Saturday, June 30, 2012

Thoughts on Roadkill, Part 2: Invasives & Non-natives

On Monday, the Animal Concerns Research & Education Society (ACRES) posted the following image on their Facebook page:

Green Iguana
Green iguanas are native to Central and South America. It is saddening and shocking to sight such exotic wildlife here in Singapore, smuggled in to meet the demand for reptiles as illegal pets. This poor adult male Iguana was found run over and dead on the roads on Sungei Tengah road, right in our neighbourhood - Another victim of the illegal wildlife trade being abandoned to fend for himself.

Friday, June 29, 2012

Thoughts on Roadkill, Part 1: A video collection

Monitor Lizard Crossing Sign
Road sign on Sentosa;
(Photo by scubawatters)

Despite my morbid fascination with dead animals, I still get a little shudder every time I encounter roadkill. Maybe it stems from the fact that motor vehicles (through the actions of the people who operate them) can also cause serious injury and death to other people, so it's a twinge of empathy, acknowledging that it is a nasty way to get killed, and the grim realisation that it could just as easily be a fellow human being lying on the road. Not to mention the fact that despite near-universal knowledge and education on road safety, there is no indication that we will ever be able to eliminate vehicular traffic as a significant cause of human mortality. What makes one think that animals, being unable to comprehend the purpose of pedestrian crossings or road signs, would fare any better?

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

A word of thanks

I'm really pleased to see the support that Monday Morgue has received from many people, especially in the Singapore Blog Awards 2012. Although I did not have high hopes at first, I'm now able to count myself as one of the top three currently leading in votes for my category.

Saturday, June 9, 2012

World Oceans Day @ Tanah Merah

P1300067

Yesterday was World Oceans Day, and in recognition of this day in which we are supposed to "celebrate and honour the body of water which links us all, for what it provides humans and what it represents", the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore (ICCS) team conducted cleanups of 2 stretches of coastline. I had signed up for Tanah Merah Site 7, the same place I had volunteered for earlier in April as part of a series of year-round coastal cleanup efforts. I have visited this shore infrequently every year, and it really is gratifying to see how the efforts of small groups of individuals have truly helped make a difference in reducing the amount of trash accumulating here.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Monday, June 4, 2012

The fun of Storify

On 23rd May, I attended U@live Louis Ng: Speaking Up for the Voiceless. Featuring Louis Ng, Founder and Executive Director of the Animal Concerns Research & Education Society (ACRES), it was an interesting insight into the motivations and personal journey of one of Singapore's foremost champions of animal welfare.



Friday, June 1, 2012

Catching up with the Festival of Biodiversity

If you missed the Festival of Biodiversity, you can get a glimpse of the fun and festivities through the many blog posts and photo albums that have been uploaded so far. Jocelyne has helpfully compiled them all over here on the Festival of Biodiversity blog.

Storify is turning out to be an excellent tool to collate information from many different online platforms, and Gladys and I worked together to create this Storify of the entire Festival of Biodiversity: