Best of our wild blogs: 7 Jul 19

Terumbu Hantu still very reefy
wild shores of singapore

13 Jul (Sat) - Free Guided Walk at Chek Jawa
Adventures with the Naked Hermit Crabs

Night Walk At Windsor Park (05 Jul 2019)
Beetles@SG BLOG

Balik Chek Jawa 2019
Adventures with the Naked Hermit Crabs

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Malaysia: Elephants trash Kluang family's house and car

The Star 6 Jul 19;

KLUANG (Bernama): A villager from Kampung Sri Timur was awoken early Saturday (July 6) by loud sounds and saw two elephants in front of his house.

"I felt shock and terror when I saw the two elephants right in front of the house. I watched helplessly as they trashed the garage," said Afian Kamin, 36.

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Malaysia: Cops to assist rangers in jungle rounds, stop poachers

New Straits Times 7 Jul 19;

TAIPING: Police have agreed to assist the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) rangers to carry out patrols in the jungle.

Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr A. Xavier Jayakumar said the cooperation was necessary to combat poachers, particularly of the Malayan tigers, as well as to destroy the traps set up by irresponsible parties.

“I will make an announcement on the joint operation with the police soon, while cooperation with the Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) is still in negotiation as it involves technical issues,” he told reporters after opening the Save Malayan Tiger Campaign here Saturday.

According to Dr Xavier, the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 does not allow forest rangers to carry firearms and, more or less, it limits their ability to fight poachers in areas bordering neighbouring countries.

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Best of our wild blogs: 6 Jul 19

Seaweedy at Pulau Sekudu
wild shores of singapore

Butterfly of the Month - July 2019
Butterflies of Singapore

Sat 6th July 2019: 11.00am – 12.30pm @ NLB – Public Talk on Mangroves by Prof Joe Lee and Panel Discussion
Otterman speaks

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It takes a community to protect mangroves: Desmond Lee

Marcia Lee Straits Times 6 Jul 19;

As both the biggest threat to and beneficiary of mangroves, the local community needs to be involved in protecting the tropical trees growing in and around intertidal communities.

Anyone can help by volunteering with organisations like the National Parks Board (NParks) and the Restore Ubin Mangroves initiative, a mangrove rehabilitation project led by researchers, community groups and government agencies.

They can get involved in nature walks, biodiversity surveys and mangrove cleanups in the Central Nature Reserve, Pulau Ubin or Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve (SBWR).

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Crocodile found in Sungei Kadut drain: Concerns from the past and what next

Experts explain how injured reptile may have got here, suggest possible relocation homes
Shabana Begum Straits Times 6 Jul 19;

The crocodile found in a Sungei Kadut drain last month may have been fleeing a territorial fight or was relocating from Malaysia, wildlife experts told The Straits Times.

The 3.4m estuarine crocodile - one of the largest ever spotted in Singapore - was caught and transferred to a crocodile farm on June 21 by the National Parks Board (NParks) and trained contractors.

It was believed to have entered the Sungei Pang Sua drainage area.

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Malaysia: 31 more Pasir Gudang students suffer breathing difficulties, nausea, vomiting

Kalbana Perimbanayagam New Straits Times 5 Jul 19;

PASIR GUDANG: Another 31 students from 11 schools here experienced breathing difficulties, nausea and vomiting during classes yesterday.

State Health, Culture and Heritage Committee chairman Mohd Khuzzan Abu Bakar said 21 students were sent to the district health clinic and one, whose condition was more serious, was referred to Sultan Ismail Hospital.

“The rest were treated by the medical psychology team on standby at the respective schools.

“There were no new admissions so far,” he said.

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Indonesia makes serious effort to tackle forest fires

Antara 5 Jul 19;

Indonesia is bracing for devastating and frequent forest fires, following the recurrence of bush and forest fires in many regions of the largest archipelagic country in the world. The authorities in Palangka Raya have been striving to halt the recurrence of bush and forest fires in the Central Kalimantan Province's capital city amid the dry season, while the city's health workers are also preparing to help residents affected by smog.

"At the moment, none of the residents is suffering from health problems due to the impact of the smog," Acting Head of the Palangka Raya Health Office, Andjar Hari Purnomo, said here Thursday.

Over these past few days, bush and forest fires have been spotted in certain areas around the city. On July 2, a thin cloud of smog blanketed the city's sky.

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Best of our wild blogs: 5 Jul 19

Delicate coral garden at Chek Jawa
wild shores of singapore

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Temperatures in Singapore could hit 40°C as early as 2045: Scientists

LOW YOUJIN Today Online 4 Jul 19;

SINGAPORE — By 2045, Singaporeans could face some days of the year when temperatures soar as high as a scorching 40°C.

At best, this sweltering scenario could be delayed to as late as 2065 onwards, according to a suite of simulations conducted by a team of scientists at the Centre for Climate Research Singapore, which is part of the Meteorological Service Singapore.

Dr Muhammad Eeqmal Hassim, a senior research scientist at the centre, told TODAY on Thursday (July 4) that this is the worst case scenario if the world continues to emit greenhouse gases at a rate that is “business as usual”.

“It (days of 40°C) won’t be a one-off event. There'll be some days starting from as early as 2045. And that's what we saw in the results. Some models are later. And so that's why we tend to give a range (that is) as early as 2045, possibly, or as late as 2065 onwards,’’ he said.

The scientist’s dire warnings come on the back of a recent four-day heatwave across western Europe that killed at least seven people.

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Second phase of construction begins for Tuas mega port

Michelle Teo Channel NewsAsia 4 Jul 19;

SINGAPORE: A caisson, a watertight structure about the height of a 10-storey HDB block, was installed at the site of the upcoming Tuas mega port on Thursday (Jul 4) to mark the start of its second phase of development.

At 387 hectares, this phase is the largest of the total four to be reclaimed. When fully operational, it will feature 21 deep-water berths, offering a capacity of 21 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo annually.

The completed Tuas mega port will be able to handle up to 65 million TEUs a year.

A total of 227 of the caissons will eventually be transported offshore and sunk into the water to form part of the wharf structure, which will span 8.6km.

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As Malaysia Bans Sand Exports, Singapore Says It’s Using Less

Anisah Shukry and Philip Heijmans Bloomberg 4 Jul 19;

Singapore said it’s been trying to reduce reliance on sand, as neighboring Malaysia announced a ban on all exports of sea sand since last year on environmental concerns.

The city-state piloted a polder development in outlying Pulau Tekong that uses less sand compared to regular reclamation, a spokesperson for Singapore’s Ministry of National Development said in a statement. The government has also sought to diversify its sources of sand to ensure resilient supply, the spokesperson said.

The ministry was responding to questions after Malaysia’s Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Xavier Jayakumar said that the country’s sea sand will be limited for domestic use only. The exports ban won’t affect ties with Singapore as it isn’t related to the city-state’s reclamation efforts, he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.

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