Official Magazine of Nature Society (Singapore) Volume 26 ... Watch Vol 26.pdf · MCI (P) 073/04/2018 Hong Kong’s ... Jalan Hijau Mr Tan Hang Chong ... discuss your story ideas

Official Magazine of Nature Society (Singapore) Volume 26 No 3 Jul-Sep 2018 S$5.00

MCI (P) 073/04/2018

Hong Kong’s White Dolphins

Forests of Hope:A Photographic Story

Botswana’s Okavango Delta

2 Nature Watch Jul - Dec 2014

PatronProfessor Tommy Koh

PresidentDr Shawn Lum

Vice-PresidentDr Ho Hua Chew

Immediate Past PresidentDr Geh Min

Honorary SecretaryMr Peter Connell

Honorary TreasurerMr Bhagyesh Chaubey

Honorary Assistant Secretary Mr Michael Lee

Honorary Assistant Treasurer Dr Liew Kai Khiun

Executive Committee MembersMr Goh Si Guim

Mr Stephen BengMr Albert Liu

Finance Advisory Group MembersMr Albert SinMs Trixie Tan

Mr Yip Yew Chong

Co-opted Council MembersAssoc Prof P.N. Avadhani, Ms Margie Hall,

Mr Ben Szeto, Ms Vicki Guthrie

Advisory Council MembersMr Warren Khoo, Prof Koh Kheng Lian,

Mr Lim Jim Koon, Mr Liu Thai Ker, Prof Ng Soon Chye, Mr Sim Wong Hoo,

Mr Mason Tan

BirdLife International CoordinatorMr Lim Kim Keang

Environmental Law and Policy CoordinatorIUCN Coordinator

-

COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSONSConservation Committee

Mr Leong Kwok Peng

Education CommitteeMr Goh Ter Yang, Ms Gloria Seow

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP CHAIRPERSONSBird Group

Mr Lim Kim Chuah

Butterfly & Insect Group-

Jalan HijauMr Tan Hang Chong

Marine Conservation GroupMr Stephen Beng

Plant GroupMr Bian Tan

The Nature RamblersMr Pandian Parthasarathy

Vertebrate Study GroupTony O’Dempsey

Nature News Editorial CommitteeMs Gloria Seow

Mr Timothy PweeMr Goh Si Guim

NSS SecretariatMr Joseph Lim

(Accounts & Membership Officer)Mr Kerry Pereira

(Member Programme & Outreach Officer)

NATURE SOCIETY(SINGAPORE)

Nature Society (Singapore) (NSS) has been the Singapore country partner

of BirdLife International (BL or BirdLife) since the mid-1990s. BL

is unique as an international NGO (non-governmental organization)

in that it is a world-wide alliance of partners, one local NGO for each country.

Although the reference to birds in the title may seem to indicate otherwise, the

concern for many years now has been with all aspects of biodiversity, as well as with

the people who live within or alongside their habitats. This can be seen particularly

in the Forests of Hope projects, painstakingly and brilliantly documented by Fanny

Lai and Bjorn Olesen in their new magnum opus Asia’s Wildlife – A Journey to the

Forests of Hope, introduced in this issue.

Although perhaps overstepping our editorial boundaries, we would thoroughly

recommend this book, available at a special price to NSS members at the Birdlife

Asia Regional Office in Tanglin Road. The authors have graciously gifted the

proceeds to BL partners in Asia, so our own Society, as BirdLife in Singapore, will

be a beneficiary. Hopefully this might be a stimulus to buying extra copies as gifts

for family and friends. Thinking ahead, there’s plenty of time for wrapping and

sending by seamail as a Christmas gift to those abroad!

The book covers wildlife in eight Asian countries. In this issue we have articles

from two more. Evan Landy, a recent arrival in Singapore, has already ventured

to Hong Kong to see the Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins holding on there in

seemingly adverse circumstances. Andie Ang, a familiar contributor on colobines,

joins with new contributor Niu Kefeng to muse on the plight of the present day

monkey kings of China. Finally treading further afield, another new contributor,

Victor Tan, takes us to a flooded delta in Southern Africa for a pictorial spread of

both iconic and rare species.

With thanks as ever to our growing band of contributors, we hope that even

more of our readers may be encouraged to join in with their own stories.

Margie Hall and Gemma Koh

June 2018

Message froM the editors

We welcome your stories, articles, surveys, observations and photographs. Please discuss your story ideas with us by emailing a proposal to [email protected]. Do include samples of your photographs (maximum 20 images per submission). We require good quality, high resolution JPEG images (ideally uncropped) in the largest size available, labelled with a descriptive file name.

