I AM the Lord your God who have created heaven and earth. Know that you are My partner in creation: therefore, take care of the air, water, earth, plants and animals as if they were your brothers and sisters.
KNOW that in giving your life I have given you responsibility, freedom and limited resources.
STEAL NOT from the future: honor your children by giving them a chance of longevity.
IMPLANT in your children a love of nature.
REMEMBER that humanity can use technology but can not recreate life that has been destroyed.
SET UP pressure groups within your community to prevent impending catastrophes.
THROW out all arms which cause irreversible destructions of the foundations of life.
BE SELF disciplined in the small details of your life.
SET aside time in your weekly day of rest to be with the world rather than use the world.
REMEMBER that you are not the owner of the land, merely its guardian.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Wildlife Smuggling In Malaysia
I found an article in one of the local newspaper named The Sun regarding the issues of wildlife smuggling in Malaysia
This is an interesting article which is an interview with the TRAFFIC Director, Azrina Abdullah.
I will not talk further about this but please read through this interviews between the Director and Karen Arukesamy of The Sun.
Tell us about your organisation.
Traffic was set up in the 1970s, after the signing of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). It is an international convention of which Malaysia is one of its members. This convention enables countries to cooperate in the monitoring of the international trade of plants and animals, including local wildlife species. Traffic is a joint programme with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and International Union for Conservation of Nature. We monitor both legal and illegal wildlife trade including plants. The Southeast Asia team started off with only three people in its Kuala Lumpur office which was set up in 1991. Today we have expanded to 25 personnel within the region – KL, Hanoi, Bangkok and Jakarta. We are the biggest Traffic office in the world and the only NGO that has a memorandum of understanding with the Cites secretariat to develop training material and provide information and resources on the wildlife trade.
Every so often, we hear reports of wildlife shipments being confiscated or seized, just how bad is this trade in Malaysia or the region?
Malaysia has the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, which was a good start compared to other countries, which did not have such laws earlier. Despite the Act and Cites Act passed in 2007, we are seeing an increase in the illegal wildlife trade in Malaysia. If you look at sales – I’m not saying that the trade of all species but some have gone up. The sales of pangolin, for example, have gone up significantly. It is the most popular species that is smuggled, especially to China in frozen form for the meat trade and the traditional medicine market which uses its scales. You cannot breed pangolins or keep them as pets.
Hence, with the illegal trade itself, it is a worrying trend in Malaysia and nearby countries. First, we have an efficient transport network and good ports, that in itself is an advantage for the smugglers. Basically it facilitates, indirectly, a lot of smuggling because you don’t expect the enforcement agency to scan or check every cargo that passes through Port Klang, for example.
What animals are protected in Malaysia?
According to the Perhilitan website, in Peninsular Malaysia, there are 740 local species and 1,856 exotic species, which are listed under Cites and protected under the Protection of Wildlife Act 1972 (Act 76). There are two categories of protection – "protected" and "totally protected". (see full list at http://www.wildlife.gov.my/)
What made Malaysia not just one of the top 10 global hubs for wildlife trafficking but also a harvest and transit point?
Yes, we are among the top 10 smuggling hubs together with the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore and the United States. Vietnam is also catching up.
As for the harvest point … it is because Southeast Asia is rich in bio-diversity. Recent seizures of tigers, fresh water turtles and pangolins reflect their abundance. They are not from outside but harvested in Malaysia.
Pangolins have a zero quota and are not for trade even though under Appendix II of the convention you can trade in them. Yet, you still find people trying to smuggle it because of the high demand and value of its meat.
But you do see a lot of species like fresh water turtles being heavily harvested. It again goes back to our good infrastructure and geographical location in the centre of the region. We have got one of the best infrastructures in the region and that makes it easy for the smugglers to transport the animals.
We have seen more reports of seizures at sea, especially in Johor, and at Kuala Lumpur International Airport and Penang International Airport. However, we have not seen many seizures in Penang lately, we do not know if they are not reported or whether Perhilitan has not released the records of their seizures.
Are there buyers in Malaysia?
Yes, there are Malaysian buyers. In addition, there is also a new trend – trading through the Internet, and the buyers are both Malaysians and foreigners. There are a number of Malaysian websites that sell rare and endangered species. For example, the Madagascar tortoise is being sold widely through the Internet and there is no way of tracing the sellers because most of the time the information on their sites is insufficient to show if they are individuals or companies and their contact numbers are not registered.
Can you tell us how some of the smuggling is done?
Some of the popular methods include strapping birds eggs to the body, coiling snakes into stockings, hiding reptile eggs in clothing and stuffing birds into plastic tubes. Most of the time the most creative smugglers are not Malaysians. But there have been many cases where the Malaysian smugglers stacked up the legal load of dangerous animals like snakes, or the ones that bite, on the top of the box and hide the illegal and less dangerous ones at the bottom.
So, there is no way the Customs officers are going to put their hands into the box, although it is their duty to check. They are supposed to check but if you look at the quantity of cargo and containers and the number of items in them, how do you check them all?
Even with frozen fish, they pack the legal meat on top and illegal meat in the bottom. The methods are often the same.
