Pelf getting ready to release the terrapins into the water

The Turtle Conservation Centre (TCC) is dedicated to protecting and preserving our fast disappearing turtles. Operating from the only state in Peninsular Malaysia where turtles come to shore to lay their eggs, the TCC has now started an Adopt-A-Terrapin (AAT) programme!

For RM99, you will receive a Certificate of Adoption and kept updated on the progress of the terrapin through its microchip but the best part is, you get to name your terrapin! Find out more on how the adoption works.

There are 2 methods you can use to adopt a terrapin. You can either:
a. use the Adopt-A-Terrapin form and send it together with your cheque, or
b. transfer the fee of RM 99 into TCC’s RHB bank account, take a screen shot of the successful transfer and then fill up the online form

Many terrapins have been adopted. Would you like to add your name to the Adoption List today?

The guide also introduces us to the Javan Ebony Langur monkey, also known as the Javan Lutong. Our ‘close cousin’, the langur is a very sociable animal just like the other monkey species but unfortunately, it is threatened by loss of habitat and poaching.

The cute Javan Ebony Langur monkey

We thank Bagus for the guidebook contents and CNKuan who compiled them. Bagus is the man behind Jakarta Travel Info. We invited him to join us and we are so glad he did for now we have a very ‘bagus’ (‘good’ in the Malay language) Jakarta guidebook to show!

a4trip today announced another new travel guide! a4trip’s Sydney guidebook provides quick references on tips, alerts, city highlights, plus maps for locations of major venues, restaurants, points of interests, hotels, museums, and accommodations. You will know your options to have a safe and fun visit to Sydney with this reliable travel companion. Local culture, dos and don’ts, language guide, shopping guide, culinary tours, adventure and nature walks, all of the highlights of the visit are given with simple and clear information.

One of the researchers of Sun Bears, Wong Siew Te (a.k.a. Sun Bear Man), a Ph.D. candidate under the Wildlife Biology Program, College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana, is an animal lover. He has decide to devote his life to save the wildlifes from being harmed and to free them from cage. Read more from his blog.

A4trip is featuring sun bear in the Kota Kinabalu guidebook for creating awareness to travelers visiting to Malaysia and for raising some fund for Sun Bear conservation.

Recently, I met Pelf Nyok and she has a more bloody scientific method of studying this creature than my brother. Pelf has just graduated with a Master’s degree in Biodiversity and Conservation, and her major is Conservation Biology. For her Master’s, she raised a species of critically-endangered river terrapins in captivity, and ran feeding trials on them to determine the best practices to raise them in captivity.

She is kind enough to share with us the abstract of her study to help us learn more about this interesting animal.

HEAD-STARTING OF RIVER TERRAPINS (Batagur baska): FEEDING TRIALS OF HATCHLINGS AND JUVENILES

Chen Pelf Nyok (chenpn@gmail.com), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Mengabang Telipot, 21030 Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia.

Growth experiments on the diet, feeding ration, satiation amount, feeding frequency and stocking density, which ranged from eight to 12 weeks were conducted on terrapins aged between two and 20 months old. The terrapins were raised in tanks with complete daily water renewal.

Two- and three-month-old hatchlings recorded a weekly weight gain of 18.04 g, 14.28 g and 13.34 g when fed with Mazuri turtle feed, pelleted frog and tilapia feeds, respectively. There were no significant differences among the treatments, hence tilapia feed is recommended because it is affordable and easily available. The growth of eight, 15 and 20-month old terrapins fed at feeding rations of 1.25, 1.5, 1.75 and 2% body weight of feed did not differ statistically. The eight-month-old terrapins recorded the highest weight gain (an average of 20.62 g per week) when fed with 1.75% of body weight of feed. The 15-month-old terrapins that were fed 2% of their body weight of feed demonstrated the best growth (average weight gain of 15.60 g per week) whereas the 20-month-old terrapins gained an average of 47.85 g per week when fed with 1.25% of their body weight of feed.

Terrapin hatchlings showed better growth when they fed at one feeding, compared to being fed intermittently. Satiation amount of the hatchlings was an average of 23.51 g per week, which could be translated into 1.01% of their body weight. Terrapin hatchlings fed 1% of their body weight of feed twice daily (a total of 2%) recorded the highest weight gain of an average of 14.78 g per week compared to hatchlings that were fed once daily and once in two days.