Editor

Gemma Koh

Assistant Editor

Margie Hall

Designer

S.T. Leng

Contributors

Andie Ang, Niu Kefeng, John Sha, Ding Kuanliang, Victor Tan, Evan Landy,

Hum Bahadur Gurung, Jake Teo, Bjorn Olesen

Printing by Mainland Press Pte LtdMCI (P) 073/04/2018

ISSN: 0218-6853

Copyright belongs to the authors. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or any means without prior permission in writing from Nature Society (Singapore). The views

and opinions expressed or implied in this publication are those of the authors and contributors only and do not necessarily

reflect the official views of Nature Society (Singapore) or its members.

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ContentsVol 26 No 3 July – September 2018

ON THE COVER golden snub-nosed Monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana). Photo by Ding Kuanliang

the World’s Most Urban dolphins2

okavango odyssey16

8 the Monkey Kings 12 forests of hope

2 Nature Watch Jul – Sep 2018

C e t a C e a n s

Jul – Sep 2018 Nature Watch 3

Off the coast of Hong Kong, a region which ranks as the 4th most densely populated place in the world, lives a special species of dolphin. The Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin is rare amongst cetaceans in being capable of living in estuarine, and sometimes even riverine habitats.

Text and photos by evan Landy

The world’s

mosT urban dolphins


Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins are widely distributed and have recently been recognised as three distinct, but closely related, species across their range. Sousa plumbea (Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphin) is found from southern Africa, all the way along the coastal areas of east Africa, the Middle East and India through to western China. Sousa chinensis (Chinese White Dolphin, commonly referred to in Singapore as the Pink Dolphin) is found from western to eastern China and throughout the Coral Triangle. The third species, Sousa sahulensis (Australian Humpback Dolphin), is found only in Australian waters.

The populations of Chinese White

Dolphins around southern China are characterised by a rare colouration amongst dolphin species; mature individuals appear to be a shade of bubble-gum pink. They are, in fact, white, but the blood flow beneath the skin gives them their pinkish appearance. This complexion gave rise to their local name in Hong Kong, the Chinese White Dolphin. Not all individuals are pink, though. Young dolphins are grey in colour and in other parts of their range they can be any shade from pink to grey or brown.

Life as a White DolphinThe Pearl River Delta is a large murky underwater world, rich in sediment and

certainly not a scuba diving hotspot. This matters little for the dolphins, who use their highly developed hearing and sonar to sound out their environment day and night. Being coastal they compete with very few natural predators and, sitting high up the food chain, have slow life history traits.

They can grow to a maximum of 3m in length and compared to other dolphins are quite robust and stocky. They differ in shape to oceanic species like Spinner Dolphins (Stenella longirostris) as they have not adapted as long distance streamlined swimmers but to a more fixed way of life in a tougher coastal environment.

White Dolphins mature slowly,

A unique sub-population of the Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin (Sousa chinensis) can be found in the Pearl River Delta between Hong Kong and Macau, an area which has been, and still is, developing rapidly. Macau, where the dolphins can also be seen, is one of the three regions in the world with a denser population than Hong Kong. (Singapore is 3rd in that global list and, interestingly, is also a place where the Indo-

Pacific Humpback Dolphin can be found.) What makes these dolphins so unique? And how has their preference for coastal habitats made them especially vulnerable to anthropogenic activities?

Chinese white dolphins are characterised by a rare colouration: mature individuals appear to be a shade of bubble-gum pink. Young dolphins are grey.


with a gestation period of around a year. Baby dolphins will stay close to the mother for two to three years, with females only having one young at a time, meaning that, at best, mothers may only successfully raise a calf every four years or so.

The age at sexual maturity is thought to be around 10 years and they can live well past 40 in pristine environments. However, in Hong Kong this is rare because of the degradation of the ecosystem. As a result, this is a species that cannot sustain high mortality rates in the long term.

the Pearl River DolphinsThe number of Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins that call Hong Kong home, for at least part of their range, is thought to number over 3501. However, the number of permanent residents is estimated to be much lower, possibly less than 100, and decreasing rapidly.

The group in the hotspot around Lantau Island in the south-west of Hong Kong forms part of a larger Pearl River Delta population that, despite all the challenges, is still one of the largest

Not all individuals of Chinese White Dolphins around southern China are pink, though. Young dolphins are grey in colour and in other parts of their range they can be any shade from pink to grey or brown.

known local populations of this species. There does appear to be some seasonal variation with more dolphins being sighted in Hong Kong during summer months. It could be that dolphins move further into the estuary and up river during winter when food becomes scarcer and they can, incredibly, even be found as far upriver as Zhaoqing.

P e a r l R i v e r D e l t a

Their diet is mostly comprised of demersal and schooling fish2, although in other parts of the world they may also eat cephalopods and other marine creatures. There had been observations of the dolphins following fishing trawlers to feed, up until January 2013, when trawling was banned in Hong Kong waters3. In other parts of world like South Africa, where seasonality plays a greater role in food abundance, the movements of populations along the coastlines may be more extensive and varied with the seasons.

estuarine existence Coastal species of cetaceans are remarkably hardy individuals. Pollution, over fishing, direct exploitation and fisheries by-catch take an enormous toll on marine ecosystems and nowhere is hit harder than the coastal waters adjacent to densely populated cities. The

hong Kong

lantau island

Zhuhai

Pearl River

Zhaoqing

macau

over 350 indo-pacific humpback dolphins use the waters around hong Kong but fewer than 100 individuals call this area home year-round.


INdo-PacIfIc HumPback dolPHINS also reside in Singaporean waters. They are sighted sporadically around St John’s Island and some of the other islands in the Singapore Strait. It is unlikely though, that these dolphins are connected in any way to the Hong kong populations. Research in other regions has shown that this species typically exists in localised isolated populations5. This may have something to do with their preference for coastal waters.

Pelagic dolphin species can cover huge distances each day and therefore populations of other species like bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) may be much more fluid in intermingling.

It may be that Indo-Pacific Humpback dolphins, by contrast, do not cross open waters very often and therefore the population around Singapore is likely to be resident in nature, perhaps ranging around some of the Indonesian islands to the South of Singapore whilst also mixing with Sumatran and Peninsula malaysia populations.

However, further research is needed to establish their true range and site fidelity. one future method to do this may be comparing photos taken of Singapore dolphins with those seen in nearby regions. dolphins can be identified by unique features — such as scratches, scars and notches — on their dorsal fins. Therefore, any photos of the Singaporean dolphins would be valuable for scientific studies.

for a number of years until 2012, reports of dolphin sightings in Singapore waters were collected by Tropical marine Science Institute (TmSI), National university of Singapore.* unfortunately funding for this project ceased.

more recently in 2016, animal concerns Research and Education Society (Singapore) (acRES) initiated a project to collect reports of sightings of wild dolphins in Singapore waters as a backdrop to their campaign about the captive bottlenose dolphins at Resorts World Sentosa.

Independently, this author is interested to collate dolphin sightings in Singapore waters, and requests sighting reports to be sent to Evan landy, [email protected] or Naomi clarke-Shen, [email protected]

Pearl River basin drains one eighth of China’s sewage outflow which courses downstream into the estuary where the dolphins choose to live. However, it may be noise that affects dolphins most severely. The blare of coastal development and heavy boat traffic in the Pearl River wreak havoc with the dolphin’s acoustic world and, as a result, they are recognised as being one of the most anthropogenically affected of all dolphin populations globally.

a bridge over troubled waterPossibly the greatest threat to the dolphins is the building of an enormous bridge between Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai. Projected to measure around 50,000m in length – of which 42,000m will be over water – the bridge cuts through critical dolphin habitat. The construction of the bridge has already created unbearable noise below the surface of the water for the dolphins, and they have been observed to vacate heavily affected areas during such periods.

Once open, the operation of the bridge may also cause disturbance and increase overall pollution levels, already high in Hong Kong for both dolphins and people.

Alongside some massive land reclamation projects along the coastline, the dolphin’s habitat has been hammered, drilled, blasted and contracted, resulting in a long-term decline in their population.

There have been over 100 incidents involving dead dolphins washing ashore in the last decade alone4, many with infections in their ears likely caused by construction blasting. These are only the individuals that are found. The mortality rates from such instances are likely to be far higher as many dead dolphins will never drift in to shore to be counted and examined. If this continues unabated, the future does not look too bright.

the FutureIn 2006, another Chinese species, the Yangtze River Dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer)

pink dolphins in singapore

* See Nature Watch 19(4) for details of species, and www.tmsi.nus.edu.sg/mmrl/swimmsmap.htm for sighting reports in 2012.

The group in the hotspot around Lantau Island in the south-west of Hong Kong forms part of a larger Pearl River Delta population that, despite all the challenges, is still one of the largest known local populations of this species.

possibly the greatest threat to the dolphins is the building of an enormous bridge between hong Kong, macau and Zhuhai.


Evan Landy is a sustainability and conservation professional. He has an M.Sc. in Conservation & Biodiversity from the University of Exeter, where he spent time researching marine mammals and sharks. The experienced wildlife writer, guide and photographer retains his strongest passion for whales and dolphins.

To learn more about hong Kong dolphins, visit hkdolphinwatch.com. Hong kong dolphin Watch has three aims: to raise awareness of the plight of the Indo-Pacific Humpback dolphin in the Pearl River; to enhance the economic value of the dolphins by running tours; and to generate revenue for research and campaigns.

1. Chan, S.C.Y. and Karcmarski, L. (2017). Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis) in Hong Kong: Modelling demographic parameters with mark-recapture techniques. PLOS ONE 12(3), p.e0174029.

2. Jefferson, T.A. and Samuel K. Hung, S.K. (2004). A Review of the Status of the Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin (Sousa chinensis) in Chinese Waters. Aquatic Mammals 30(1): 149-158.

3. Würsig, B. et al. (2015). The Behavioural Ecology of Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins in Hong Kong. Advances in Marine Biology 73

4. Hong Kong Dolphinwatch Ltd fact sheet. hkdolphinwatch.com

5. Parra, G.J. et al. (2004). The Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin, Sousa Chinensis, in Australian Waters: A Summary of Current Knowledge. Aquatic Mammals 30(1),197-206.

ReFeRenCesbecame the first species of cetacean to go extinct in over 100 years. Just over a decade later the Vaquita porpoise (Phocoena sinus), which inhabits the Gulf of California, is now in imminent danger of following. There are alarming similari-ties between these extinctions and the localised population of Chinese White Dolphin in Hong Kong. They live in a restricted range, with a huge number of habitat pressures which were not, or are not being, addressed quickly enough. It would be unwise to assume this popula-tion is not heading the same way.

However, there are differences between the former two species and the Chinese White Dolphin that give us reasons to hope.

The Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin is widespread in the region and

so the declining Hong Kong population can potentially be supplemented by individuals from areas nearby, which can help reverse declines should they be given their key habitat requirements. They need protection through being able to inhabit healthy ecosystems, free from pollution and free from continuous disturbance. These urban survivors can do the rest; they have already proved to be extraordinarily resilient. They are a treasure, for the people of Hong Kong and for the wider world to appreciate. Seeing them is not an experience to be missed if you visit.

If you never make it to Hong Kong, however, keep watching the waters off Singapore, you never know when you may see a flash of pink breaching the water.

The indo-pacific humpback dolphin is widespread in the region and so the declining hong Kong population can potentially be supplemented by individuals from areas nearby.


P r i m a t e s

Journey to the West by Wu Cheng’en (1500-1582) is one of the four great classics of Chinese literature. The novel’s main character, Sun Wukong, is a formidable monkey with unflinching courage and celestial abilities. Not only is he immortal, he is able

to shapeshift into almost any form (except his tail, which often gives him away). Each of his hairs can be transformed into clones of himself. His primary tool is a

golden rod that can be shrunk to the size of a sewing needle and which is kept in his ears. But what is Sun Wukong? What species of monkey or primate is he?

Text and photos by andie ang and Niu Kefeng

Additional photos by Ding Kuanliang and John sha

F r o m S u N W u k o N g

T o P r i m a T E C o N S E r v a T i o N

i N C H i N a

T H E


indeed the Tibetan macaque (Macaca thibetana) is endemic to China and is the largest of the macaque species, with adult males weighing up to 19kg (in comparison, Singapore’s Long-tailed macaque males only reach a puny one third of that weight). Such a giant amongst macaques could surely have extra powers? But then might its stump tail (its other name is Chinese Stump-

tailed macaque) rule it out? and if its abbreviated tail is not wrong, surely its greyish colouration is hardly regal or fitting to the literary description, and nor is that of any other of the macaques.

Based on fur colouration, the golden Sun Wukong resembles most closely to the golden Snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana). This highly-recognisable species does

Considering that Sun Wukong possesses a tail and fights demons in the day, the monkey king could either be a leaf-eating monkey (colobine monkey) or a macaque; certainly not a gibbon which does not have a tail, nor a languid slow loris which is mostly active in the night. For readers living in Southeast asia, likely

contenders might be one of the macaque species. They include the Long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis), Stump-tailed macaque (Macaca arctoides) or Pig-tailed macaques (Macaca leonina and Macaca nemestrina) with their ingenuity and confidence, especially when looking for food close to human habitations.

actually have in present day China an almost giant Panda-like national status – so well-known is it to the general population. But has it ever lived in the right part of China? according to the novel, the birthplace of Sun Wukong is mount Huaguo (the mountain of Flowers and Fruit), located in the coastal province of Jiangsu in Eastern China. However, the current distribution of the golden Snub-nosed monkey does not extend to Jiangsu Province, and the historical presence and distribution of primates in Jiangsu has not been properly documented. and, should we think again of macaques? But, the rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) currently found in mount Huaguo may also have been introduced for tourism.

in the end, whichever species might be the nearest contender for celestial honour, primates in the real world, unfortunately, do not possess super powers and are not as invincible as the monkey king.

There are 28 different non-human primate species in China, and most of them are threatened. indeed, even with its high present-day status, the golden Snub-nosed monkey numbers only approximately 15,000 individuals.

The other three snub-nose species, much less celebrated, are no more secure. The grey Snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus brelichi) is the most endangered with the lowest estimated population size of 650-750 and the smallest distribution range, only found in Fanjingshan National Nature reserve in guizhou Province.

China is also home to a number of endangered leaf-eating monkeys.

