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Wildlife Reserves Singapore Signs Mou With Wildlife Conservation Society

Published 29 Jan 2010, from http://newsblaze.com/story/20100129115218zzzz.nb/topstory.html

Wildlife Reserves Singapore Pte Ltd (WRS), the parent company of Jurong Bird Park, Night Safari and Singapore Zoo, together with its recently established Wildlife Reserves Singapore Conservation Fund (WRSCF) today signed an agreement to collaborate with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), based in New York, and Wildlife Conservation Society Singapore Limited (WCS Singapore) on field conservation and public education to protect biodiversity in the face of global climate change and human encroachment.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between Ms Claire Chiang, Chairperson of both WRS and WRSCF; Mr Ward W. Woods, Chairman of WCS and Dr Steven E. Sanderson, President and CEO of WCS and Chairman of WCS Singapore, in the presence of President S R Nathan, Patron of WRSCF.

This MOU marks the start of a stronger commitment to protect biodiversity, not just in Singapore, but in Asia and around the world. Through the joint commission, representatives from all four parties will co-operate to undertake field conservation projects and share best practices and technical expertise contributing to wildlife conservation. They will also collaborate to promote public education and increase awareness on conservation issues.

Wildlife Reserves Singapore.

"At WRS, an unprecedented level of effort has been invested to conserve and protect biodiversity. To strengthen our commitment, WRSCF was established last year, primarily to conserve endangered native wildlife. This MOU represents another important step forward in our ongoing commitment to preserve our ecosystems and precious wildlife species, many of which are already threatened and in dire need of protection," said Ms Chiang.

Established in 1895, the Wildlife Conservation Society has built a strong global conservation network to become the world's most comprehensive conservation organisation. WCS currently manages about 500 conservation projects in more than 60 countries and educates millions of visitors on important issues affecting our planet at the five parks they manage in New York City, including the Bronx Zoo, New York Aquarium, Central Park Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo and Queens Zoo.

Wildlife Reserves Singapore.

"Our new partnership with Wildlife Reserves Singapore represents an important step for WCS and the conservation of wildlife in Asia," said Mr Woods. "WRS' conservation efforts and programmes have won worldwide acclaim. We look forward to spearheading new initiatives together and developing a regional centre of excellence for the protection of Asia's most endangered wildlife."

"We share WCS' clear mission to save wildlife and wild places across the globe. That is why I am so proud to be part of this joint collaboration to bring our conservation programme to the global arena. This partnership will pave the way for future collaborations and open many doors for all four parties to work towards their shared goal of protecting global biodiversity," added Ms Chiang.

With this MOU, the four parties will coordinate efforts to research methodologies and the exchange of multiple sources of knowledge, leading to action plans for conservation, education and key priorities for the management of biodiversity.

Working in Asia since the early 20th century, WCS has partnered with national and regional governments, local communities and other scientific organisations to protect Asia's incredible diversity of wildlife and wild places - to bolster environmental policy, train new generations of environmental stewards, support sustainable livelihoods, and connect protected areas. Some notable WCS projects include: working with the government of Cambodia to establish the Seima Protection Forest, created to protect wildlife and conserve carbon; and an ongoing effort to save tigers across Asia (WCS is committed to increasing tiger populations by 50 percent across 10 landscapes by 2016).

In the areas of conservation and research, WRS parks in Singapore have undertaken multiple projects, which focus on species such as the oriental pied hornbill, pangolin and orangutan, through collaborations with various organisations and institutions. Recent conservation efforts include hosting a regional Asian pangolin conservation workshop. All WRS parks are designated wildlife rescue centres by the governing authority.

About Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS)

Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) is the parent company of award-winning attractions Jurong Bird Park, Night Safari and Singapore Zoo. WRS parks strive to be world-class leisure attractions, providing excellent exhibits of animals and birds presented in their natural environment for the purpose of conservation, education and recreation. In 2009, Jurong Bird Park served 900,000 visitors, the Night Safari, more than 1.1 million visitors and Singapore Zoo welcomed more than 1.6 million visitors.

WRS parks have been conferred the Best Leisure Attraction Experience Award at the Singapore Tourism Awards 18 times. The record achievement affirms WRS parks' status as Singapore's premier leisure venues. Visit www.wrs.com.sg

ABOUT WILDLIFE RESERVES SINGAPORE CONSERVATION FUND (WRSCF)

Wildlife Reserves Singapore Conservation Fund (WRSCF) is a charity and Institution of Public Character, established in 2009 by Wildlife Reserves Singapore, the parent company of Jurong Bird Park, Night Safari and Singapore Zoo. The Fund was set up with the primary purpose of conserving endangered native wildlife. As an independent charity, it is supported by a team of specialists from various related organisations. The Fund's focus will be on native animal conservation efforts and the issue of climate change. Visit www.wrscf.org.sg

ABOUT WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY (WCS)

The Wildlife Conservation Society saves wildlife and wild places worldwide. We do so through science, global conservation, education and the management of the world's largest system of urban wildlife parks, led by the flagship Bronx Zoo. Together these activities change attitudes towards nature and help people imagine wildlife and humans living in harmony. WCS is committed to this mission because it is essential to the integrity of life on Earth. Visit www.wcs.org.

