Another new year!

Happy 2017 to everyone!

Admittedly, I haven't been able to keep up my promise of blogging regularly. And I've come to realise that my biggest weakness is procrastination. As karma, I think, I am now about five 12-paged reports behind in submissions. WRITING isn't my best friend right now.

I don't consider myself very ambitious (or I would never procrastinate, right?). However, like bees on the scent of nectar, I generally turn my nose in the direction of food (primarily), nature and adventure. So very often, I accidentally stumble on to things like interesting people and opportunities that initially I didn't think would fit in the grand scheme of my interests (only to realise later it does).

Today was one of those days. I might add that it was a happy one too.

I started work as an intern (Project Coordinator) with a second NGO today. Now I have to shuttle between home for the weekend lectures and the capital city (4 hrs from home) for work on four days of the week. Thanks to a chance connection made by a good friend's father, I found a good mentor who in turn recommended me to this NGO. Through their involvement in projects funded by the UNDP, they work to increase biodiversity, fight climate change, minimise land degradation and minimise persistent organic pollutants with the involvement of (often) impoverished communities.

Previously, I thought the UN Compound was a top secret facility with strange people on the inside. Today, I found out it was not entirely true. There was a cat at the cafeteria too.

Building bridges

Three days ago, I tagged along with a NGO specialising in Knowledge Management to support their team with field work. Four large projects aimed at environment conservation through the empowerment of local communities had come to an end. The team was here to wrap things up and assess the impact of the project in the communities that benefited from these projects. As the newest member in the team, I only witnessed the concluding phase of these projects.

Jaffna on the map. (Source: Google maps)

Jaffna is a city in the northernmost part of Sri Lanka belonging to the arid zone. While it faces drought for a major part of the year, I happened to arrive in Jaffna in the wet season in December when the rice paddy fields were lush and the entire penninsula was abundant with migratory birds. In other words, it was the best time to be in this city to witness nature at her finest performance.

Acres and acres of beautiful green rice paddy fields

A decade ago, it was impossible to even think of visiting the city of Jaffna because the country was torn apart by a racially and politically driven civil war that lasted nearly two and a half decades from 1983 to 2009. Looking back from this point in time, the war was a completely unnecessary event that caused more harm than achieve any useful outcome. Countless families on both sides of the cause (more on the minority side, of course) lost loved ones, the grief and psychological after-effects remain today, so much potential and good ambitions of a younger generation were crushed and the war affected areas fell backwards in terms of development. The worst consequence of the war was perhaps the increased feelings of hate, suspicion and racism between the two races that still linger in the minds of most.

I started writing part of this post in Jaffna a few hours before my departure from that city because I left with a slightly unsettled feeling and a lot of unanswered questions.

For the purposes of this post, I shall refer to two parties called the “majority race” (75% of the population of Sri Lanka) and the “minority race” (approximately 11%). I belong to the majority race.

When I visited Jaffna, a city dominated by the minority race, the people of the area who I associated with treated me with overwhelming respect and kindness. A few went out of their way to ensure our stay was very productive and comfortable. Sure, I was a part of a humanitarian mission to better the lives of the agriculturally oriented people there so they probably saw us coming with harmless intentions. And there may have been plenty of others in that city who did not like our presence. But seven years post-war, I still wonder what these people really think of us.

Do they hate all of us and blame us for the atrocities that occurred to their people? Do they still idolise the group which we call terrorists and they probably see as freedom fighters? Were there some of them who opposed the group we called terrorists but didn't openly admit it out of fear and reprisals? Do they still want to a clean split from this country to operate as an independent state? Do they still feel discriminated by systems set up by the central government for education, medical facilities, employment, etc? Do they still feel like outsiders in this country? As they slowly rebuild their lives and move out of smaller towns to the other parts of the country for better opportunities, do they find their views and opinions of us changing? As a city which was previously suppressed by war and now experiencing a boom of development, are they realising that education and rising above poverty will slowly give them leverage? Do some of them feel betrayed by the political groups that represented them and made them take up arms? Are they biding their time and waiting for the next opportunity to join another struggle to win independence? Are they willing to start another war if things are in their favour despite the recent developments in infrastructure and trade? Do they feel sympathy for the innocent lives lost from the majority race through brutal acts of terrorism by those who fought in their name? Do they realise they also have a part to play in healing the racial divide by reaching out to the majority race and not isolating themselves? Do they think that someday a peaceful and undivided Sri Lanka is a possibility?