Finally, terrapins that are stocked at 20 individuals per tank (64.56 g/L) recorded the highest weight gain of an average of 24.04 g per week, compared to terrapins that were stocked at ten individuals per tank (35.38 g/L) and 30 individuals per tank (98.98 g/L). Survival of the terrapins was 100% in all the experiments conducted. The head-starting guidelines presented in the thesis will help to optimize growth of the terrapins in captivity and produce healthy individuals for release. Attainment of rapid growth will also shorten the need to keep them in captivity over extended periods of time.

Learn more about the marine turtle and river terrapin projects carried out by the Turtle Research and Rehabilitation Group of Universiti Malaysia Terengganu.

Read other animal encounters of Pin

With a 6.5-foot wingspan, the Philippine eagle soars over forests where-in a country naturally free of leopards and tigers-the bird is top predator. It is unique to the Philippines, and known to live on just four of the country’s islands. With only around 500 pairs in existence, it is critically threatened, as its already depleted forest habitat shrinks ever further.

The Philippine eagle is one of the world’s three largest eagles (the others are the harpy eagle and Steller’s sea eagle). Adults’ steely bluish-grey bills are roughly the size of your hand (larger if you’re a child!); their claws could almost encircle your neck. The Philippine eagle is the only bird of prey with blue-grey-as opposed to yellow, orange or brown-eyes.

In the past, this species was known as the monkey-eating eagle – but while it can catch and eat monkeys, it mainly preys on rather smaller mammals. On Mindanao, flying lemurs are among its favored prey.

In 1995, the Philippine eagle was declared the country’s national bird. This was some help in conservation efforts; but the eagle was still highly threatened. Deforestation was the main reason. The Philippine eagle evolved in an archipelago with a higher percentage of rainforest cover than most countries in the world, yet much of this forest has been destroyed – by 1992, just 8.6 percent of old growth rainforest remained, and from 1990 to 2005 the country lost a third of its total forest cover. So nowadays, the eagles mainly survive in small parcels of forest, sometimes having to range over fields and barren landscapes to find food for themselves and their young.

Despite legal protection, some eagles are shot or trapped – perhaps as they’re thought to threaten livestock.

Though Birdlife International classes the Philippine eagle as critically endangered, there are some grounds for believing it can survive in the near future. Some protected areas help safeguard several pairs of breeding Philippine eagles Plus, there are conservation efforts, notably by the Philippine Eagle Foundation.

The Mindanao-based foundation is the only organization dedicated to taking action to protect the Philippine eagle. Its original focus was on breeding eagles in captivity – which initially proved extremely difficult, with the first captive born eagle, Pagasa, hatching in 1992. The foundation’s work has expanded, to include education, field research, giving small financial incentives to villagers who protect breeding eagles, and fostering agro-forestry. With agro-forestry, the aim is to protect and even expand forest cover, as villagers derive income from fruit trees such as durians, so don’t need to clear land for maize fields.

Such conservation efforts make the Philippine eagle a “flagship species”, rather like China’s giant panda. Just like the panda, the eagle needs large areas to survive – and protecting its forest home means also protecting a wealth of plants and animals.

This article was written by Martin Williams

Conservation Projects about Philippine Eagle
Philippine Eagle Foundation
Bring Back Ol’ Blue Eyes

Agus Sobari and Sarwo, two traders in Jatinegara market, Jakarta, Indonesia were arrested in a joint raid by the Forestry department, ProFauna Indonesia, the Institute of Animal Advocacy (LASA) and the International Animal Rescue (IAR) last February 3rd 2008, ( http://www.profauna.org/profaunanews/2008news/jatinegara-jkt.html ) and were sentenced to 20 months and 19 months imprisonment respectively, by the Magistrates Court in Jakarta on July 3rd 2008, for selling protected species. Both were charged under the 1990 wildlife law that carried a sentence of up to one million rupiah fine (about US $110).

Sobari pleaded guilty to illegally selling a Leopard cat (Felis bengalensis), four slow lorises (Nycticebus coucang), two Malayan porcupines (Hystrix brachyura), and an otter civet (Cynogale bennetti). Likewise, Sarwo was convicted of trading one leopard cat, four slow lorises, and two Black-winged kites (Elanus caeruleus).