There are ways of checking if the enforcement officers go through every single box or cargo. I mean it’s not impossible but it is time consuming and the items have to be sent for lab testing. The procedures are tedious with the amount of paper work involved. Not that I am defending them and saying that they need to get rid of paper work, it is their job to protect the wildlife but the lack of manpower and resources often come in the way.
Recently, there was a report about a man caught with live pigeons stuffed into each leg of the tights he was wearing under his trousers.
A few years ago, there was this woman who was caught at an Australian airport; she was wearing a huge skirt and when she was passing through the Customs, one of the officers saw that her skirt was moving, and when they checked, they found she had sewn pockets on the skirt to hide little bags of live fish.
The funny ones, tend to be in Thailand, going through the airport or up to Laos or to the borders.
Who are those involved? Are they collectors, businessmen or criminals?
It depends. Most are mules who do not know who the buyers are or where the item will end up. Some of those caught with wild orchids are collectors. There were even researchers who posed as tourists, and tried to smuggle wild orchids and seeds from Kota Kinabalu Park and got caught at the airport. Even ordinary people buy animal body parts for medicine but they do not know these are smuggled items and it is the same with pets, people don’t really know some of the animals they buy in the pet stores may be smuggled animals, especially when they are rare.
Why do you think smugglers are willing to go through so much trouble?
The risk is low and the profits are very high. If someone were caught for drug trafficking, the maximum penalty would be death. But when someone is found guilty of wildlife trafficking or smuggling, the maximum they would get is probably a few hundred ringgit fine. Another important factor is that the burden of proof is on the prosecution to show that certain products contain protected species’ parts. Sometimes the smugglers are just fined RM50 or RM60.
What are the most easily smuggled animals?
It depends on how creative the smugglers are and – not that I am encouraging people – reptiles, especially tortoises, are one of the easiest to smuggle because at a certain temperature, you can easily bundle them up. The Madagascar tortoises are popular.
Where do smugglers get these animals from?
Selangor is one of the top illegal harvesting points in the peninsula for fresh water turtles. The surrounding states are also high on the list. We also see a lot of wildlife going to Johor and even KL, but it depends on what the wildlife will be used for, decorative items, food, pets or medicines.
What is the best way to curb this illegal trade?
It boils down to the police, Customs and Perhilitan (Wildlife and National Parks Department) ensuring that the provisions in the law are fully used and the judges are not ignorant of the seriousness of the issue. There have been many cases where the prosecutors pushed for the maximum penalty in the Protection of Wildlife Act but the judge or magistrate did not understand the seriousness of the crime. They don’t take it seriously. Usually, it’s a small fine and jail terms are rare. For example, the man caught in Kelantan with a frozen tiger was only jailed a day and fined RM7,000. We have been pushing for a review of the law since 1998. The government said the law was reviewed last year but I don’t know when it will be presented to Parliament and what the new provision are.
Do you think Malaysia has addressed this problem effectively?
To say that nothing has been done is not accurate. We need to also look at the challenges faced by the enforcement agencies. Governments tend to say that they do not have enough resources, budgets for manpower and equipment but if you look at the Wildlife Protection Act and Cites Act, the Customs and police can play a role in helping Perhilitan to seize smuggled wildlife items.
You can see collaborations in some seizures but not enough to act as a deterrent to smugglers. The police and customs have powers to take action on the smugglers, however, we don’t see it being done effectively.
That is one reason why Southeast Asia is one of the main players in this trade. The police, Customs, Cites and the judiciary should work closely with each other in combating the illegal wildlife trade.
How effective is the Protection of Wildlife Act?
The Act should be reviewed as it is outdated and has many loopholes. There are some provisions in the Act, which could not be revealed, and that alone has hampered the implementation of the law. It doesn’t serve as a deterrent to curb the problem and the lack of awareness and knowledge among law enforcers on the subject is yet another problem. The penalties are too low to act as a deterrent. Many offenders get away with a compound.
How many cases have been solved (over the last 10 years)?
Perhilitan solved a remarkable 6,587 wildlife trade cases from 2005 till January this year. Some 44 cases were taken to court. The department also seized 917 owls in Muar last November and 319 in Kuantan in January.
It conducted checks on pet shops under Ops Sayang and the premises of taxidermists and leather hide sellers under Ops 49 and Ops Kulit, last year.
Officers from its headquarters raided a house in Muar last November, where nine "totally protected" and four "protected" wildlife species were found in a freezer. The suspect pleaded not guilty and bail was set at RM19,000. The same suspect was apprehended in 2004 for having 182 pangolins and 1.3kg of pangolin scales. He was fined RM7,500. The estimated value of the seizures is RM86,000.
Officers also raided a store in Segamat, Johor, last November where 7,093 clouded monitor lizards with an estimated weight of 35 tons were confiscated. The black market value is estimated at RM50-80 a kilo.
The department’s officers seized more than RM3 million worth of live and dead exotic wildlife. The seizures followed raids at two locations in Johor. In other raids in the state, more than 13 species of protected animals were seized. Among the animals found were 7,000 clouded monitor lizards, 1,000 owls, pangolins, crested serpent eagles, pythons, mousedeer, Malayan porcupine, wild pigs and bear body parts.
Traffic has launched an online petition to push for a revision of the present law. What has the support from the public been?