The friends of the minority race there who helped us are nearly my age. We share the common experience of being born during the war, which consumed most of our childhood and early adulthood. While us in the majority race were spending normal and happy childhoods, these friends were affected by the war, each having some experience of fleeing from place to place as children, fearing for lives, hearing constant bombings and shelling, not having regular schooling, sharing one home with many relatives for safety or losing people close to them due to the atrocities of the war. Those thoughts pained me especially when these same friends who went through such adversities in their childhood not so long ago gave us the best hospitality they could afford. Even though I had nothing to do with starting that war, I felt an overwhelming feeling of (perhaps misplaced) guilt when I received kindness from some of these people.

Maybe someday I will have the courage to ask those friends for answers to my questions. And maybe there exists a small minority within their minority race who, like a minority of us in the majority race, are willing to start building the bridges from their end.

We're here! What now?

It occurred to me one morning quite recently that I've finally reached the "destination" of a journey I struggled to get to for about a decade. Last year around this time, I was working nearly 70 hours a week to ensure that ships met the regulatory and statutory regulations to leave the port and join the global fleet of vessels that extract and process fossil fuels. And before that, I was weighed down with student loans and stuck around in unsatisfactory jobs without a way out. Compared to all that, now I go to classes that teach about species extinctions, struggle with trying to memorise hundreds of animal species in local animal guide books, visit National Parks, associate with people who have devoted their lives to conservation efforts, and (on a similar level of joy) wake up without an alarm clock.

It is definitely not a happy ending or a final destination, but I'm going to camp at this checkpoint for awhile.

Often times, we spend a lot of time planning a journey and being involved in the act of getting to the destination. And when we finally get there, we don't realise the magnitude of the achievement. Or we might (like me) find ourselves ill-equipped without knowing what to do next, because we realise that we concentrated most of our efforts and energy on just the journey!

Whether it be starting a new family or finally getting that dream job, it applies to many life goals for various people. If we are not mindful enough, we might even run the risk of gambling away a big "achievement" because we forget the bigger picture (like how much we wanted it, or the sacrifices that went into it, or the people who helped us get there) and not make the most of a given situation. Also, it's probably a good idea to constantly remind ourselves that most good situations remain "good" for as long as we play an active part and things can change in a moment's notice. This way, we are less likely to be complacent, take it for granted or be too devastated if it was all gone. 

As of late, I'm rediscovering the natural beauty of Sri Lanka. The country stretches for 430km from North to South and 230km from East to West, and towers to an altitude of 2524m at its highest point. Within these confines, exist flora and fauna that have led Conservation International to list Sri Lanka as one of the world's 36 Biodiversity Hotspots.

Two weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to join a team of researchers and their students as a volunteer evaluator for an environmental impact assessment. They were very accommodating and down-to-earth folks. Although I was the newbie (and still a "small fry"), it didn't take us too long to bond because beneath the professionalism, they were a fun-loving bunch. We were on the road for 3-4 days, driving through beautiful rural parts of Sri Lanka, conducting field surveys and observing plenty of wildlife along the way.

 

We had to stop a couple times (at a safe distance) to let wild elephants cross the road.

People in these parts were accustomed to minor traffic blocks caused by wild elephants. Similar to when trains cross over highways, the vehicles had to stop and wait till the elephant passed.

This is what remained of the lake during the last month of the dry season. This small amount of water helps many elephants, birds and other animals survive till the rains come later this month.

The assignment involved interviewing 35 families (primarily rice paddy farmers) which were beneficiaries of a lake expansion project which took place 2 years ago. My team helped me in getting familiar with certain terms in my native language (which I'm not an expert in) so that I was able to use it during the interviews with the villagers. These were resettled families from previously war-torn areas. Unfortunately, many acres of forest (previously elephant territory) have been cleared to make space for homes and agriculture. Although we were just there to collect data from the villagers, it was a moving experience to hear about their struggles like elephant conflicts, job insecurity, difficulties to send children to schools, flood season and losses when adverse weather destroys their crops. Most of the parents worked very hard as farmers, wage labourers and small shop owners to build their houses and give their children a good education so they can move on to better prospects. Children juggled school work and helping out at the family fields. Several families offered us whatever they had like fruits and vegetables from their home gardens, tea, delicious sweets and even curries for our lunch. 

