totally demolished 52 houses."
Other experts have cited the decimation of mangrove forests as a reason for increased damages.
Le Thi Huong, who has lived near the Mai Huong estuary in Kien Giang for three decades now, says that in the past, the mangrove forest in front of her house was as far as three kilometres from the coast. But now she estimates that the sea is just a few hundred metres away from the forest - or what's left of it, anyway.
Most of the forest's big trees are already gone. "Now, because of erosion, more trees are falling and dying," says Huong.
Still, some see hope in mangrove-restoration projects, including one that is currently being rolled out in Kien Giang.
At Vam Ray hamlet in Kien Giang's Hon Dat District, a 400-metre mangrove forest, part of a pilot programme by the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), has been thriving.
Mangrove forests have long been seen as an effective method of erosion-reduction. GIZ says that a mangrove forest "can reduce wave energy from 50 to 67 percent".
The GIZ project is not the first of its kind in Kien Giang. The national government has been implementing mangrove reforestation projects here for the last 10 years. Its success rate, however, has been a discouraging 50 percent.
To ensure better results for its project, GIZ decided to concentrate on controlling two factors: waves and sludge. Nguyen Huu Hoa, head of agriculture and rural development in Kien Giang's An Bien district, believes that the GIZ project could be replicated and "the local people can do it by themselves".
But this approach has elicited a fair amount of debate.
Some experts have said the GIZ project may be difficult to replicate because of the costs, which, according to Kien Giang Science and Technology Department Deputy Director Phung Van Thanh, "are higher than the permitted state cost level".
He also worries that it may not be applicable in areas with serious erosion in the province, pointing out that the GIZ site experiences just 10-metre erosion annually, not even half as extreme as the levels in many areas in Kien Giang.
Dr. Le An Tuan of the Research Institute for Climate Change at Can Tho University worries about the long-term impact of such projects. The GIZ's narrow four-hectare mangrove forests have low resistance to the more intense storms these days, he says.
Additionally, the project could give a false sense of security to residents living in the mangrove project area - such as the 300,000 living within the parameters of GIZ Kien Giang project - and draw more settlers into a vulnerable location.
*This story, also published as a set of stories on the Hanoi Radio and Television online site, was produced as part of IPS Asia-Pacific's ‘Climate Change: A Reporting Lens from Asia' series.
White-throated Kingfisher: Sunning or courtship?
from Bird Ecology Study Group
WOW Talk: WCS’s Asian Elephant Programme: Evidence-Based Conservation in Indonesia & across Asia, 26 Nov 2012 (Mon) from The Biodiversity crew @ NUS
Wild-caught dolphin dies less than an hour after leaving Philippines for Singapore, sparking anger among animal lovers
Tan Weizhen Today Online 23 Nov 12
SINGAPORE - One of the 25 dolphins destined for Resorts World Sentosa's (RWS) newly-opened Marine Life Park died yesterday on its way to Singapore - the third of the wild-caught dolphins acquired by the resort to die, sparking outrage among animal lovers.
A Marine Life Park spokesman said the male dolphin, named Wen Wen, died less than an hour into the three-hour flight from the Philippines.
The park had been left with 25 dolphins after two died of a bacterial infection in a holding area in Langkawi, Malaysia, in 2010.
The 25 dolphins were training in the Philippines until earlier this week, when the first group of 14 dolphins was flown to Singapore.
In a statement last night, the spokesman said the two marine mammal veterinarians and eight specialists monitoring the 11 dolphins on the flight yesterday had responded with emergency medical treatment.
Preparations for the move had started several months ago and included continuous health assessments of the animals and simulations.
The dolphins had also gone through medical checks before the flight and were deemed healthy.
"No medical results or behavioural observations indicated that Wen Wen was in a compromised condition to make the journey," he said.
According to the park, a necropsy was performed on the dead dolphin yesterday, with officials from the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority present.
Further tests will be conducted in Singapore and the United States in the next few weeks.
The spokesman added: "Wen Wen was a sociable dolphin that survived a shark attack in the wild and had the scars of a shark bite on his torso. (He) and his trainer had developed a strong bond during their four years together."