C h i n a

Mayanghe National Nature Reserve

Guizhou

Fanjingshan National Nature Reserve

Guiyang

Golden Snub-nosed monkeys in Foping National Nature Reserve in Shaanxi Province, which is also home to the Giant Pandas. Photo: Ding Kuanliang

Facing page: The seasonal habitat of the Grey Snub-nosed Monkey in the Fanjingshan National Nature Reserve in summer. Photo: Niu Kefeng

Foping National Nature Reserve

Mount Huaguo

Jiangsu


François’ Langurs. Photo: Niu Kefeng The Grey Snub-nosed Monkey. Photo: Niu Kefeng

Golden Snub-nosed Monkey. Photo: John Sha Tibetan Macaque. Photo: Niu Kefeng


Andie Ang chairs the Raffles’ Banded Langur Working Group funded by Wildlife Reserves Singapore Conservation Fund to study and conserve Singapore’s critically endangered monkey. In 2011, she participated in a field expedition with the co-author of this article and his team to look for the Snub-nosed Monkeys in China.

Niu Kefeng graduated with a PhD in Biology and Applied Biotechnologies from University of Turin, Italy in 2018. He currently studies primate behaviour and wildlife conservation in Fanjingshan and Mayanghe National Nature Reserves in China. Kefeng and Andie met during their first primate field course in Vietnam in 2009.

They include François’ Langurs (Trachypithecus francoisi) that occur in the limestone hills and river valleys of central China and northern vietnam. The global population of this species consists of approximately 1,700 individuals in about 30 isolated locations. mayanghe National Nature reserve is home to the largest wild population (about 554 individuals) of François’ Langurs. They live in very close proximity to the local residents within the reserve, and human-langur conflicts often arise.

Their habitat continues to be destroyed and fragmented, and these langurs sometimes leave the forests in search of food, ransacking houses and raiding crops in villages, damaging roof tiles in the process.

Local government and researchers in mayanghe are currently studying the human-langur interactions to devise science-based strategies to better conserve this species with the help from local farmers and children. (in Singapore, by contrast, there is no human-langur conflict).

it is ironic that in a land where the monkey king is such an important part of culture – and around one twelfth of the population astrologically connected to monkeys by birth – that the majority of the primate species are threatened. it is hoped that protection of this charismatic beings can be enhanced through a collaborative conservation effort between government and scientists, and public education.

Tibetan Macaque. Photo: John Sha

The winter habitat of the Grey Snub-nosed Monkey in the Fanjingshan National Nature Reserve. During winter, the monkeys subsist on buds and bark. Photo: Niu Kefeng


B o o k n e w s

Hum Gurung reflects on the making of Asia’s Wildlife: A Journey to the Forests of Hope

authored by Fanny Lai and Bjorn Olesen.

Photos by Bjorn olesenMap by Jake Teo

A P H O t O G r A P H i c S t O r y

of forests Hope


The idea of producing a book to showcase the wildlife and conservation work at BirdLife international’s ‘Forests of Hope’ sites arose from many conversations between BirdLife staff members, Fanny Lai and Bjorn Olesen back in 2014-2015, with a concept note prepared in December 2015. Dedicated conservationists and seasoned wildlife photographers

in their own right, Fanny and Bjorn are well-known in regional circles and probably need no further introduction. By then, they had launched the highly successful book, A Visual Celebration of Giant Pandas (2013) with a second book, A Visual Celebration of Borneo's Wildlife (2016) in production. this ambitious new book project, as pro-posed by Fanny and Bjorn, was planned to cover the five ‘Forests of Hope’ sites led by BirdLife’s partners in five Asian countries, as well as three more forest sites with strong conservation narratives developed by another three of BirdLife country partners.

With the ideas nicely laid out, Bjorn and Fanny commenced on a year of hectic and exciting travel to visit project sites in eight countries — cambodia, india, indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam — in 2016 to compile photographic material and collect stories.

For us at BirdLife international, this was an excellent and timely opportunity to weave together the many inspiring stories collated by our country partners from their ground-up conservation work with local people at these sites.

After all, BirdLife’s work is built on the tenet that local people, working for nature in their own places but connected nationally and internationally through the BirdLife Partnership, have an integral role in sustaining biodiversity on this planet.

We at BirdLife are very indebted to Bjorn and Fanny for having contributed their time and resources on a pro bono basis for field travel during the compilation of material and production of Asia’s Wildlife: A Journey to the Forests of Hope, in effect, BirdLife’s very own ‘jungle book’!

A Photographic odysseythrough countless hours in the field, Bjorn and Fanny were able to capture truly stunning images of many of Asia’s most exquisite species in a wild state, as well as carefully document some of the exciting initiatives on the ground led by the BirdLife international cambodia Programme, Bombay Natural History Society (india), Burung indonesia, Malaysian Nature Society, Bird conservation Nepal, Haribon Foundation (Philippines), Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka and Viet Nature conservation centre.

through a brilliant set of images, the book brings the reader to some of Asia’s last wild areas such as the forests of Western Siem Pang in north-eastern cambodia, Hutan Harapan on Sumatra, the Belum temengor Forest complex in Peninsular Malaysia, Mount irid-Angelo in the Sierra Madre of the Philippines, Khe Nuoc trong forest in Vietnam, Bardia National Park in western Nepal, the forests of Nagaland in india and Sinharaja Forest reserve in Sri Lanka.