The petition asks for changes to the protection of wildlife. The response is disappointing. We have only about 3,700 signatures altogether and our target is about 100,000. It’s been nearly a year and if you look at the list of people who have signed up, a lot of them are from outside Malaysia so we have a lot of foreigners signing in. One of the things about the public is that if they are not affected then it is not their problem. If a tiger is killed, how is it going to affect me and my family? It’s got nothing to do with my family so I’m not going to sign it or they don’t realise its importance. So it’s the understanding of the whole ecosystem that is lacking in Malaysia.
And I think environmental education is missing from the syllabus. So you see children, even my nieces, who have pets but they don’t understand where the animals came from and their habitat. So it’s just a matter of going to the pet store, coming back with an animal and playing around with it. I remember when I was a kid I used to go around the drains in Section 14 with some of my friends after school looking for tadpoles and tilapias – we were actually monitoring some of the tadpoles to see how they were growing.
It’s so different now in terms of the education before because I remember in school all those years ago, teachers made sure we went out of the class and walked around the school just to see what was around the school. If you ask any kid, "What’s the name of this plant?", they probably won’t know.
Some of the NGOs, for example Malaysian Nature Society and WWF, are doing a great job in educating the public on plants and animals and they’ve been doing it for years but you still see a lot of people not appreciating what is around them. This also reflects on our development: builders and contractors are given permits to develop just about anything. So you wonder who needs to be educated – the children or the adults.
What are the programmes prepared by Traffic to create awareness among people especially the younger generation?
We give talks in schools. We have collaborated with Perhilitan to come up with a national tiger action plan which was launched last year. We go to the villages and towns to talk about the importance of conservation and we encourage villagers to report to Perhilitan or any of these NGOs if they see snares or suspected poachers. For adults, our main focus has been enforcement agencies because we feel we need to sensitise enforcement officers.
This is an interesting article which is an interview with the TRAFFIC Director, Azrina Abdullah.
I will not talk further about this but please read through this interviews between the Director and Karen Arukesamy of The Sun.
Tell us about your organisation.
Traffic was set up in the 1970s, after the signing of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). It is an international convention of which Malaysia is one of its members. This convention enables countries to cooperate in the monitoring of the international trade of plants and animals, including local wildlife species. Traffic is a joint programme with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and International Union for Conservation of Nature. We monitor both legal and illegal wildlife trade including plants. The Southeast Asia team started off with only three people in its Kuala Lumpur office which was set up in 1991. Today we have expanded to 25 personnel within the region – KL, Hanoi, Bangkok and Jakarta. We are the biggest Traffic office in the world and the only NGO that has a memorandum of understanding with the Cites secretariat to develop training material and provide information and resources on the wildlife trade.
Every so often, we hear reports of wildlife shipments being confiscated or seized, just how bad is this trade in Malaysia or the region?
Malaysia has the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, which was a good start compared to other countries, which did not have such laws earlier. Despite the Act and Cites Act passed in 2007, we are seeing an increase in the illegal wildlife trade in Malaysia. If you look at sales – I’m not saying that the trade of all species but some have gone up. The sales of pangolin, for example, have gone up significantly. It is the most popular species that is smuggled, especially to China in frozen form for the meat trade and the traditional medicine market which uses its scales. You cannot breed pangolins or keep them as pets.
Hence, with the illegal trade itself, it is a worrying trend in Malaysia and nearby countries. First, we have an efficient transport network and good ports, that in itself is an advantage for the smugglers. Basically it facilitates, indirectly, a lot of smuggling because you don’t expect the enforcement agency to scan or check every cargo that passes through Port Klang, for example.
What animals are protected in Malaysia?
According to the Perhilitan website, in Peninsular Malaysia, there are 740 local species and 1,856 exotic species, which are listed under Cites and protected under the Protection of Wildlife Act 1972 (Act 76). There are two categories of protection – "protected" and "totally protected". (see full list at http://www.wildlife.gov.my/)
What made Malaysia not just one of the top 10 global hubs for wildlife trafficking but also a harvest and transit point?
Yes, we are among the top 10 smuggling hubs together with the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore and the United States. Vietnam is also catching up.
As for the harvest point … it is because Southeast Asia is rich in bio-diversity. Recent seizures of tigers, fresh water turtles and pangolins reflect their abundance. They are not from outside but harvested in Malaysia.
Pangolins have a zero quota and are not for trade even though under Appendix II of the convention you can trade in them. Yet, you still find people trying to smuggle it because of the high demand and value of its meat.
But you do see a lot of species like fresh water turtles being heavily harvested. It again goes back to our good infrastructure and geographical location in the centre of the region. We have got one of the best infrastructures in the region and that makes it easy for the smugglers to transport the animals.
We have seen more reports of seizures at sea, especially in Johor, and at Kuala Lumpur International Airport and Penang International Airport. However, we have not seen many seizures in Penang lately, we do not know if they are not reported or whether Perhilitan has not released the records of their seizures.
Are there buyers in Malaysia?