Last month, animal rights groups in the Philippines had fought in courts there to stop the dolphins from being exported to Singapore, while local wildlife conservation group Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) has campaigned vigorously against the acquisition.
Yesterday, ACRES Chief Executive Louis Ng urged RWS "to do the right thing" and rehabilitate and release the remaining dolphins back to their home in the Solomon Islands.
"Wen Wen was born in the wild, lived six years free in the wild, and it is tragic that he died in captivity far from home," he said.
The incident also provoked an outcry among animal lovers, who questioned the need for dolphins in the park for educational purposes.
Bank officer Brandon Huang, 31, an avid diver, said keeping wild-caught dolphins in captivity is cruel and "demeaning".
"I am for having an aquarium to educate, but certain wildlife such as dolphins just cannot be kept in such an environment," he said.
He also objected to having rare shark species, such as hammerhead sharks, at the Marine Life Park.
RWS dolphin dies on flight
Melissa Pang Straits Times 23 Nov 12;
ONE of the dolphins being transferred to Resorts World Sentosa's Marine Life Park died yesterday.
Wen Wen, a male dolphin estimated to be 10 years old, "died suddenly" less than an hour before the plane from Subic Bay in the Philippines landed here.
A spokesman for the park said that it received emergency treatment but did not make it.
The dolphin was one of 11 in the second batch being transported to the park. The first batch of 14 arrived on Monday.
Wildlife activists have been lobbying against the dolphins being displayed at the park, which opened to the public yesterday.
RWS bought the dolphins from a Canadian dolphin trader in 2008 and 2009. They were caught from the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific, and activists said they would not thrive in captivity.
Wen Wen was the third dolphin to die out of 27 which RWS acquired. Two, which were kept at a holding area in Langkawi in Malaysia, died of a water-borne bacterial infection in October 2010.
The news drew flak from animal welfare groups, which asked RWS to rethink its decision to have dolphins in the park, which is billed as the world's largest oceanarium with 100,000 animals spread over 8ha.
The Marine Life Park spokesman said there were two marine mammal veterinarians and eight marine mammal specialists accompanying and monitoring the 11 dolphins on their three- hour flight here.
It was not Wen Wen's first time flying. There was also little evidence from pre-flight medical and behavioural tests to show that it was not fit to travel.
All 25 dolphins were given thorough medical examinations which included full haematology and body examinations, and were "deemed healthy prior to the move", said the spokesman.
Preparations for the move started several months ago and included continual health assessments of the animals, simulations and related groundwork.
Yesterday morning, a necropsy - an autopsy performed on an animal - was performed in the presence of Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority officers.
Further laboratory tests will be conducted in Singapore and the United States to find out what happened.
"Wen Wen was a sociable dolphin that survived a shark attack in the wild and had the scars of a shark bite on his torso," said the spokesman. "He will be sorely missed."
Animal group Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) last night urged RWS to "do the right thing" and release the remaining surviving dolphins back into the Solomon Islands waters after they have been rehabilitated.
Mr Louis Ng, founder and chief executive of Acres, said the group would "intensify" its lobbying efforts in the light of Wen Wen's death.
The dolphins had been kept at a facility in Subic Bay in the Philippines while the park was being built. They will be shown next year.
Animal welfare groups in the Philippines had tried to prevent the dolphins from being flown out but failed in their lawsuit.
Dolphin bound for Marine Life Park dies en route to Singapore
Sing Geok Shan Channel NewsAsia 22 Nov 12;
SINGAPORE: A male dolphin bound for Marine Life Park at Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) has died on its flight to Singapore.
Wen Wen, which was estimated to be ten years old, died less than an hour before its plane landed in Singapore.
The dolphin was one of 11 on the three-hour long flight from the Philippines on Thursday.
A Marine Life Park spokesperson said that there were two marine mammal veterinarians and eight marine mammal specialists accompanying and monitoring the dolphins.
The dolphins were also given thorough medical examinations and were deemed healthy before the move.
Another 14 dolphins have already been transported earlier this week from Subic Bay, Philippines, where they were kept for training.
Animal welfare group Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) said that it was saddened by the loss and urged RWS to rehabilitate and release the remaining dolphins back into Solomon Islands waters.
There have been several attempts to block the Indo-pacific bottlenose dolphins from being brought to Singapore.
- CNA/jc
Dolphin at RWS dies en route to Singapore
Today Online 22 Nov 12;
Singapore - Wen Wen, one of the 25 dolphins at Resorts World at Sentosa, died en route to Singapore today.
Marine Life Park has issued the following statement:
We are deeply saddened that Wen Wen, one of our 25 dolphins, died en route to Singapore today.
Wen Wen, a male dolphin estimated to be ten years old, died suddenly less than an hour into landing during the three-hour flight. Two marine mammal veterinarians and eight marine mammal specialists accompanying and monitoring the 11 dolphins on the flight responded with emergency medical treatment.
As is standard and required protocol, all of our 25 animals were given thorough medical examinations, including full hematology and chemistry profiles as well as cytology and body examinations and were deemed healthy prior to the move. No medical results or behavioural observations indicated that Wen Wen was in a compromised condition to make the journey. Preparations for the move started several months ago and included continual health assessments of the animals, simulations and related groundwork. International Air Transportation Association (IATA) standards and protocols were strictly observed and enforced during the planning and implementation of our marine mammal transport.
The Marine Life Park's four veterinarians have a combined experience of successfully transporting more than 500 marine mammals. The same veterinary team, with a collective experience with marine mammals of over 70 years, as well as the team of marine mammal specialists on the flight, successfully completed our dolphins' transport to Subic Bay and the recent transport of our 14 dolphins to Singapore.
A necropsy was performed this morning in the presence of AVA officers. Over the next few weeks, further laboratory tests will be conducted in Singapore and the United States to assess any contributing factors.
The other members of our bottlenose dolphin family are currently acclimatizing to their new home at Marine Life Park as we continue to monitor them and observe their quarantine period. No effort or resources will be spared in ensuring the health and well-being of our dolphins and all marine animals at Marine Life Park.
Wen Wen was a sociable dolphin that survived a shark attack in the wild and had the scars of a shark bite on his torso. Wen Wen and his trainer had developed a strong bond during their four years together. He will be sorely missed.
Dolphin bound for Singapore oceanarium dies
(AFP) Google News 22 Nov 12;
SINGAPORE — One of 25 dolphins being transferred to a Singapore oceanarium despite protests from activists died during its flight to the city-state on Thursday, the resort said.
Wen Wen, a male dolphin aged about 10, died suddenly less than an hour before the flight from the Philippines landed, a Marine Life Park spokesperson told AFP in a statement.
The spokesperson of the park -- which opened to the public for the first time earlier Thursday and is part of the Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) casino -- said the dolphin appeared fine when medically examined before the flight.
"We are deeply saddened... he will be sorely missed," the spokesperson said.
The other 24 bottlenose dolphins had arrived and were acclimatising to their new home.
"No effort or resources will be spared in ensuring the health and well-being of our dolphins and all marine animals at Marine Life Park," the statement said.
Wen Wen is the third dolphin to die out of 27 which RWS acquired from the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific between 2008 amd 2009.
Wildlife activists in the Philippines -- where the dolphins were kept and trained before being exported to Singapore -- filed a lawsuit last month to stop them from being flown out.
They said the dolphins' capture violated an international treaty on the trade in endangered animals and plants.
A court in the Philippines initially agreed to a temporary ban on transferring the dolphins but another court overturned it.
A Singapore-based animals rights group also opposea the inclusion of the dolphins in the marine park, saying catching them from the Solomon Islands is detrimental to the survival of the species there.
The remaining 24 dolphins are due to make their public debut at the park's twin attractions the S.E.A Aquarium and Adventure Cove Waterpark only next year.
The aquarium is touted as the world's largest with 100,000 marine animals from over 800 species in 45 million litres (12 million gallons) of water.
IUCN 22 Nov 12;
Gland, Switzerland, 22 November 2012 – Flagship species conservation initiative Save Our Species (SOS) is expanding its work with US$ 2.5 million funding for 25 new projects.