The presiding judge, Siswandriyono, advised the traders, “People should make money in sustainable manners. Just because of the need to feed the family, one can trigger the cause of biodiversity loss by trading endangered animals.”

PROFAUNA’S JAVAN LANGUR CENTER (JLC)

ProFauna Indonesia is to set up a Javan Langur Centre (JLC) in a near future. This centre would offer facilities for species recovery program including rescue, rehabilitation and re-introduction into the wild. In addition, it would support the research on the species, the habitat analysis, the post release monitoring and the population in its natural habitat, etc.

Ebony leaf monkey or Javan langur (Trachypithecus auratus), which has become the logo of ProFauna Indonesia, is classified as endangered species (EN B1+2ab) in the IUCN red list 2007. This monkey is endemic species to Java and Bali Islands. Despite of its legal status as protected species, the population is threatened by poaching for trade.

The Indonesian wildlife law, the 1990 legislation concerning the Natural Resource and Ecosystem Conservations states that the keeping and trading of protected species including its body part is prohibited. Perpetrators will receive jail sentence up to five years and a fine up to Rupiah 100 million.

With the experience in releasing rehabilitated Javan langurs back into the wild, ProFauna is going to specialize in Javan langurs through its Javan Langur Center (JLC).

Photo credit: Sukree Sukplang

Judging from what has been done and the actions taken, i seriously think that the authorities should revise Wildlife Protection Act. “Heavy penalty should be imposed as a deterrent to others.” This is what has been written in the local news article. Ironically, it’s nothing near to the word ‘Heavy penalty’. There are indeed still alot more to work on in protecting the wild life.

Check out the news article here.

The movie “Kung Fu Panda” sweep us off our feet with all the cute look and funny moves, it’s really exciting to actually know how these adorable creatures come to this world.  In celebration of the birth and life of one of the most adorable and endangered species our planet has to offer, here are a series of progressive photos of a Giant Panda — native only to China — from day 1 through to day 120, along with information about panda reproduction that you may find surprising.

Check it out the photos and the interesting write ups at this cool blog at life in the fast lane.

sources : Life in the fast lane

Surprising new research reveals the existence of two completely separate species of clouded leopards. In a study comparing differences in clouded leopard coat patterns and coloration throughout the cat’s range, researchers concluded that individuals found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra are markedly different from animals found on the Southeast Asian mainland. These observations have been supported by genetic testing that determined the two populations of clouded leopards are so distinct as to warrant classifying them as different species. Researchers estimate that the two species diverged approximately 1.5 million years ago due to geographical isolation.

Instead of their prior classification as a clouded leopard subspecies (Neofelis nebulosa diardi), animals in Borneo and Sumatra would be re-classified as a new species, Neofelis diardi, possibly to be named the Sundaland clouded leopard.

The coat patterns of clouded leopards from Borneo and Sumatra differ from mainland animals by having smaller and darker cloud markings and a darker overall coat color. Although these differences and the results of the genetic testing are convincing, researchers emphasize that more study is still needed. Only three samples from Borneo were analyzed so more individuals need to be examined to determine if the same conclusion can apply to the entire population.

Content and pictures courtesy of Advancing Clouded Leopard Conservation and Awareness

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is a wide useful way to solve the question. First launched in 1963, IUCN Red List of Threatened Species has been recognized as world’s most effective way to assessment animals at risks. IUCN is currently managing data on approximately 41,500 species, with this number set to increase to well over 50,000, perhaps even 60,000, by 2008. IUCN will assess the status of those species in concern every five years.
Here is the chart for recent data release.

The Red list based on IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria provides taxonomic, conservation status and distribution information on taxa.

Extinct or Extinct in the Wild means specious cannot be evaluated because of insufficient information. Threatened divides into Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable. Specious have been evaluated to have a low risk of extinction are classified as Near Threatened, Least Concern.

Slow loris or Nycticebus coucang is an internationally protected wild animals (per CITES). The slow loris is about 21-38 cm in size with a wide variety of colours of their thick fur and stumped tails. It is now reducing in number as it’s habitat is destroyed due to deforestation and it is constantly poached in Asia to become pets. Another reason is that it’s also hunted for the uses of Asian medicines. Profauna activists demonstrated to urge the government to protect slow lorises which are commonly traded in “bird markets”

This is a demonstration and protest to the government to protect marine turtles that have been placed under the protection of international and Indonesian law but remain poached. They are used in illegal wildlife trades, souvenirs and food. The treatment to the turtles are inhumane and we all should do our part by not throwing plastic rubbish as turtles may eat it as they think it’s jellyfishes and they will die.

