Beehive hangs from Woodlands bus stop

Flashback: wildlife news in 1960s Singapore

A 6 metre long whale shark (Rhincodon typus), shot by police after it was trapped at a kelong near Pulau Sebarok in 1964. This is the only record of this species in our waters;
The Straits Times, 7 June 1964

This year's theme for the Singapore Blog Awards is "60s Fever", and I thought it would be nice to take a look back at what it was like for Singapore's biodiversity in the 1960s.


Singapore's Master Plan from 1958. Some of the Southern Islands are not included in this map.


Singapore, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) Master Plan 2008. You can see how much our coastline has changed since 1958.

World Environment Day - Think.Eat.Save

Today is World Environment Day, and this year's theme is related to food.

How is food relevant to the environment, you may ask.

Adopting environmentally-friendly practices in our daily lives can take on many different forms - whether it means reducing your energy consumption, reusing items like bottles and containers, or simply sorting your trash so that some of it can be recycled. But how many of us have really paused to think about the environmental impacts of the food we eat?

Of Boar and Men: My article on POSKOD

Chek Jawa is home to many creatures large and small, but few other animals manage to thrill and excite visitors like the resident herd of friendly wild boar (Sus scrofa vittatus). Feeding has made some of the pigs very used to humans, and it is now common to see sows with piglets out in the open, allowing people to get very close to them. Such habituation has its benefits, and there have been countless peaceful interactions between wild pigs and humans, but there is an uneasy tension. With some of the wild boar starting to approach people to beg for food, are people at risk of being harassed or even attacked? And are visitors aware of how to behave appropriately around wildlife so as to allow this coexistence to continue? I write about this interesting relationship between humans and wild pigs in my first article for POSKOD.

Man hurts hornbill by grabbing it around the neck just to take pictures

Happy Year of the Snake!

Schneider's dog-faced water snake (Cerberus schneiderii), Pasir Ris;

According to Chinese astrology, this year is associated with the Element of Water, so it's supposed to be the Year of the Water Snake.

Off on another adventure

I'm in the midst of final preparations for my trip to Japan as part of the DENSO Youth for Earth Action Global Programme. To refresh your memories, here's what happened during the Local Programme earlier in July.

World Elephant Day: Elephants in Singapore

Elephant at the Singapore Zoo;
(Photo by i359702)

Today (12th August) is the inaugural World Elephant Day, a day for the world to learn about and act on solutions to the urgent plight of Asian and African elephants. Many of us know that the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) can still be found in many countries in tropical Asia, including Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand. However, did you know that there are relatively recent records of elephants in Singapore, albeit from our larger offshore islands?

Visiting the ACRES Rescue Centre

To recognise the contributions and efforts of its supporters, the Animal Concerns Research & Education Society (ACRES) organised a get-together at its headquarters at Jalan Lekar. I had a great time chatting with friends and other like-minded individuals who are concerned about animal welfare, and was glad to finally get the chance to visit the Wildlife Rescue Centre, which was opened in 2009.

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 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.

Thoughts on Roadkill, Part 1: A video collection

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?

Hot Mangrove Action at Pasir Ris

On a hot and sunny afternoon, I decided to drop by the Pasir Ris mangroves, as a show of support for the Mangrove Action Squad, who have been conducting guided tours on the boardwalk for the June holidays.

Chek Jawa in June with the Naked Hermit Crabs

(Photo by Kok Sheng)

With it being the June holidays, the Naked Hermit Crabs received an overwhelming response for our monthly guided tour on the Chek Jawa boardwalk. And so 5 guides showed up on Saturday morning, ready to take on the crowds and share the sights and sounds of this very special place.

Yikes! Yishun home invaded by breeding wasps

Monkey problem getting worse: One even invades Khatib MRT Station

Bungalow owner wants to barbeque civet cat for dinner after it destroyed his phone wires

Meet the 'friendly' wild boars at the wetlands of Pulau Ubin

Snake spotted in country club

'It looks like a Komodo dragon': Huge monitor lizard spotted in Kallang River

Ball-cutter fish

(Photo from The Sun)

Over the past week, you may have read about the discovery of a fish with a rather unsavory taste for a particularly vulnerable part of the human anatomy.