Yes, there are Malaysian buyers. In addition, there is also a new trend – trading through the Internet, and the buyers are both Malaysians and foreigners. There are a number of Malaysian websites that sell rare and endangered species. For example, the Madagascar tortoise is being sold widely through the Internet and there is no way of tracing the sellers because most of the time the information on their sites is insufficient to show if they are individuals or companies and their contact numbers are not registered.
Can you tell us how some of the smuggling is done?
Some of the popular methods include strapping birds eggs to the body, coiling snakes into stockings, hiding reptile eggs in clothing and stuffing birds into plastic tubes. Most of the time the most creative smugglers are not Malaysians. But there have been many cases where the Malaysian smugglers stacked up the legal load of dangerous animals like snakes, or the ones that bite, on the top of the box and hide the illegal and less dangerous ones at the bottom.
So, there is no way the Customs officers are going to put their hands into the box, although it is their duty to check. They are supposed to check but if you look at the quantity of cargo and containers and the number of items in them, how do you check them all?
Even with frozen fish, they pack the legal meat on top and illegal meat in the bottom. The methods are often the same.
There are ways of checking if the enforcement officers go through every single box or cargo. I mean it’s not impossible but it is time consuming and the items have to be sent for lab testing. The procedures are tedious with the amount of paper work involved. Not that I am defending them and saying that they need to get rid of paper work, it is their job to protect the wildlife but the lack of manpower and resources often come in the way.
Recently, there was a report about a man caught with live pigeons stuffed into each leg of the tights he was wearing under his trousers.
A few years ago, there was this woman who was caught at an Australian airport; she was wearing a huge skirt and when she was passing through the Customs, one of the officers saw that her skirt was moving, and when they checked, they found she had sewn pockets on the skirt to hide little bags of live fish.
The funny ones, tend to be in Thailand, going through the airport or up to Laos or to the borders.
Who are those involved? Are they collectors, businessmen or criminals?
It depends. Most are mules who do not know who the buyers are or where the item will end up. Some of those caught with wild orchids are collectors. There were even researchers who posed as tourists, and tried to smuggle wild orchids and seeds from Kota Kinabalu Park and got caught at the airport. Even ordinary people buy animal body parts for medicine but they do not know these are smuggled items and it is the same with pets, people don’t really know some of the animals they buy in the pet stores may be smuggled animals, especially when they are rare.
Why do you think smugglers are willing to go through so much trouble?
The risk is low and the profits are very high. If someone were caught for drug trafficking, the maximum penalty would be death. But when someone is found guilty of wildlife trafficking or smuggling, the maximum they would get is probably a few hundred ringgit fine. Another important factor is that the burden of proof is on the prosecution to show that certain products contain protected species’ parts. Sometimes the smugglers are just fined RM50 or RM60.
What are the most easily smuggled animals?
It depends on how creative the smugglers are and – not that I am encouraging people – reptiles, especially tortoises, are one of the easiest to smuggle because at a certain temperature, you can easily bundle them up. The Madagascar tortoises are popular.
Where do smugglers get these animals from?
Selangor is one of the top illegal harvesting points in the peninsula for fresh water turtles. The surrounding states are also high on the list. We also see a lot of wildlife going to Johor and even KL, but it depends on what the wildlife will be used for, decorative items, food, pets or medicines.
What is the best way to curb this illegal trade?
It boils down to the police, Customs and Perhilitan (Wildlife and National Parks Department) ensuring that the provisions in the law are fully used and the judges are not ignorant of the seriousness of the issue. There have been many cases where the prosecutors pushed for the maximum penalty in the Protection of Wildlife Act but the judge or magistrate did not understand the seriousness of the crime. They don’t take it seriously. Usually, it’s a small fine and jail terms are rare. For example, the man caught in Kelantan with a frozen tiger was only jailed a day and fined RM7,000. We have been pushing for a review of the law since 1998. The government said the law was reviewed last year but I don’t know when it will be presented to Parliament and what the new provision are.
Do you think Malaysia has addressed this problem effectively?
To say that nothing has been done is not accurate. We need to also look at the challenges faced by the enforcement agencies. Governments tend to say that they do not have enough resources, budgets for manpower and equipment but if you look at the Wildlife Protection Act and Cites Act, the Customs and police can play a role in helping Perhilitan to seize smuggled wildlife items.
You can see collaborations in some seizures but not enough to act as a deterrent to smugglers. The police and customs have powers to take action on the smugglers, however, we don’t see it being done effectively.
That is one reason why Southeast Asia is one of the main players in this trade. The police, Customs, Cites and the judiciary should work closely with each other in combating the illegal wildlife trade.
How effective is the Protection of Wildlife Act?
The Act should be reviewed as it is outdated and has many loopholes. There are some provisions in the Act, which could not be revealed, and that alone has hampered the implementation of the law. It doesn’t serve as a deterrent to curb the problem and the lack of awareness and knowledge among law enforcers on the subject is yet another problem. The penalties are too low to act as a deterrent. Many offenders get away with a compound.
How many cases have been solved (over the last 10 years)?
Perhilitan solved a remarkable 6,587 wildlife trade cases from 2005 till January this year. Some 44 cases were taken to court. The department also seized 917 owls in Muar last November and 319 in Kuantan in January.
It conducted checks on pet shops under Ops Sayang and the premises of taxidermists and leather hide sellers under Ops 49 and Ops Kulit, last year.