These are Felix Bengalis or jungle cats that are poached, killed and mounted into souvenirs

This is the image of one of langurs which was released by Profauna last year. It’s commonly known as Ebony Lutung or Javan Lutung and it’s endemic to Java. It is black in colour but has tinges of brown at its legs and sides and they have a very long tail. The Javan Lutung is herbivorous and is a social animal as it lives in groups of about 7 inidividuals. It is one of the wild species that’s involved in the re-introduction program which aims to release captive wild animals back to their endemic habitat, following a medical and lengthy rehabilitation program. Deforestations and poaching for illegal wildlife trade are one of the main reasons why the Javan Ebony Langur is listed as an endangered species.
Click here for more information.

This is the tree house that stations about-to-be-released lutungs that was saved from poaching, cruel and inhumane treatment. This is so that they can rest after a long journey from the rescue centre and for them to adapt to their surrounding forest environment. The area around the tree house has been surveyed for suitability, including the vegetation, trees, water and threats from other or similar species.
The next day, the lutungs will be allowed to leave the tree house and back to their own habitat

Langurs that are to be released soon are in each of the boxes on the back. Vets and volunteers will accompany release operations like such.

These are pictures of the youths that have attended activities from Profauna’s education centre. This education centre is Petungsewu Wildlife Education Centre (P-WEC), located in Dau village near Malang City in East Java. Here, youths learn about nature, wildlife, threats to the wildlife and what they can do to help.

Animal conservation is one of our effort while producing the online travel guidebook. Our aim in eventually is to strengthen the populations of the wild and conserve them as far as we can. We firmly promote activities that ensure the well-being of all living things and make a good alternation for them. Animal ambassadors are responsible to do research on specific endangered animal for each destination of the guidebook. We are much appreciated with their contribution and great effort. Let’s keep on to the achievement. With your help, we could make it better!

Javan rhinos are found only in two locations in the world with Ujung Kulong NP in Java, Indonesia estimated to have around 60 rhinos — more than 90 percent of the global population.

This video footage installed in Ujung Kulon National Park, Jakarta, captured the very remarkable images of rhino in wild after a month in operation. These camera-shy animals might still enjoy living in the background after tossing the camera.

Melaka Zoo functions as the major ex-situ breeding center for PERHILITAN. Breeding clouded leopards is not an easy job. Mother leopards tend to abandon their young after they are born and sometimes may even turn violent on them. As a result, some zoos routinely hand-rear clouded leopard cubs to ensure their survival and well-being.

Newborn clouded leopard cubs are very small and helpless, weighing only about 6 ounces at birth. They are born with their eyes closed, no teeth, and unable to walk or move around. Newborn clouded leopards lack the ability to control their body temperature very well, so special attention has to be given to keep the cubs warm.

Pictures and Contents credited to The Clouded Leopard Project .
Continue reading for more information about Clouded Leopard Babies from gestation to birth to bringing them up.

The Irrawaddy river dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris), the Asian dolphin lives in coastal waters, brackish estuaries and freshwater rivers in Southeast Asia and north Australia. It is one of the four river dolphins live in freshwater. This endangered dolphin is pale gray and adult is at the lengths of 2-2.75 meters. With a round head and no beak and is occasionally mistaken for a beluga whale or a porpoise.

According to WWF, the Irrawaddy dolphin has received very little attention, but is probably in very serious danger of disappearing over much of its range. Because its distribution is in coastal areas, the Irrawaddy dolphin is often vulnerable to the harmful effects of human activities. Irrawaddy dolphins feed on a variety of fish, crustaceans and cephalopods. Little is known about their reproduction.

WWF Cambodia conducted “Report Abundance of Mekong River Dolphin Population” during April and May in 2007. With totally 139 hours 32 minutes searching effort, the research team observed a total of 61 dolphins. And the preliminary population abundance estimate for the Mekong dolphin was between 66 and 86 dolphins, with a best estimate of 71 dolphins by MARK statistical program, using a closed population model at the end of May 2007.