Dolphins, dugongs, manatees, gibbons, rhinos, tigers and many other lesser known yet similarly threatened species such as river turtles, Asian crocodiles, flying foxes, myriad freshwater fish and plant species are going to benefit from what will be the second round of species conservation projects within the SOS initiative – a global coalition initiated by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the World Bank.
“The latest injection of US$ 2.5 million doubles the number of active SOS projects but much more needs to be done in the field of species conservation,” says Jean Christophe Vié, Deputy Director of IUCN’s Global Species Programme and SOS Director. “Every year we receive more project proposals than we can possibly fund and the selection process is extremely challenging.
“With more funding available from a broader range of sponsors and donors, we can be much more efficient in addressing the current biodiversity crisis. That is why we are ramping up our efforts in promoting SOS to individuals and companies alike with the possibility to make online donations while also engaging with several progressive industry leaders.”
This announcement comes a few weeks after the meeting of the Convention on Biological Biodiversity in Hyderabad where 193 countries discussed ways of honouring their engagement to preserve the diversity of life. It also follows the publication of a recent report in Science, calculating the cost of improving the status of threatened species until 2020 at approximately US$ 4 billion annually, just 1% of the value of ecosystems being lost every year.
The new SOS projects will be implemented by NGOs across the Americas, Africa and Asia, starting immediately. They will focus on a broad range of species groups that have been assessed by the IUCN Red List, including small marine mammals, freshwater African fish, tropical terrestrial Asian vertebrates and cycads – one of the world’s oldest plant groups. The projects will address conservation needs of some of our most threatened species such as the vaquita, the world’s smallest dolphin which is Critically Endangered in its only home, the Gulf of California or the Javan and Sumatran rhinoceroses, also in urgent need of support and protection.
According to The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™, one in three amphibians, one in four mammals and one in eight birds are at risk of extinction in the wild.
Through its species-focus approach, SOS aims to stop biodiversity loss and increase resources for biodiversity conservation. IUCN manages the initiative by channelling resources to fund the best projects undertaken by civil society around the world – projects which are technically sound, well designed, cost effective, have a good chance of success, and which explain conservation in an engaging way to the public. This is achieved by leveraging IUCN’s in-depth knowledge base.
To date SOS projects have worked with more than 150 species listed as threatened on The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™, positively impacting wildlife as well as local communities.
“We invite everyone who is interested and passionate about protecting the world’s animals and plants to join us and help answer the SOS call from the wild, so that we can do more for the amazing diversity of life on our planet on which our own lives depend so dearly,” says IUCN Director General Julia Marton-Lefèvre.
Barbara Lewis PlanetArk 23 Nov 12;
The European parliament backed a blanket ban on shark finning, in which the fins are sliced off sharks, often while they are alive, and their carcasses dumped in the sea.
A surge in demand for shark fins, mostly for soup in Asia, has threatened various species of the predators, which have a vital role in maintaining the balance of marine ecosystems.
The ban, proposed a year ago by the European Commission, would forbid shark finning by all vessels in EU waters and by all EU-registered vessels operating anywhere in the world.
About one-third of all shark species are threatened with extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Sharks are particularly vulnerable to over-fishing because of their slow growth rate and small number of young.
The appetite for their fins, which can sell for up to 1,000 euros ($1,300) each, is greatest in China, where they are the main ingredient of shark fin soup.
Thursday's European Parliament vote is a strong signal, but needs to be matched by approval from member states to make the draft law definitive.
European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Maria Damanaki welcomed the step and urged swift agreement on "a real ban to shark finning without any derogations".
The proposed law would close a loophole in EU rules, which as they stand ban finning, but allow fishermen with special permits to land shark bodies and their more valuable fins at different ports - provided they comply with a fin-to-carcass limit of 5 percent.
Shark conservation groups have campaigned for years against the EU ratio, saying it is among the most lenient globally and allows European fishermen to dump large numbers of finned carcasses at sea each year.
Spain and Portugal are the only EU member states still issuing the finning permits.
Thursday's vote was "definitely a very positive step", said Sandrine Polti, policy adviser to the Shark Alliance, adding the group would continue to campaign for better management of depleted shark stocks.