Officers from its headquarters raided a house in Muar last November, where nine "totally protected" and four "protected" wildlife species were found in a freezer. The suspect pleaded not guilty and bail was set at RM19,000. The same suspect was apprehended in 2004 for having 182 pangolins and 1.3kg of pangolin scales. He was fined RM7,500. The estimated value of the seizures is RM86,000.
Officers also raided a store in Segamat, Johor, last November where 7,093 clouded monitor lizards with an estimated weight of 35 tons were confiscated. The black market value is estimated at RM50-80 a kilo.
The department’s officers seized more than RM3 million worth of live and dead exotic wildlife. The seizures followed raids at two locations in Johor. In other raids in the state, more than 13 species of protected animals were seized. Among the animals found were 7,000 clouded monitor lizards, 1,000 owls, pangolins, crested serpent eagles, pythons, mousedeer, Malayan porcupine, wild pigs and bear body parts.
Traffic has launched an online petition to push for a revision of the present law. What has the support from the public been?
The petition asks for changes to the protection of wildlife. The response is disappointing. We have only about 3,700 signatures altogether and our target is about 100,000. It’s been nearly a year and if you look at the list of people who have signed up, a lot of them are from outside Malaysia so we have a lot of foreigners signing in. One of the things about the public is that if they are not affected then it is not their problem. If a tiger is killed, how is it going to affect me and my family? It’s got nothing to do with my family so I’m not going to sign it or they don’t realise its importance. So it’s the understanding of the whole ecosystem that is lacking in Malaysia.
And I think environmental education is missing from the syllabus. So you see children, even my nieces, who have pets but they don’t understand where the animals came from and their habitat. So it’s just a matter of going to the pet store, coming back with an animal and playing around with it. I remember when I was a kid I used to go around the drains in Section 14 with some of my friends after school looking for tadpoles and tilapias – we were actually monitoring some of the tadpoles to see how they were growing.
It’s so different now in terms of the education before because I remember in school all those years ago, teachers made sure we went out of the class and walked around the school just to see what was around the school. If you ask any kid, "What’s the name of this plant?", they probably won’t know.
Some of the NGOs, for example Malaysian Nature Society and WWF, are doing a great job in educating the public on plants and animals and they’ve been doing it for years but you still see a lot of people not appreciating what is around them. This also reflects on our development: builders and contractors are given permits to develop just about anything. So you wonder who needs to be educated – the children or the adults.
What are the programmes prepared by Traffic to create awareness among people especially the younger generation?
We give talks in schools. We have collaborated with Perhilitan to come up with a national tiger action plan which was launched last year. We go to the villages and towns to talk about the importance of conservation and we encourage villagers to report to Perhilitan or any of these NGOs if they see snares or suspected poachers. For adults, our main focus has been enforcement agencies because we feel we need to sensitise enforcement officers.
Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot (Loriculus galgulus)
This is a photo that i take from one of the Murut's house during my visit in February. They keep a pair of this parrots at their house and this birds looks not very healthy.Actually, i am not into rearing wild pets these days because i am prefer seeing them fly freely on the air. But, this habit of local people is still difficult to overcome. Anyway, i am not blaming them because they already used to it and maybe there is no awareness program from government department or NGOs reach this village yet.
I admit that this bird is really pretty with their small size. All parrots are pretty. For more info about this little bird, visit this site: AvianWeb.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Support Earth Hour 2009
On Saturday, March 28, 2009, at 8:30 p.m., each and everyone of us on this earth should taking part in Earth Hour, sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund. We'll be together with tens of millions of concerned citizens and corporations in calling for action to save our planet for future generations.
We're proud to fight against climate change, and we as individuals can sign up to participate, too. There are more information about Earth Hour at http://www.earthhour.org/, and each one of us can sign up to participate at www.EarthHour.org/signup. I have put up a banner at my side bar to direct to the page too.
More than 50 million people in 370 cities around the world took part in Earth Hour 2008. The lights went out at Sydney's Opera House, Rome's Coliseum, the Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge. Even the Google homepage went dark for the day. Many major corporations took part including HP, Coca-Cola, and Morgan Stanley.
This year, Earth Hour promises to be even bigger. In Malaysia, cities large and small have said they'll participate …with more signing on daily. International cities such as Beijing, Cape Town, Copenhagen, Edinburgh, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, London, Manila, Mexico City, Moscow, Rome, and Toronto are support Earth Hour too. This is WWF's video about Earth Hour 2009 at www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjWD8pbK5t8 to get a sense of the magnitude of this event.
*Modified from http://www.earthhour.org/downloads/ document.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"The first step in the acquisition of wisdom is silence, the second listening, the third memory, the fourth practice, the fifth teaching others."
~Solomon Ibn Gabriol~
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Wild Meat
I was almost lack of ideas on what to write here but since i am working on the assignment about hunting and game management so it reminds me of eating wild meat.
In my previous work place i have quite a few experienced taste the wild meat. I taste the Reticulated Phyton meat. It was at my friend uncle's house. I have to admit that it was tasty and very delicious meat but the problem with me is that i am full of the imagination. I can't eat it after one small piece (just to taste it) because i can feel it's twine round my body or even swallow me. Gosh....crazy imagination until i can't eat more of that tasty meat. But, it is good for me because i am a wildlife lovers so i am not suppose to support the demand in wild meat market.
