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Habitatnews 2002-09: Thursday, 25th April 2002
The Habitat Group's Nature Information List
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Current nature-related news busy Singaporeans might otherwise miss
More information and archives at: <http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg>
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Contents
1. Friday's public talk at the Raffles Museum cancelled.
2. Leisure Cycling was more festive
3. Upcoming events off the top of my head
4. Christmas Island ants make dent in crab population

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---> [1] Friday's Public talk at Raffles Museum cancelled
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"The times and trials of the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research".
This talk has been cancelled. It was meant o be presented as part of the
Singapore Library Festival.

The Public Gallery will still be open until 9pm, with guides present to
introduce you to the ten themes in the gallery.


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---> [2] Leisure cycling was more festive this year
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The National Leisure Cycling was revved up this year with the route
stretching from Marina South to the National Stadium. A fairly flat
19km ride peppered with a few slight slopes, an easy, enjoyable ride,
especially for me, just after I recovered from a sudden aand incapacitating
flu.

The route was peppered with lots and lots of route marshals, and when we
finished, we were greeted with green balloons and green painted faces of the
Body Shop crew!

In the midst of recovery someone pointed out that it was talentime winners
Cherry Chocolate Candy energetically dancing on stage. We were too tired to
go any closer and soon after, the strong rays of the sun were shaded out by
the clouds, else we would have fried!

Booths with the usual bike shops and sponsors were present and people again
queued up for a free tune-up by Shimano mechanics. SEC was there, as part of
car free day. NParks were partners on this as well, so I met more familiar
faces, and we ended the morning chatting about Ubin Day and the like.


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---> [3] Upcoming events off the top of my head
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Library talks - once a month by NSS members; will post here
when I get the schedule.

--- May ---
- Museum Fest, Suntec City, 24th - 26th May 2002, keep an eye on:
<http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/roundtable>

--- June ---
- Runway Cycling at Paya Lebar Airbase, Sunday 16th June.
Email <projects@...> or Fax +6375-6188 for the form
6km, 15km & 30km routes. Bike rental available. (Thanks to Yik Seow Hwa)
- Briswalk series - Sundays in June <http://briskwalk.sivasothi.com>

--- July ---
- Biking in Ubin - Sundays in July <http://biking.sivasothi.com>


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---> [4] Crazy ants wiping out famed [Christmas] island crabs
Michale Christie, Reuters, April 11, 2002
<http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/15428/story.htm>
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""Crazy Ants" are devouring the famous migrating land crabs of Australia's
Christmas Island and may have killed off up to half the crab population in
the past few years, a conservation official says.

David Slip, government conservator of the remote Indian Ocean outpost, said
crazy or long-legged ant infestations exploded into "super colonies" about
five years ago and the acid-squirting ants now dominate a quarter of
Christmas Island's rainforest.

The island's land crabs - famous for migrating in their millions every year
to the ocean to spawn - are blinded by the ants' formic acid and are quickly
overwhelmed, eaten and left dying in rotting piles on the forest floor."

More at webpage.
---> Thanks to Sasi Nayar.
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