Under the proposals, fishermen would have to land all sharks with their fins attached, although they would be allowed to slice partly through each fin and fold it against the carcass, to facilitate storage and handling.
(Editing by Rex Merrifield and Jon Hemming)
MEPs vote to close 'shark finning' loopholes
Mark Kinver BBC News 22 Nov 12;
MEPs have voted to close loopholes that allowed some EU fishing vessels to continue "shark finning".
Although the EU banned removing shark fins at sea and discarding the body, special permits allowed finning to continue legally.
Conservation groups, which say finning was threatening shark numbers, welcomed the European Parliament's decision.
The decision to back the European Commission's proposals will now be considered by EU fisheries ministers.
The resolution was adopted with 566 votes in favour, 47 against and 16 abstentions.
"Parliament's vote represents a major milestone in the global effort to end the wasteful practice," said Sandrine Polti, EU shark policy adviser for the Pew Environmental Group and the Shark Alliance.
"[We have] been working towards this and other fundamental reforms in European shark policies for more than six years and are thrilled with today's vote and the progress we expect to stem from it."
Dr Joanna Swabe, EU director for Humane Society International (HSI), said she was delighted that MEPs had decided not to support the argument to retain the special permits.
"This would have been disastrous for shark protection not just in EU waters but worldwide," she said.
"HSI commends the European Parliament for defending sharks against the cruel and wasteful practice of shark finning."
Shark finning is driven by the fact that the animals' fins are highly valuable in comparison with shark carcasses.
As severed fins could be easily stored, it made economic sense for fishing vessels to remove the fins at sea, rather than bringing the entire animal - which would quickly fill a vessel's cold storage areas - into port.
It is estimated that fins can sell for between 16 and 70 euros (£13- £56; US$20-90) per kilogramme in Asia.
The EU's global catch of sharks ranks second only to Indonesia, yet the European Commission has committed itself - under the EU Action Plan for the Conservation and Management of Sharks - to adopt the necessary measures to conserve shark species and to minimise waste and discards from shark catches.
Finning is also deemed cruel because the fins are often removed while the animal is still alive - it then drowns when it is thrown back into the sea.
Conservationists argued that the issuing of Special Fishing Permits (SFPs) that allowed fins to be removed at sea prevented the EU ban, introduced in 2003, from becoming fully effective.
According to European Parliament data, the largest number of SFPs issued to date were to Spanish and Portuguese vessels (1266 and 145 respectively, between 2004 and 2010).
It added that until 2009, the UK, Germany and Lithuania had also issued SFPs.
Ms Polti observed: "Shark Alliance member groups look forward to continued co-operation in shepherding and promoting a final 'fins-attached' rule and in securing complementary safeguards, such as domestic and international catch limits, to fully address the overexploitation of sharks."
Alister Doyle PlanetArk 23 Nov 12;
Fifteen years ago, fears about man-made climate change were enough to bind most of the industrialized world into a treaty that was flawed but at least seemed to cement the principle that greenhouse gases must be cut.
Yet now - with levels of those gases much higher and climate change more evident in extreme weather - economic slowdown and arguments over who should pay have all but killed any chance of a meaningful extension to the expiring Kyoto Protocol.
Almost 200 nations meet in Doha, Qatar, from November 26 to December 7 to at least try. But Russia, Japan and Canada, major economies that signed the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, have already said they will not sign up to emissions cuts beyond December 31.
The huge developing economies of India and China, now the world's biggest emitter of gases such as carbon dioxide from fossil fuels that trap the sun's heat, were anyway not obliged to cut emissions under the Kyoto process.
But campaigners say failure to extend Kyoto will also hobble Doha's much harder challenge: to work on an entirely new treaty to cap emissions from all countries including developing nations, due to be agreed by 2015 and go into force in 2020.
Meanwhile, man-made climate change is ever more visible.
Arctic sea ice thawed in September to its lowest recorded level, and extreme heat waves and drought have hit the United States and Russia more often than would be expected from historical records, a World Bank report said last week.
Greenhouse gas levels hit a new record last year, despite a world economic slowdown.