Of note are the spectacular forests of the Western Siem Pang, which covers cambodia’s remote north-western frontier near Laos. Hosted by the BirdLife staff team on the ground, Bjorn and Fanny were able to obtain some of the finest photographic documentation of a suite of critically Endangered birds difficult to see outside of northern cambodia. Particularly impressive are the portraits of the Giant ibis (Thaumatibis gigantea), cambodia’s national bird and also one of the world’s rarest large waterbirds.

A female Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) seen

here on the prowl, in the forests of Bardia National Park.


these Giant ibis, together with smaller parties of the equally rare White-shouldered ibis (Pseudibis davisoni) were captured in action feeding at the numerous forest pools or ‘trapeangs’. At the ‘vulture restaurants’, which are special set-ups where food supplements in the form of cattle carcasses are provided, the authors were able to capture moments where three vulture species, all endangered, squabble for dominance at the dinner table. With the dramatic decline of vultures in Asia in the past century, such scenes of vulture effrontery are now more or less restricted to very few areas in the region.

in all, 129 different animal species, of which 72 are national endemics, Endangered or critically Endangered, are featured in the book.

While a fair number are familiar Asian species such as Asian tigers (Panthera tigris), the indian rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis), the Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus) others are not so well-known. Some of these include the mysterious Saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis) of the Annamite

Mountains of indochina, the gaudily coloured Wegner’s Glass Lizard (Ophisaurus wegneri) of Sumatra’s hill forests and the Southern Giant cloud rat (Phloeomys cumingi), chunking rodents that haunt the deep misty forests of the Luzon’s Sierra Madre Mountains.

Conservation through LensesWildlife photography can be a powerful tool to empower local people for conservation. Bjorn and Fanny noted that “conservation photography is most effective when done together with NGOs and scientists with aligned objectives, and this collaboration with BirdLife international and their Asian partners has been a timely attempt at this”. to this end, Asia’s Wildlife: A Journey to the Forests of Hope has weaved together a series of inspiring conservation stories from the ground.

At the Forests of Western Siem Pang, we hear the story of Mr. Mai Mem. Originally a hunter, Mem joined the BirdLife team and became a devoted conservationist, inspiring others around

him to make a difference for cambodia’s wildlife. Moving west to the forests of Doyang in Nagaland, we learn about the epic migration of the Amur Falcon (Falco amurensis). Here in Nagaland, a strong hunting culture resulted in thousands of falcons being hunted and sold for food in the local markets yearly. through the work of many, including the Bombay Natural History Society (BirdLife in india), the promotion of awareness in the local communities and the creation of alternative livelihoods for local people steadily discouraged hunters from taking the falcons. No hunting of the Amur Falcon has been heard of since 2013.

And of course we cannot forget the Forests of Harapan in Sumatra (Harapan is the word for ‘hope’ in the indonesian language), which bestowed its name on these other forests projects by BirdLife international.

At Harapan, Bjorn and Fanny tell the story of how these last lowland forests of Sumatra became protected through a new and unique institutional approach to manage forests. instead of

The forests of Western Siem Pang, an extensive landscape managed by the BirdLife Cambodia Programme team is a global stronghold of the Critically Endangered Giant Ibis.


Hum Gurung is Network & Partner Development Manager and Asia Co-ordinator for Forests of Hope at the BirdLife International Asia Office in Singapore. He is former Chief Executive of Bird Conservation Nepal (BirdLife in Nepal). Hum also worked for the United Nations Development Programme in Nepal as National Programme Manager and Senior Policy Adviser. He was one of the pioneers of the Annapurna Conservation Area Project, which won awards for community-based protected area management and for ecotourism.

Asia’s Wildlife: A Journey

to the Forests of Hope can

be purchased at the BirdLife

International Asia office (354

Tanglin Road #01-15/16/17,

Tanglin International Centre,

Singapore 247672, Tel: +65

64793089, Email: infoasia@

birdlife.org). The book is

available to NSS members at

a special price of 45.00 SGD,

and to non-members, 50.00

SGD. All proceeds from the

sale of the book will go to

supporting the work of the

Nature Society (Singapore),

BirdLife Partner in Singapore,

and the wider BirdLife

International Asia Partnership.

becoming logging concessions where they would have been long cleared for timber, and then planted with oil palms, an innovative policy approach by the government allowed these forests to be managed as an ‘Ecosystem restoration concession’.

Here, tree nurseries have been established to stabilise ecological rehabilitation. the indigenous Batin Sembilan people play a big role by being involved in the collection of seeds for these tree nurseries. Education opportunities are provided to the local people. Both local people and nature benefit.