This little boy followed us with a lot of enthusiasm and his parents let us have our packed lunches in their home. He is seen here making a fishing rod to play with.

This boy showed me around his house and shared a piece of raw woodapple. 

Raw woodapples are sour yet yummy!

One family showed us their newly adopted pet. 

Some of the villagers were small shop owners who depended on visitors to a nearby temple to earn a living.

Overall, I'd say the assignment was an eye-opening experience. Not only did I learn something about the type of work conservationists do, it made me want to get more involved in beneficial community projects like these and reminded me to stay humble. 

An Autobiography: Approaching Full Circle

"What A Wonderful World" - A powerful 2 minute video that sums up what it is that we are going to lose if we don't change or get involved 

If we were to compare the Earth's habitable environment to a good family inheritance, we are not only spending it away faster than all the time it took our ancestors to save up, we are also borrowing credit from what might have been the inheritance of our descendants. As world's population increases and moves towards development, we have exceeded the Earth's natural capacity to supply in relation to the existing demand. Of course, we don't contemplate on this on a regular basis so the normal tendency is to passively navigate ourselves around the tell tale signs (and the not-so-obvious ones) towards comfortable and profitable goals that often provide instant gratification.

I'm guilty of it too.

Looking back from where I am now, my yearning to get involved in the conservation field has, somewhat ironically, taken me to United Arab Emirates and Singapore. These two countries topped the globe in terms of their ecological footprints (UAE at No. 3 and Singapore at No. 12) according to the WWF Living Planet Report of 2012. Not only that, I am currently an employee of the Oil and Gas industry which is largely responsible for the depletion of the Earth's natural oil and gas reserves and indirectly responsible for increased Green House Gas emissions in recent history. This is just one example of how our sophisticated lifestyles – just as they are interconnected with the Earth's biological ecosystems – are also dependent on activities setting the planet on an irreversible course of destruction. The way I see it, we are all (to varying degrees) part of the problem and part of the solution to this environmental crisis.

Sri Lanka is a country with abundant natural resources having one of the highest biodiversity densities of Asia and I called it home for the first 18 years of my life. As a child, I loved spending my time outdoors, doing regular rounds of “garden patrol”, observing various plants and animals that were a common sight and spending time by a river that flows beside my house. One of my greatest joys was rescuing injured, sick or abandoned animals and nursing them back to health. It was a role I took up very seriously and for which I had the full support of my parents. 

I was also fortunate to spend various phases of my childhood with my two grandfathers, from whom I have learned much about using resources in a "sustainable manner" - a term I didn't come across until many years later. My maternal grandfather was an advocate of “reduce, reuse and re-cycle” policy where he carefully made the best use of all paper, plastic, metal, glass and wood until they had no more uses. My paternal grandfather supported the livelihood of local farmers and he himself was a passionate planter who selflessly left behind the fruits of his agricultural labour for the benefit of his future generations. With those early influences, among others, caring for the environment that sustains us may be associated to me with a sense of obligation rather than being just a passion. 

Since arriving in Singapore in 2004 to do my undergraduate studies, I've had all my basic necessities and creature comforts. However, growing up was a slightly different affair in Sri Lanka. We had to live in a sparing manner since most basic resources such as water and electricity were limited and we were constantly affected by power outages and periods of drought. My village didn't have the infrastructure to tap into the national water supply, but we were fortunate enough to have naturally occurring wells and a river nearby for basic needs for water. 

Dubai was my home for a brief 2.5 years while I completed an overseas work assignment from 2010 onwards. The United Arab Emirates is a rapidly developing country and Dubai is a melting pot of foreigners from all over the globe. The new environment, new challenges, new acquaintances and my new-found sense of independence suited me well. My boss who was a co-owner of the company took an interest in my potential and supported me in becoming a certified ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management Systems Internal Auditor to audit company policies and procedures, although it was not my main scope of work. After trying out various responsibilities within the company, I realised that my personal strengths and continued interest in relation to a career would lie in work that required careful observation, attention to detail and doing lots of writing.