Even if all countries fulfill existing commitments, the world will warm by more than 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 Fahrenheit) by 2100 - more than the 2 degrees that the countries of the world say should be the limit, and dwarfing the 0.8 degree rise seen since 1900.
HEATWAVES AND FLOODS
Rising sea levels and more floods, heatwaves, storms and droughts will be the result, the scientists of the U.N. climate panel say. Less predictable rainfall and higher temperatures are likely to disrupt food and water supplies for a rising population.
The probability that the change is man-made is now at least 90 percent, the panel says.
"It's abundantly clear every day that what's been committed to is far from what's needed, and you can't wait until 2020 to be increasing the level of ambition," said Jennifer Morgan of the World Resources Institute in Washington.
But Russia, Canada and Japan have said they will not make cuts under a Kyoto Two because they would be meaningless when emerging nations led by China and India have no targets.
Kyoto bound almost 40 developed nations to cut emissions by an average of at least 5.2 percent from 1990 levels by 2008-12, but also established carbon trading mechanisms, which Russia, Canada and Japan want to preserve.
The United States never ratified the Kyoto deal, arguing that it would cost U.S. jobs and that it should include emissions cuts for poorer nations.
If it is allowed to expire, the world will have no legally binding climate plan from 2013, merely national emissions cuts by countries including the European Union, Australia and Ukraine that account for just 12 to 14 percent of global emissions.
The EU has promised a cut in emissions of at least 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, with or without Kyoto, to drive its carbon market. It argues that cutting emissions makes sense to gain a lead in developing greener technologies.
But many fear that much of the remaining momentum for a shift away from fossil fuels to greener energies such as wind and solar power may be lost, especially as the fight for any kind of economic growth has pushed green issues off the agenda.
PAINFUL PACE
Helen Clark, head of the U.N. Development Program, said work to stem rising temperatures had been "painfully slow" but that a failure to extend Kyoto would be "extremely serious" for the fight against climate change.
China, India, Brazil and South Africa this week urged an extension of Kyoto as "the essential basis for ambition", with deeper cuts by rich nations.
They said a new deal from 2015 should preserve a split between rich and poor nations, enshrined in the 1992 climate convention, that obliges developed nations to lead since they have benefited most from burning fossil fuels.
The United States and other rich countries say the 1992 division is outdated. China is now the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide and has overtaken Russia as the number two cumulative emitter in history behind the United States.
Lack of progress in recent years, including the failure of the Copenhagen summit in 2009, is partly tied to China's desire to burn more energy to boost growth and U.S. President Barack Obama's inability to persuade the Senate to cut U.S. emissions.
Obama said last week that he was a "firm believer" that climate change was real and that there was an "obligation to future generations to do something about it" even as he reaffirmed that his second-term priority would be the economy.
"China wants a few years to grow before it caps its emissions. And the U.S. is happy with that," said Heike Schroeder of the University of East Anglia in England, who believes that a radical overhaul is needed to revitalize the U.N. talks.
Developing nations also want assurances in Doha of more aid after the end of a three-year, $10 billion-a-year "fast start" program intended to promote their use of non-fossil fuels, especially since the rich countries have set a long-term goal of $100 billion a year from 2020.
(Additional reporting by Nina Chestney in London, David Fogarty in Singapore, Deborah Zabarenko in Washington, Barbara Lewis in Brussels, Risa Maeda in Tokyo; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
Night Dive at Pulau Hantu
from Pulau Hantu
The Lock and Key of Spiders
from Macro Photography in Singapore
Finger-licking food
from The annotated budak
Postcards on positive interaction with our wild animals
from wild shores of singapore
Dragonfly (37) – Chalybeothemis fluviatilis
from Dragonflies & Damselflies of Singapore
Random Gallery - Common Palm Dart
from Butterflies of Singapore
Red-necked Stints in a feeding frenzy
from Bird Ecology Study Group
Investigating food web and trophic interactions in Singapore’s reservoirs, a seminar by Liew Jia Huan (Friday 30 Nov 2012, 10 AM, DBS Conference Room) from The Biodiversity crew @ NUS
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