Study on endangered raptors in Singapore

Yong Ding Li and Tan Kok Hui are doing a study on our endangered raptors focusing on the Grey-headed Fish-Eagle and Changeable Hawk Eagle. They need your help to share sightings and information on these birds!

Grey-headed Fish-Eagle

Changeable Hawk Eagle

Here's an email from  Ding Li about their project.

Singapore has wild dolphins, porpoises and dugongs!

YES! And your help is needed to look out for and report sightings of them. How to identify them? Check out these awesome ID charts by the Singapore Wild Marine Mammal Survey (SWiMMS) project!

Singapore wild marine mammal survey(marine mammal identification chart)

With their kind permission, these resources are now on slideshare for your download.

You can also learn more about marine mammals at N. Sivasothi's talk on 27 Jan (Thu) with Green Drinks. More information on this earlier post.

Monitors of Singapore: Who's the Rarest of Them All?

(Photo taken from Varanus.nl)

Singapore has 3 species of monitor lizard, and 2 of them, the Malayan water monitor (Varanus salvator) and clouded monitor (Varanus bengalensis nebulosus), are commonly encountered.

Previously, I wrote about the Malayan water monitor, corrected some misconceptions and discussed some threats faced by monitors, and also shared information about the clouded monitor. In this last post of the series, we take a look at our 3rd monitor lizard, a rare and elusive species that was once thought to be extinct in Singapore.

Conservation textbook available for free download

Conservation Biology for All, highly regarded conservation textbook, is now available online for free download.
Edited by Navjot S. Sodhi of the National University of Singapore and Paul R. Ehrlich of Stanford University this book has been posted on mongabay.com, an environmental science and conservation news site, as a free download.

More on Monitors

Many of us are familiar with the Malayan water monitor (Varanus salvator), a large lizard commonly found near water, from urban drains and canals to reservoirs, as well as in coastal areas such as beaches and mangroves. This species was the focus of 2 earlier posts, one discussing its biology, and another post about how this common species is so often misidentified or feared, as well as some of the threats it faces. However, this is not the only species of monitor lizard found in Singapore, and another relatively common species will be covered in this post.

BeMUSE features Pulau Ubin and Singapore's biodiversity

The latest issue of BeMUSE Jan-Mar 11 features lots of stories about Singapore's biodiversity!

Marcus Chua shares wonderful insights in his feature on the natural history of our last best unspoilt island, Pulau Ubin!

27 Jan (Thu): Green Drinks focuses on Singapore's biodiversity

This month, Green Drinks is focusing on Singapore's rich biodiversity and conservation!They are presenting two speakers, N. Sivasothi and Nature Society (Singapore). Siva will lead a talk on the fauna in Singapore, titled 'Zoological Explorations in Singapore', and Nature Society (Singapore) will speak on the highly topical issue of saving the KTM railway, in a presentation titled 'Getting to Know Your Green Railway Corridor'.

Free entry, all are welcome.

15 Jan (Sat): Talk on "What is a ‘healthy’ Mangrove Eco-system?"

2011 is the International Year of the Forests! It is the hope of the United Nations General Assembly to raise raise awareness on sustainable management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests.

Dr John Yong (left most) at Kranji mangroves

Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve celebrates this Year of the Forests with a talk about the Mangrove eco-system by Dr John Yong, a mangrove forest expert who has vast regional experience!

Singapore Red Data Book online!

The latest Red Data Book of Singapore, 2008 is online at the NParks website.

The National Biodiversity Centre, NParks says: "we will add about 10 species every month. In time to come, all the information contained in the Red Data Book will be available online. So look out for new updates every month!"

Flora Singapura - a new resource on Singapore's plants

The first new resource in 2011! Flora Singapura aims to overcome "the terse technical descriptions" found in botanical texts. And instead describe the identifying field characters using photographs and commentary.
Awesome! This is just what ordinary wannabe botanists desperately need!

Keeping our monkeys wild: upcoming talk and walk

Monkeys are among the highlights of a trip to our forests and wild places!

Unfortunately, there are many challenges facing these Long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis). Much of these issues are due to people feeding them.

This coming week, there is a talk about our monkeys and Crystal's Monkey Walk at Bukit Timah is launched! Find out more about why we should not feed our monkeys and how we can play our part to keep them wild!