It is easy to assume that a rich desert city such as Dubai which is heavily dependent on the abundant natural oil and gas resources in the region to maintain its luxurious artificial splendor would have zero interest in conservation. However, even there I found active conservation groups such as EWS-WWF and the Emirates Marine Environmental Group (EMEG) which organises environmental awareness and conservation activities (most notably their turtle rehabilitation and release programs). On a hopeful note, both these groups had a substantial number of passionate volunteers, young and old, supporting their causes. Within the UAE, I also managed to travel to places such as Fujairah (one of the seven “emirates” or states making up UAE) which had better weather compared to Dubai and coral reefs to be explored. Also within driving distance was Musandam (Oman) which was a popular location for dolphin watching. One interesting place that I could not visit in my time there was Bu Tinah Island - an official finalist for the “New7Wonders of Nature” competition in 2011.

The next phase of my life brought me back to Singapore in 2012 where I am currently employed as an ISO Quality Auditor. My work revolves around quality assurance for fabrication of FPSO (Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading) units and assisting with statutory/ regulatory compliance for these units sailing to offshore oil fields such as Brazil, Angola and the Gulf of Mexico. From an environmental perspective, my work contributes to ensuring that vessels leaving the port comply with the standards of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) – most notably the MARPOL (Marine Environment Protection Committee of the IMO) Standards - to minimise marine pollution resulting from the vessels' gas emissions, sewage, garbage, oil discharges, ship recycling, ballast water and use of anti-fouling substances. 

But ideally, I want to do more.

In the past, I have enjoyed short volunteering stints with Nparks at Pulau Ubin, assisting the staff with guided board walks at Chek Jawa and conducting forest patrols to remove traps and snares. As a SEC Earth Helper, I once participated in a Horseshoe crab rescue and rehabilitation project which required the assistance of volunteers to remove the crabs entrapped in abandoned fishing nets at the Mandai mudflats and at the same time, doing a population survey of the two species of horseshoe crabs (mangrove and coastal) in the area. 

After trying out a few similar experiences, I've settled as a volunteer Docent at the Singapore Zoo (in the Reptile Realm) where I feel quite at home. For the past 2 years, I've been part of a team of volunteers that engages the public and spreads awareness of animals (in my case, reptiles) and help spread the conservation message. This activity brings much meaning to my personal mission as I get to share my knowledge with a growing number of members of the public who come in search of meaningful encounters with wildlife rather than mere entertainment. Not only that, I get to stay close to animals (such as during my Keeper Attachment) and meet and learn from people as passionate as I am (or more even) about wildlife and the environment. 

Decades later, though much has changed in my life in terms of location, occupation and attitudes since my time in Sri Lanka, working towards animal welfare and experiencing natural habitats still brings me the same joy. I feel a sense of relief every time I visit a nature reserve or a wildlife sanctuary or read about passionate conservationists like Sir David Attenborough or Gerald Durrell, or see someone throwing a trash into a recycle bin or hear of an innovative technology that uses sustainable energy sources - because despite the odds, there still is hope.

This environmental crisis that we face today is a grave one, with consequences already showing and affecting most of us. It helps to have passionate and conscientious people uniting and lobbying for climate change, loss of biodiversity and such, but without the support of governments to enforce adequate legislation and environmental management systems governing our industries, we may have already lost this battle to conserve biodiversity, reverse climate change and ensure a habitable planet for our future generations. Besides spreading awareness, on a personal level there is much we can do like volunteering, taking a little extra effort to recycle trash, reducing/ reusing the products that we have taken for granted, getting involved in pro-environment community activities and, for those who can, supporting conservation efforts financially.

Mother Earth, which we have stressed beyond her capacity, has the ability to heal herself given our support and time. But the question remains: how willing are WE to do what is required of us?