Endangered animals get new lease of life in Singapore

By Philip Lim (AFP) – 29/01/2010

SINGAPORE — Sporting spiked hair and silver earrings, Samuel Tay hardly looks like a typical midwife.

The 25-year-old zookeeper beams with quiet pride as he watches over his "babies" -- row upon row of snakes bred for Singapore's popular zoo.

"These are my kids. Why do I need kids when I have so many already?" he told AFP, gesturing to tanks where newborn reptiles, including some from highly endangered species, receive tender loving care.

From jaguars and chimpanzees to Komodo dragons and manatees, heavily urbanised Singapore is gaining a reputation as a successful nursery for some of the world's rarest animals.

With a breeding programme for 315 species, around one in six of which are threatened, the Singapore Zoo is seeing a steady stream of locally born additions to its collection, currently numbering more than 2,500 animals.

Tay, a zoologist by training, is one of Singapore's frontline warriors in the battle against animal extinction, and visitors from around the world help fund the campaign.

The Singapore Zoo and its attached Night Safari, dedicated to nocturnal animals, each welcomes more than a million visitors a year.

Last year, 142 animals were born in the zoo, 32 of which were threatened species, officials said.

Experts from Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS), the operator of the city-state's zoo, night safari and bird park, do not rely on Mother Nature for results.

"We are very pragmatic, in the sense that if we need to make things happen, we will go all out to make things happen," said the group's assistant director of zoology Biswajit Guha.

The latest star of the programme is a baby Komodo dragon hatched in December -- the first born in an Asian zoo outside the giant lizard's native Indonesia.

The hatchling was the culmination of three years of effort by zookeepers watching over every step of its parents' courtship and mating to make sure everything went as planned, said Tay.

"It's always supervised contact, we never leave them alone together," he said.

This interventionist approach is extended to other creatures at Singapore's wildlife attractions, including the Jurong Bird Park, another major tourist draw.

"We don't take a wait-and-see approach. We will give it a certain amount of time for the animals to decide for themselves if they do want to mate, but if things don't go right, then we usually come in," Guha said.

Aside from making enclosures look and feel like native habitats, cutting-edge technology and scientific methods are deployed to make sure animals mate with the best possible partners at the most opportune time.

They include matching viable females with genetically superior males using semen analysis and monitoring the females' fertility cycles through regular ultrasound tests -- something that not all zoos can afford to do.

"Diagnostic facilities are not cheap," noted senior veterinarian Abraham Mathew. "You need the manpower and you need the expertise to do this. All zoos actually want to do this type of work, but whether they can do it or not would depend on their management," he said.

A mobile ultrasound machine used by the zoo costs around 20,000 Singapore dollars (14,200 US) and includes an expensive probe that allows veterinarians to accurately check female animals' fertility out in the field.

Such resources have helped make the city state a breeding hub for threatened animals, said Guha.

Zoo staff hope a pair of pandas to be loaned by China will produce offspring in the coming years.

"For us, captive populations form an insurance population, so it is our objective to make sure that there are sustainable numbers in captivity," Guha said.

CC updates! :D

Hey guys, it's me again, updating this precious cc family blog(: There has been quite a buzz going on in CC recently, so here are some updates!

1) some of the 09 Docents from various stations have decided to seek permission from the zoo management to include sharks and tigers conservation into CC station for the whole of the CNY period (till Feb end). To know more about tigers conservation and facts, you can visit HERE for more information.. We're still collating information and waiting for the management's response!
For those who are very passionate and have the time to join us in this conservation projects (not restricted to CC docents only), please join us! Click HERE to leave us a message on the wall OR simply speak to us on our tagboard (scroll down, at the right hand column) :D

2) please join "Wildlife Reserves Singapore" on Facebook! It's quite an efficient platform to learn about more about the animals you love! Click HERE to join! If you love animals and your docents job, here's the best place to get the updates of things which most visitors will not know (from behind the scenes!!!) :D

3) PP station has some newborn primate babies and some of them are endangered species in the WORLD! Pictures follow..Lion-tail macaque (above) - the most endangered macaque in the world. Don't they look like lions with their mane-stuff around the faces?

Black and white Columbus monkey

The baby is pure white in colour! As they grow older, they will turn into black and white, just like their mum and dad in the pictures!!

Family

Black Howler Monkey (female). The female is yellow to light brown in colour for their hair. As for male, theirs is black in colour. See the picture below for the baby!


Baby black howler monkey is also light brown in colour! Wonders which colour it will turn into when it grows up!