T h e B o o k

Final words Asia’s Wildlife: A Journey to the Forests of Hope brings together material from diverse sources, including recent aca-demic papers, newly published reference books, websites, a detailed glossary and a brief profile of all project partners which will prove a useful resource for interested scholars, students and conser-vationists.

in addition to Bjorn’s images, the book draws from the work of a number of outstanding contributing photogra-phers who provided more than 50 more rare images of birds and mammals, as well as the editorial oversight of yong Ding Li, long-time Nature Society (Singapore) member and an authority on Asia’s biodiversity.

All in all, Asia’s Wildlife: A Journey to the Forests of Hope is a must read for people from all walks of life who love nature, including politicians and policy-makers. As Her imperial Highness Princess (HiH) takamado of Japan, Honorary President of BirdLife international, observed in the Foreword, it would be “… a wonderful thing if these politicians, business leaders, planners, investors, all looking at the world through different lenses, would keep this book on their desks, to remind them that these forests depend on their decisions, their judgement, their feelings, their values”.

One of Sumatra’s rarest large birds, a population of the Storm’s Stork (Ciconia stormi) continue to persist in Harapan Forest.

Asia’s Wildlife: A Journey to the Forests of Hope features images from some of Asia’s last wild areas


O k a v a n g O O d y s s e y

T r a v e l

Text and photos by victor Tan

The Okavango Delta in Botswana is a land where lions and elephants roam, the river never reaches the sea, and the highest landforms are termite mounds. It also floods annually in the dry season.


O k a v a n g O O d y s s e y

The Okavango delta terrain comprises

shallow wetlands during the seasonal floods, and

floodplain grasslands when flood waters

recede.


Unlike most rivers, water from the Okavango never reaches the sea. Roughly 60% is consumed through transpiration by plants; 36% by evapo-ration; 2% percolates into the aquifer system; and 2% flows into Lake Ngami. The word oasis can rarely be used more appropriately than in describing the Okavango Delta. Typically, the harsh dry environment of a desert would only support at best scrubby vegetation, but add water, plenty of it, and the land-scape transforms completely.

The processes responsible for forming and shaping the landscape – the geological history of the area as well as the ongoing processes of ero-sion and deposition and also the annual flood – leave the general topography of the Delta extremely flat. There is less than 2m variation in height across its

15,000km2, so much so that termite mounds, evident everywhere within the Delta on the safari game drives, are the highest landforms.

The miraculous transformation of the arid landscape by dry winter season floods into a vibrant wetland, consist-ing of extensive waterways, swamps, flooded grasslands and floodplains, triggers spectacular wildlife displays and attracts large concentrations of animals, including large carnivores and great herds of elephants. The Delta’s diverse and undisturbed natural habitat sus-tains robust populations of some of the world’s most endangered large mam-mals such as the Cheetah, White and Black Rhinoceros, Wild Dog and Lion.

Botswana supports the world’s largest population of elephants, num-bering around 130,000: the Okavango

The OkavangO delTa is a unique wetland oasis in the otherwise dry environment of the Kalahari Desert. The Delta covers between six and 15,000km2 of the Kalahari Desert in northern Botswana. It owes its existence to about 11km3 (11,000,000,000,000 litres) of water from the Angolan highlands, which the Okavango River delivers to the Delta during the dry winter months, flooding the Delta between June and October annually. The specific shaping of the Delta is known as an alluvial fan.

Delta is the core area for this species’ survival. This aggregation of wildlife and the scale and magnificence of the Okavango Delta earned it a well-deserved position as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa in 2013. It was subsequently the 1,000th site to be officially inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List on 22 June 2014.

The Okavango Delta is further recognised as an important Bird Area, harbouring 24 species of globally threat-ened birds. These include, among oth-ers, six species of vultures, the Southern Ground-Hornbill, Wattled Crane and Slaty Egret. The Delta is also species-rich with 1,061 plants (belonging to 134 families and 530 genera), 89 fish, 64 reptiles, 482 species of birds and 130 species of mammals, according to UNESCO.

Because of its vast size and dif-ficult access, the Delta has never been subjected to significant development and it remains in an almost pristine condition. Tourism to the inner Delta is limited to small, temporary tented camps with access by air. Facilities man-aged by community trusts or private tourism concession-holders are carefully monitored for compliance with envi-ronmental standards and have minimal ecological impact. Legal protection is afforded through Botswana’s Wildlife Conservation and National Parks Act 1992 and an associated Wildlife Conservation Policy.

Facing page, above: The Common Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus) is often predated upon by lions. We saw one being chased by a pack of four lions. It escaped becoming dinner by dashing into the dense thicket.

