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Habitatnews 2003-18: Wednesday, 16th July 2003
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Nature-related news for the busy Singaporean.
Information and archives at: http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg
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Contents
- “Nature at our Doorstep” Episode V, Thu 17th July 2003: 9.30pm
- Faces of Changi – 17th & 24th July 2003: 8.30pm
- Malayan Colugo photographed at Dairy Farm, Bukit Timah
- WILDASIA.net – webpage about natural areas and nature in Asia
- Drug in livestock killing vultures in India and Pakistan?
---> [1] Film Formations’ series, “Nature at our Doorstep”
Episode V: Thu 17th July 2003, Mediacorp TV12 Arts Central, 9.30pm
From: Samantha Sng, Film Formations“The new boardwalks of MacRitchie Nature Reserve are in the spotlight of
this week's Green Piece segment. Yandi takes a walk along the boardwalk to
see what he can discover in the secondary forest of MacRitchie Reservoir
Nature Reserve.
Green Shop this week takes us to see Mr. Ronnie Chew, an agro-innovator
that specializes in soy waste farming. Watch Mr. Chew as he turns the waste
from soy bean processing to rich fertilizer for his plants.
In Profile this week is Mr. Victor Wu, an activist for WildAid. He talks
about his passion for sharks and the importance of their conservation. Also
about the public's misconception of sharks.
In this week's Great Outdoors, Yandi attends the Seashore Life Workshop.
Jointly organized by HSBC and the National Environment Agency, it trains
trainee teachers about Seashore Life to better impart to their students the
knowledge.”
--- Episode V synopsis from Samantha Sng, Film Formations
---> [2] Ochre Pictures Private Limited special on Changi, July 2003
This series explores the colourful heritage of Changi, both past and present, and what it means to the different people who have come to regard
as it as part of their lives.,
“Faces of Changi” on Channel News Asia
Faces Of Changi (S), Episode 1
Thu 17 Jul: 8:30pmFri 18 Jul: 10:34am
Fri 18 Jul: 3:34am
Sat 19 Jul: 7:00am
Mon 21 Jul: 5:30pm
Faces Of Changi (S), Episode 2
Thu 24 Jul: 8:30pm,Fri 25 Jul: 10:34am
Fri 25 Jul: 3:34pm
Sat 26 Jul: 7:00am
Mon 28 Jul: 5:30pm
---> [3] Hua Qin encounters the Malayan Colugo at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve
Monday, 14 July 2003: 3.10pm: [excerpt from blog] “What surprised me was the
"lump" had eyes. And boy, it looked like a joke to me @ first sight. It
looked a toy fixed to the tree. The eyes were big and plastic-ky, the limbs
and body were not moving. It took a couple of minutes for me to realise I
was actually looking at a live animal. The next thing I did was whip out my
camera-phone to capture the animal. As I was shooting the animal, I realised
I might be looking at a flying lemur [Malayan Colugo]. Read about it in
Habitatnews and heard about it during BoSS [Biodiversity of Singapore
Symposium 2003]. I needed a confirmation, so I called Siva to ask about the
flying lemur. [I received the email and confirmed it for him.]
Read his blog for the complete account!
Ng Hua Qin’s Blog “The Lonely Ham”
http://pachome2.pacific.net.sg/~huaqin/blog/blog.html
Photos of the Malayan Colugo, Dairy Farm, Bukit Timah Nature Reserve
http://pachome2.pacific.net.sg/~huaqin/Text/flyinglemur.html
Hua Qin’s Bukit Timah sighting is the third sighting in three weeks reported
here; following those of Adrian Loo (Lower Peirce) and Cynthia Lee et al.
(MacRitchie). Norman is probably seeing lots and interestingly, all four
were helping out at the Biodiversity of Singapore Symposium 2003!
Some facts about the Malayan Colugo (Cynocephalus variegatus):
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/cynocephalus/c._variegatus$narrative.html
If you records of sightings of the Malayan Colugo, please email Norman Lim,
an NUS honours student who is studying them at: behumane@...
---> [4] Webpage Feature: WildAsia.Net
http://wildasia.net
WILDASIA.net is about the natural areas and nature in Asia. An initiative led by Reza Azmi, a Malaysian-born Conservationist, the goal is to get
more people outdoors! The website has evolved over the years from
WILDBORNEO.net in 1998 - which was started to help improve the
knowledge-base about natural areas in Sabah and to provide an opportunity
for the smaller businesses and village tourism initiatives to gain some
exposure on the web.
It also provides trail updates, company reviews, tour bookings, a
multi-channel message Board, partnerships with "eco" friendly nature tourism
operators, to give more support to local tourism initiatives. WildAsia also
reached out to conservation organisations, and to work towards helping them
fund-raise for projects that will ultimately help conserve wild places and
species.
The main page also features articles and right now you can read about the
Omicron 8/10 x 42 High Grade Waterproof Binoculars, Dugongs of Mantanani,
Sabah, Travelling with Dogs, Malayan tapirs and Turtle Island.
---> [5] Report from the 6th Raptor World Conference in Budapest (Hungary)
By B.-U. Meyburg & R. D. Chancellor; received 30th May 2003 via IUCN/SSCThe 6th World Conference on Birds of Prey and Owls was held in Budapest,
Hungary from 18th to 23rd May, 2003.
The outstanding topic of the conference was the population crash of three
Gyps vulture species in Southern Asia, particularly in India and Pakistan.
Almost one whole day of the vulture session was devoted to this, followed by
a Round Table discussion. Since the disappearance in India of these vultures,
which only a few years ago occurred in huge numbers and which no-one not
directly concerned could scarcely have conceived possible, the cause has
been frantically sought. A lethal virus together with pesticides was
assumed, but without any direct evidence.
Now came the greatest sensation of the conference, astonishing all other
researchers working on the problem. The American veterinarian J. Lindsay
Oaks and his colleagues have shown that the cause is to be found in a kidney
failure brought about by Diclofenac. This is an analgesic and antirheumatic
drug extensively prescribed for humans for a long time. For several years,
in India and Pakistan, it has been widely used to treat the livestock which
form the basic food of the vultures. It had been proved experimentally that this in turn affected the three Gyps species. Thus Diclofenac, which
can also engender serious side-effects in humans, is in fact the direct
cause, borne out, for example, by the fact that the vultures in Bombay,
which fed on the corpses put out by the Parsees on their Towers of Silence,
already disappeared long ago.
It remains unclear why other carrion-eating raptors such as the other
vulture species, kites and eagles are not affected. Much further research is needed on this subject. Martin Gilbert of the Peregrine Fund summarised all
that was known about Diclofenac and undertook to seek further information.
Whether and how its application to livestock can be reduced is the next
all-important question to be tackled.
See also:
“Vet drug blamed for vulture death” - Cow painkiller may be toxic to scavenging birds.
By Hannah Hoag.
Nature: Science Update, 19 June 2003
http://www.nature.com/nsu/030616/030616-14.html
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