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Habitatnews 2004-08: Saturday 5th June 2004
The Habitat Group's Nature Information List
To subscribe, email: habitatnews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
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Nature-related news for the busy Singaporean.
http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/index.php
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Contents
- Priscilla of Chek Jawa is no more
- Flying snake documentary to air on Monday, 11pm
- Joseph Lai & Angie Ng discover new record of fern at Labrador
- Vesak Day’s traditional animal release slowed
- Raffles Museum news
- Pulau Ubin stories
- Pulau Hantu – A celebration of marine life
- Chek Jawa’s is no more
- Asian snakeheads in USA
- Brood X Cicadas in the USA
- The Green Chef of China!
http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/index.php
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The webpage has been busy, so hop over for a visit and catch up on some
news! Besides the main stories, note the links on the left hand column.
News
I was Volunteers, visitors and other stalwarts of Chek Jawa were shocked to hear that their favourite ‘wild boar’ the tame Priscilla, had been found on her
side, dead, near where the guided walks begin at Chek Jawa. She had been a
fixture at Chek Jawa throughout the days of survey, VIP visits, public
walks, deferment and the implementation of a guiding system. A volunteer
who heard much about her, but never met her, saw her fallen body. She is
buried there.
Jake Socha who studied gliding snakes in Singapore (amongst other places)
for his PhD, came back with a National Geographic crew to film his animals
in action – it finally comes to television, and a timely email from him
alerted all of us. Watch out for Jake’s Flying Snakes on Monday, 11pm,
National Geographic Channel Asia.
Joseph Lai conveyed some good news from one of Singapore’s youngest Nature
Reserves, Labrador – he and Angie Ng had been looking for a rare fern that
once populated the park when they stumbled onto to something else - a fern
new to Singapore’s shores!
Vesak Day’s traditional animal release was met with a flurry of media
coverage as Nature Society (Singapore), National Parks Boards, and various
Buddhists organisations tackled the problem sensitively with some success.
New webpages and weblogs The Habitatnews webpage is now being well
complemented by several specialist blogs, creating a rich tapestry of
pickings for biodiversity and heritage information on the web. Raffles
Museum News provides a peek into the activities of the staff, students and
visitors associated with the Raffles Museum.
Pulau Ubin stories intends to build an archive of stories from that very
special island. The stories were first unearthed when the Pedal Ubin guides
began training. One of them, November Tan, can lay claim to a significant
Ubin heritage and taken up the challenge - take a look at her mother’s old
report card from Bin Kiang school, and November’s bewilderment when she
realised postal codes in Singapore were only two numbers once!
The Pulau Hantu webpage had undegone a spectacular transformation, courtesy
of new templates from a revamped blogger.com and wonderful photos by Debby
Ng and the other Hantu bloggers. A recent favourite is none other than the
Yellow-lipped krait! As they began diving refularly at Hantu, they have been
blessed with visibilities of 3-6 metres! Let the photos tell the rest of the
story.
Other news In the US, Asian snakeheads make the news once again as wetlands
managers brace themselves for a possible invasion. The problem seems under
control but suspicion of breeding pairs leads to some very drastic measures!
Shortly after, the 17-year wait for Brood X Cicadas, a very special cluster
of adults that began to emerge on the dot, after 17 years of feeding on tree
roots below ground in their larval stage. They apparently create a terrible
din in eastern US in most neighbourhood, but that strangely, citizens in
some cicada-free areas Want to join the party and are even attempting to
introduce the insects to their neighbourhood – to pass on a legacy that will
emerge in 17 years time! Baltimore Sun carries a special on both snakeheads
and Brood X cicadas.
And I could hardly believe my ears – the Green chef of China refused to cook
wildlife, got sacked from several restaurants, even beaten up, but survives
to influence dozens of other chefs into swearing a similar pledge. The
story has poetic origins that would soften the hardest heart and I urge to
scroll through the webpage and search for this story!
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- News at Ecology Asia: http://www.ecologyasia.com/Top-Level/eco-news.htm
Wild Singapore Weekly Events: http://www.wildsingapore.com/events/latest.htm
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