Facing page, bottom: successful conservation efforts and a permanent water source are responsible for high concentrations of african elephant (Loxodonta Africana) in the Okavango delta. however, what is now the largest population of african elephants gives rise to serious environmental challenges. nearly 80% of an elephant's day is spent consuming several hundred kilos of vegetation, including tree bark that they tear off with their tusks. The remains of trees pushed down by elephants are almost everywhere in the delta.



lions (Panthera leo) have vanished from over 90% of their historic range, with the biggest decline occurring in the last two decades. They are now extinct in 26 african countries. CITes appendix II allows some international commercial trade in lion parts and products – sourced from captive-bred lions. Control of the illegal trade in live lions and their parts is, however, problematic, exacerbated by weak law enforcement, as well as insufficient knowledge in many african states. The demand for lion parts for medicinal purposes raises prices astronomically. By fuelling that demand, the captive-bred lion industry spurs the poaching of wild lions for the lucrative illegal trade.

The southern ground hornbill (Bucorvus leadbeateri) is the largest hornbill in the world. It prefers walking on the ground (hence its name) and foraging for food, as opposed to flying through the air or perching on tree branches.

Impala (Aepyceros melampus).

The Plains Zebra (Equus quagga), also known as the common zebra, is the most abundant of three species of zebra.


MaNy placeS on the african continent are in jeopardy because of human action. But in the Okavango Delta, a forward-thinking government is working to develop the area sustainably by ensuring that high-end, low-impact tourism protects the environment and benefits the local people. It works in partnership with non-profit organisations as well as companies like Wilderness Safaris, the private tourism concession-holders of the two camps we visited. Wilderness Safaris launched the Wilderness Wildlife Trust in the late 1980s when the company saw the possibility to contribute on a larger scale to protect the wildlife. Wilderness Safaris’ large network has reached beyond its customers to donate to the Trust’s conservation projects. The company also contributes to and facilitates the logistics and gives in-kind support (such as manpower, accommodation, infrastructure and vehicles). The Trust supports a comprehensive range of conservation projects that can be categorised into Research & conservation, community empowerment & education, and anti-poaching & Management, encompassing its vision to contribute meaningfully to the wildlife and the people of africa. children in the Wilderness is another non-profit organisation supported by Wilderness Safaris. It facilitates sustainable conservation through leadership

development and education of rural children in africa – the next generation of decision-makers – inspiring them to care for their natural heritage and to become the custodians of these areas in the future. Other initiatives that have earned them accolades include:

• Reintroducing White and Black Rhinoceros to the Okavango Delta

• Funding a project to save Botswana’s endangered Wild Dogs.

• Financing studies to aid in conserving lions and the Roan antelope.

• Training farmers to fend off marauding elephants by planting chilli pepper plants around crops as a natural deterrent. (elephants do not like capsaicin, the compound in chillies that makes them hot).

as soon as we landed at the Vumbura airstrip, each of us received a reusable metal water bottle that was ours to keep. This practice, used at all their camps, avoids use of more than 300,000 disposable plastic bottles per annum. photovoltaic systems at their camps provide sustainable energy and minimise impact on the environment.

green eFFOrTs

The reusable metal water bottle that was ours to keep.

In The delTa

On a mokoro (traditional canoe) excursion.


The leopard (Panthera pardus) is listed as vulnerable on The IUCn red list. Its populations are threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, and are declining in large parts of the global range.

southern giraffe (Giraffa giraffa) eat leaves, fruits and flowers of woody plants, primarily acacia species, which they browse at heights most other herbivores cannot reach.


Victor Tan is a stern advocate for responsible tourism and environmental protection. The passionate nature and wildlife photographer was an office-holder in NSS’s Marine Conservation Group for many years. His interests have now come to include creatures that walk, crawl, slither or fly.

a 14-hour flight from Singapore, including short stopover at Johannesburg, took us to cape Town, South africa. Thereafter, a 2.5 hour flight brought us to Maun in northern Botswana, from which most flights to the inland Delta depart. Representatives from Wilderness safaris (wilderness-safaris.com), which has varied camps, met us here, and we hopped onto an 8-seater light twin-prop aircraft to the vumbura airstrip in the heart of the Delta. Flying low the twin-prop gave us a bird’s eye view of the Delta as we passed over the Okavango River, swampy grass-lands, floodplains and flooded pools in the plains below. From Wilderness Safaris’ varied camps, we chose vumbura Plains and the newly-opened Qorokwe Camp to get a mix of land and water activities including game drives, mokoro (traditional canoe) excursions and to increase our chances of animal sightings. a twin-prop flight took us from the Vumbura airstrip to our second camp. all bookings, connections and arrangements, including our stay in cape Town, were made in Singapore through a2a safaris (a2asafaris.com).

Chacma Baboon (Papio ursinus).

Termite mounds are everywhere within the Okavango delta.

Cape Town

B o t s w a n a

Okadangodelta

Maun

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Official Magazine of Nature Society (Singapore) Volume 26 ... Watch Vol 26.pdf · MCI (P) 073/04/2018 Hong Kong’s ... Jalan Hijau Mr Tan Hang Chong ... discuss your story ideas