The next one is Large Flying Fox meat. It was at one of the restaurant that own by local people of Sarawak. They served variety dishes of wild meat. I suppose not to involve in this dinner but i was in too ( i feel bad about it). I am not sure why the enforcement didn't do something with this restaurant. It supposed to be banned. The most wierd things is that, in front of this restaurant, there is a big sign board shows Protected and Totally Protected Species of Wildlife in Sarawak with the penalty that have to be paid if hunt or sell those wild meat. Never mind, i will continue with my story.
The taste is good too and again my problem is my imagination. I work a lot on bats research where we do specimen collectiions. I use to make bats voucher specimen so i already see so many different species of bats and how it's morphology looks like. This is what come up into my mind and it's lingers there while i am eating a small piece of it's thigh muscle. Arghhh...i really can not stand it and it was a struggle just to finish one piece of this Flying Fox meat.
As i reflects back, i was not meant to support all these wild meat consumption. I am the one that have to fight for those animals that can not speak for themselves.
Actually there were others experienced too but this two experienced is enough for now. For frogs and squirrels meat is just nice too. This is all happen long time ago.
In my previous work place i have quite a few experienced taste the wild meat. I taste the Reticulated Phyton meat. It was at my friend uncle's house. I have to admit that it was tasty and very delicious meat but the problem with me is that i am full of the imagination. I can't eat it after one small piece (just to taste it) because i can feel it's twine round my body or even swallow me. Gosh....crazy imagination until i can't eat more of that tasty meat. But, it is good for me because i am a wildlife lovers so i am not suppose to support the demand in wild meat market.
The next one is Large Flying Fox meat. It was at one of the restaurant that own by local people of Sarawak. They served variety dishes of wild meat. I suppose not to involve in this dinner but i was in too ( i feel bad about it). I am not sure why the enforcement didn't do something with this restaurant. It supposed to be banned. The most wierd things is that, in front of this restaurant, there is a big sign board shows Protected and Totally Protected Species of Wildlife in Sarawak with the penalty that have to be paid if hunt or sell those wild meat. Never mind, i will continue with my story.
The taste is good too and again my problem is my imagination. I work a lot on bats research where we do specimen collectiions. I use to make bats voucher specimen so i already see so many different species of bats and how it's morphology looks like. This is what come up into my mind and it's lingers there while i am eating a small piece of it's thigh muscle. Arghhh...i really can not stand it and it was a struggle just to finish one piece of this Flying Fox meat.
As i reflects back, i was not meant to support all these wild meat consumption. I am the one that have to fight for those animals that can not speak for themselves.
Actually there were others experienced too but this two experienced is enough for now. For frogs and squirrels meat is just nice too. This is all happen long time ago.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
They Are Special
Today something special happen. Instead of working with wildlife, today we have a special occasion for our CEO wife, Mdm G at the Special Kids Centre. The centre arrange a small farewell party for her, to appreciate all of her contributions to the centre. She is a free hands artist and she paint a very beautiful mural for the school.
I have several times visit this centre and i didn't cry but today i can not hold my tears anymore. My heart was so touched by one of the kid, he had a Polio, so he can not stand. He moves using his hands. He is a new student that register to this centre. He is 12 years old and have a very bright smile and very cheerful kids. I was looking at him when he practising his songs with his friend to be presented during the party and suddenly with his sweet smile he look back at me and give a very sweet smile and greet me "Good Morning" with his cheerful voice. Wow..i really impressed with how he greet me.
During the token presentation to Mdm G, he is one of the kids that presents his token. With a sweet smile, he move forward and present the gift to her. He said, "Madam, this is for you." Very polite and he can speak English. Really impressed us because he didn't go to any school and only his sister teach him. This was the time, i can not hold my tears anymore and i cry. Most of us cry because of this kid. He really touched our heart and Mdm G also cried because of this kid.
I don't have his picture but i will put one soon when i have a chance to visit him at the centre again.
This child is really special.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Quote Of The Day
"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better."
~Albert EinsteinWednesday, March 18, 2009
Hunting & Game Management
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people have equal rights and responsibilities, and that among these are the right to a secure and sustainable environment and the responsibility to safeguard such an environment for all." - OCELOT, 2008
Quote that i get from Julian Caldecott website, an ecologist that has spent more than 20 years promoting biodiversity conservation and environmental sustainability around the world. To see more about him redirect to this page: Julian Caldecott.
Actually i am searching for more information about hunting and game management to get more ideas and information. While searching i found his website. An interesting one and he did some works in Malaysia (Peninsular, Sabah and Sarawak). The interesting part is that, one of his work is related to the topic that i am looking for. He did write one book about Hunting and Wildlife Management in Sarawak. However, i only can see the review but it is good to know that some work has been done 21 years ago.
But, the future is still unknown.
Quote that i get from Julian Caldecott website, an ecologist that has spent more than 20 years promoting biodiversity conservation and environmental sustainability around the world. To see more about him redirect to this page: Julian Caldecott.