*pics courtesy of Tristan Huang from PP (09 Docents). Thank you Tristan for your willingness to share your pictures and knowledge! (=

cheers,
Angel

Endangered and elusive Tsushima leopard cat captured in Nagasaki, Japan

press here for a closer look!

Gd news! (:

Night Safari expecting birth of rare baby pangolin

Wed, Jan 13, 2010 my paper

A BABY pangolin - a nocturnal mammal covered in scales, and which is also known as the scaly anteater - is expected to be born at the Night Safari as early as March this year. In a routine check on one of its four pangolins called Nita, zookeepers at the Night Safari found out that it was pregnant. They had seen it mating with its mate, Kepong, last October. The gestation period for pangolins is estimated to last five months. Mr Kumar Pillai, the Night Safari's assistant director of zoology, said: "In the wild, pangolins are becoming increasingly rare. This pregnancy is a wonderful testament to the dedication of our staff, who have been working tirelessly to ensure that this native species thrives under our care." The Night Safari introduced the pangolin habitat last February. Pangolins are delicate creatures that are notoriously difficult to keep in captivity, mainly because their diet consists solely of ants and termites, the Night Safari said yesterday.

Guess which animals are they? (:

want to see the baby of the biggest breed of bear in the world? you can see it HERE =DD

want to see the only animal which you don't have to sneak up upon when u observe it upclose and find out why it doesn't react fast? you can see it HERE =DD

want to see one of the most favorite animal in SZG in their natural habitat and find out why they were once almost driven to extinction in the Amazon? you can see it HERE =DD

enjoy!

love,
angel

Colugo's classification

Quoted from Norman Lim's Colugo book:

Flying Lemurs are classified in the order Dermoptera, from the Greek words derma, meaning "skin", and ptera, meaning "wing", thus "skin-wing". This is one of the smallest of all the 26 mammalian orders. There is only one family in Dermoptera, that is Cynocephalidae, from the Greek words cyno meaning" dog", and cephalus meaning "head", hence "dog-head".

Lately, results from morphological studies and molecular studies have often yielded differing views on the relationship of flying lemurs with other extant mammals. Of great interest to geneticists is the recent discovery that the genomic composition of the mitochondria in dermopterans is highly similar to that of simian primates (suborder Anthropoidea; which includes humans), making them our likely distant relatives. Professor Ulfur Amason of Lund University, Sweden went on record declaring that: "We (human beings) are more closely related to flying lemurs than we are to half-apes."

When the Colugo was excluded from the primate order, one reason was that it has a small-brain, large ventricle syndrome, something that it shares with other non-primates like the Koala of Australia (Phascolarctoscinereus) and the Three-toed Sloth of the Neotropics (Bradypustridactylus). This, however, could be due to other factors that these animals share, i.e. mainly an exclusive diet of leaves that exposes them to high levels of ph yo toxins. In other words, the toxins in the Colugo's diet might cause developmental disturbances that give it a small brain and conceal its true relationship to primates. So, while the original classification by Linnaeus was later rejected, he might in fact have been right all along in placing the Colugo among the primates!

(click image to enlarge)

So........ in summary, Colugo is a mammal in the order Dermoptera!

Cheers,
Rachel

First post!

Any one up and ready for the coming safarizoo run? visit http://www.safarizoorun.com.sg/default.html

Registration deadline has been extended to 24th Jan 2010 (= The price is a little bit steep though. .I'm wondering whether we can volunteer our services for this run!

Here is a list of all the marathons in Singapore for 2010, FYI:http://sgrunners.com/blog/2010-race-calendar/

*
well, here are some of my favourite videos from ted.com and BBC Earth channel on youtube and please remember to cast your vote! Enjoy! :D

E.O. Wilson on saving life on Earth

Attenborough: Is it a Bird? Is it a plane? Is it a flying squirrel? - BBC Earth

Let's get down to doing it!!!

Hello everyone, welcome to CC family's blog! It's very new now however, hopefully by June 2010, it will become a useful and comprehensive website for us to share interesting videos and interesting facts which we have found on our own free time about the animals we care about.. especially those CC specimens! Basically, there are no rules on using this site! You can share about ANYTHING u like under the sun(:

This site will tentatively be maintained by Angeline and Kevin (NIC), hence if you have interesting videos and facts please add onto this site! The username and password has already been sent to CC Yahoo Group (YG). In addition, we also have a common email address (in order to do up this blog)! It's cc.zoofamily@gmail.com. You can find the address, birthdays, emails and hp numbers of all the CC people (still in the progress of updating). This email will be useful when you want to send email to only CC people.

One last thing! Please see poll at the right hand side.. It's for our CNY steamboat gathering! :D Please do vote for your most desired date ya? (: I'm sorry as I can't make it on 6th Feb for dinner, hence I didn't include it inside the poll..

The next post will be coming up shortly!!!