Actually i am searching for more information about hunting and game management to get more ideas and information. While searching i found his website. An interesting one and he did some works in Malaysia (Peninsular, Sabah and Sarawak). The interesting part is that, one of his work is related to the topic that i am looking for. He did write one book about Hunting and Wildlife Management in Sarawak. However, i only can see the review but it is good to know that some work has been done 21 years ago.
But, the future is still unknown.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Totally Protected Animals of Sabah
- Dicerorhinus sumatrensis (Sumatran Rhinoceros)
- Pongo pygmaeus (Orang Utan)
- Helarctos malayanus (Sun Bear)
- Dugong dugon (Dugong)
- Nasalis larvatus (Proboscis Monkey)
- Neofelis nebulosa (Clouded Leopard)
- Tomistoma schlegeli (False Gharial)
- Chelonia mydas (Green Turtle)
- Eretmochelys imbricata (Hawksbill Turtle)
*Under Sabah Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997
Interview Form for Hunters
Yesterday i am busy preparing Wildlife Observation Form and today i have another task to do. I am preparing Interview Form for Hunters. This form is mainly to get the rough estimation of the consumption of wild meat and use of other carcass parts by the local people. Hopefully by interviewing them we will get an idea of the meat consumption.
I am still trying to get more idea on this task because i never done this before. Hmm....i have to read more information and find related article or journal on how this things been done.
However, different areas (with different natives), there will be different approach even though the way they harvest wild meat is almost the same. We are Bornean people. Got to go..lot more works to be done.
I am still trying to get more idea on this task because i never done this before. Hmm....i have to read more information and find related article or journal on how this things been done.
However, different areas (with different natives), there will be different approach even though the way they harvest wild meat is almost the same. We are Bornean people. Got to go..lot more works to be done.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Wildlife Observation Form
What should i put in this observation form or maybe i can call it observation field data sheet?
What are the important information that i really need from field observation?
I am thinking of something that other people can easily understand and they can use this form. Something that not too complicated and everbody know what to fill in this form. It must be something easy but have the information that i need. Besides that, i can translate it into Malay language.
But, if i put a column for Species Name, i don't think they know too details so i will ask them to put Malay Name or English Name or Native Name but the problem with native name is that, i don't understand Murut and Lundayeh language. I really have to work out on that. It should be no problem.
Information i need:
1. Vernacular Name / Species Name
2. Date - Day/Month/Year
3. Location - GPS reading
4. Elevation
5. Time recorded - Hour/Minutes/Seconds
6. Forest Type
7. Quantity
8. Remarks - Nesting, Food, Behaviour
For the time being, this is some of the information that i can think of. This should help me to get a raw data on what wildlife do we have in our area. I hope i can get some information from our field personnel. I wish i am the one that go out and do the observation but it is okay. I have to rely on other person to do it for now.
I really really miss doing field observation.......
What are the important information that i really need from field observation?
I am thinking of something that other people can easily understand and they can use this form. Something that not too complicated and everbody know what to fill in this form. It must be something easy but have the information that i need. Besides that, i can translate it into Malay language.
But, if i put a column for Species Name, i don't think they know too details so i will ask them to put Malay Name or English Name or Native Name but the problem with native name is that, i don't understand Murut and Lundayeh language. I really have to work out on that. It should be no problem.
Information i need:
1. Vernacular Name / Species Name
2. Date - Day/Month/Year
3. Location - GPS reading
4. Elevation
5. Time recorded - Hour/Minutes/Seconds
6. Forest Type
7. Quantity
8. Remarks - Nesting, Food, Behaviour
For the time being, this is some of the information that i can think of. This should help me to get a raw data on what wildlife do we have in our area. I hope i can get some information from our field personnel. I wish i am the one that go out and do the observation but it is okay. I have to rely on other person to do it for now.
I really really miss doing field observation.......
Friday, March 13, 2009
Tagging and Information -- How?
When you walk through the education trails there will be a tag and information about the trees along that trail. For example the local name, family name, genus name or even until the species name.I just wander what is the best way to give a good information about that trees or herbs? As you can see in the photo above, it only give the local name and family name of that tree. That is the only information that we can get. I am not a good botanist so this is not attractive at all for me so i am not sure if i can identify this tree if i walk inside the forest.
What is the best way then?
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Beautiful Note To Share - Life is A Gift
Today before you say an unkind word - Think of someone who can't speak.
Before you complain about the taste of your food - Think of someone who has nothing to eat.
Before you complain about your husband or wife - Think of someone who's crying out to GOD for a companion.
Today before you complain about life - Think of someone who died too early on this earth.
Before you complain about your children - Think of someone who desires children but they're barren.
Before you argue about your dirty house someone didn't clean or sweep - Think of the people who are living in the streets.
Before whining about the distance you drive Think of someone who walks the same distance with their feet.
And when you are tired and complain about your job - Think of the unemployed, the disabled, and those who wish they had your job.
Before you think of pointing the finger or condemning another - Remember that not one of us is without sin.
And when depressing thoughts seem to get you down - Put a smile on your face and think: you're alive and still around.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
My New Life......Just Begin....
One month has passed by and I am still searching for my new career direction. Where is actually I am heading to? After a month of struggling in adjusting myself in this new working environment I want to share a little bit about what I feel and what I have in my mind.
My first visit was to a rural area and meeting the local villagers that still use almost all the natural resources around them, I am back on track again. I talk to them about animals and asking where they found them. They are very keen to share their experienced and knowledge. It is the matter of how I lead the conversation and reach their interest on sharing their experienced in hunting and harvesting the wildlife and plants. But, there is a problem with me. Language. I have to do something about it because most of them are not really good in Malay language. They use their own mother tongue and I don't even know a word of it. I have to do something about it. I have to learn their language so that our conversation will become easy and we understand each other. Till next visit.
My next visit was to a primary forest where the waterfall was. It is just like I am HOME again when I can heard the sounds of hornbills, barbets, bulbuls and lots more birds singing. Smell the fresh air with the cold and misty surroundings. It is a hilly area and it was so amazing being there. Lots of things come up in my mind. There are so many things have to discovered in this area. What animals are actually we have inside this deep forest with this interesting landscape? A hill range with waterfall that surrounded by tree plantation. What will lives there? But….I was frustrated because my task here was no longer as a field biologist. My dream job. My passion.
Do I have to give up on my passion? I will not give up just like that. I challenge myself on this new task. I give myself one year to prove myself that I will do something extraordinary. I will share more if my feet moves one more step from where I am standing now.
It is a.......Sambar Deer (Cervus unicolor)
This is the Sambar Deer (Cervus unicolor) in captivity. It is very tame because they rear it since it was very young, about three weeks after birth. This female Sambar is pregnant and i think by now she alreday delivered a baby Sambar.
For further reading, some information can be get from Wikipedia.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Guess....Who Am I??
Do you know what animal is this by seeing it's face only. Dare to take
a challenge but i think this is easy..hehehehe..
Have fun guessing...:)
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Rough-necked Monitor (Varanus rudicollis)
My curiosity is very high because this is a new place for me. I keep doing my observation trying to find something interesting with my camera in my hand. I did heard a lots of birds singing along the way and it was so peacefull with the misty environment.
While we are walking the field guide keep explaining and describes about trees and plants along the way. We stop at one of the hut and suddenly my friend pointed something quitely to me. It was a monitor lizard and i never seen it before. It did not moves and keep silence in it position as if its doesn't want us to notice he is there. I try to take a photo of it and yes i got one but that is the only one because after that it quickly ran away.
So, i ask our field guide and he explain to us that monitor lizards called "Biawak Punggur" and it lives in the tree holes. To confirm this identification i ask one of my friend from museum and he told me, yes it was.
I am lucky to have this chance. Seeing something new is very exciting.
To see more information about this animal visit this site: mampam Conservation
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Speckled Piculet (Picumnus innominatus)
I woke up early every morning because i have to catch up 6.45am bus to reach to my work place. As i waited for the bus, my eyes saw something interesting on the tree bark. It keeps moving and i get closer to make sure what is that.
Oh my!! It's a woodpecker and as far as i know i never seen this one before. I thought it was a Rufous Piculet because it was as small as Rufous Piculet. I don't have my field guide book in my hand so i tried to memorized all the colours that i can see on it's body.
So, today i add one more bird's species in my list of obesrvation.
To see more information of this bird, do visit this site: BirdLife International
Oh my!! It's a woodpecker and as far as i know i never seen this one before. I thought it was a Rufous Piculet because it was as small as Rufous Piculet. I don't have my field guide book in my hand so i tried to memorized all the colours that i can see on it's body.
So, today i add one more bird's species in my list of obesrvation.
To see more information of this bird, do visit this site: BirdLife International
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
I Learn Something......
On the way back from sending four villagers that we invited to exhibit their handicrafts during the carnivals, my friend and I saw one small creature on the gravel road. We stop by and I am curious of what is that thing. As we stop, I quickly get out from the car and get to that little thing. I can't see its head so I am not sure what was at first. I take a stone and try to squeeze it because from its bad condition I thought its dead with all flies eggs on its body. When I squeeze it suddenly it moves and I am surprised that it was still alive with that worse body condition. As its head appear I saw both of its eyes already full of maggots and I can say it is blind. I am very clear that this animal has faced a very horrific time with both hands and one leg injured badly. I wonder how it still can survive.
I decided to take it back home since it is still alive even though I am not sure if I can save it with the chronic stage like that. When we get back home, I ask my friend what I should do to this animal. I take it home with me and I make some sugar water and try to take out the flies eggs from its fur. It wants to sip the water from the straw and I feel a little bit relief because it still wants to drinks. Then I try to take out the maggots but, it was very difficult and I only can take out one of it. Then I put some medication on its wound on the leg and hands. Then I realize one hole on its left thighs and full of maggots too. How pity and horrible is this animal feels when it is still alive but its body starts to rotten because of those maggots. After put all the medications I put it back in the box and I went to sleep.
This morning when I woke up for work I look into the box and I feel so sorry because it's already dead. I can't save it but I am happy that at least I have done something to help it.
Actually it was a male Slow Loris and I named him HOPE. I am not sure what caused those injuries to him. By the way, if it was caused by snares trap that local people set up so this is my call to educate people something about wildlife.
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