A green affair

Observing changes in Singapore over the last decade I have been here, I notice a positive shift towards environmental consciousness brought about by authorities such as the National Environment Agency (NEA), NParks Board, National Climate Change Secretariat (NCSS), Singapore Environment Council (SEC) and Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS). One obviously visible change to is the abundance of recycling bins placed in residential areas and in public places.

Since implementation in September 2012, our household recycles whatever garbage we can. Slowly, over this period of nearly two years, my housemates also got into the habit of separating their non-recyclable waste from the recyclable ones on their own accord despite their low-level interest in environmental/ wildlife issues. All it took me to win the cooperation of my housemates was to place a special bin for recyclables and display consistency in the initiative by setting an example. Now what if we applied that simple formula on a global scale with a pinch of education and perhaps a little encouragement in the way of small rewards? The results would be tremendously significant.

I was riddled by what really happens to the garbage we dispose in Singapore. Does my negligible contribution to the overall recycling efforts of Singapore actually count, I wondered. This thought stagnated at the back of my mind until earlier this week. Recently, a colleague of mine was intrigued by Sri Lanka as a tourist destination after I brought him some tea (which the island is famous for) from home for sampling. He then lent me the July 2014 edition of Expat Living and pointed me to one of articles which featured hiking adventures in my hometown in Kandy. Not only did I make a mental note of where I would like to visit on my next visit to Sri Lanka, my curiosity also led me to accidentally discovering the infographic below.

 An "Aha" moment after finding out what really happens to our garbage in Singapore as published in the July 2014 edition of Expat Living

Basically, the waste we recycle (paper, glass, plastic, metal, clothes, etc) makes its way to the Material Recovery Facility where it is sorted, baled and sent to local and overseas recycling plants. The solid waste that we conveniently throw down our chutes makes its way to one of four waste to energy plants in Singapore, where it is incinerated and reduced to 90% by volume. The heat generated by the process is used to generate electricity to power the boilers. The air released is filtered of dust and pollutants as per environmental standards. Following incineration, the any leftover ferrous scrap metal is sold to a local steel mill for recycling. All non-incinerable waste and ash is transferred by barge to Semakau landfill situated 8km from the main island of Singapore.

Even a simple FAQ like this also goes a long way in creating awareness among the general public

Source: Expat Living

Semakau will meet Singapore's need for landfill space for about 20 more years until 2035. By then, let's hope the further need for landfill sites will be vastly reduced by active public participation in reducing, re-using and recycling efforts.

Musings of May

On Vesak day, I managed to participate in the temple celebrations of Singapore because unlike last year, I was not home for this occasion. This being a temple managed mostly by Sri Lankan monks and visited frequently by the expat community of Sri Lanka, it felt nice to be in a familiar cultural setting. Of course, part of the expectation of going there was to get a meal that reminded me of home! 

Vesak lanterns 

Traditional drummers of Sri Lanka

The residents of Singapore received a pack of free face masks by post. Out of lessons learnt in the past, the country is well-stocked for another haze episode.

The other day, I went shopping and after returning from my trip, I realised that one of the t-shirts purchased still had its security tag on. These are the ones that makes the detectors beep if anyone tried to shoplift! Unfortunately nothing beeped when I walked out so I didn't see it till I got home. There was no way I was going to waste two hours to get it removed at the mall!

I don't recommend stealing, but I can confirm that the wikiHow entry on "How to remove a security tag from clothing" works! It wasn't easy but the rubber band method eventually worked.

A shoplifters guide to removing security tags

On my way to the duty station yesterday, I met a couple of Cotton topped tamarins. The mother tamarin was teaching her 2-month old to climb branches and the little one was screaming its head off when felt left behind. These primates are critically endangered with about 6000 left in the wild.

 The baby tamarin

The mum

The young aldabra tortoises were enjoying a meal of fresh vegetables

The Tourist

Having caught two episodes of Cosmos just before bed and learning that Edmund Halley and Isaac Newton had an interesting history together, I woke up this Sunday morning with a thirst for an adventure! If not for Halley's encouragement, Newton may not have published his work on Gravity and history as we now have it would have taken a very different route! Anyway, Halley's comet passes Earth's orbit again in July 2061 when I'll be in my late 70's. If I'm alive and with passable eyesight and consciousness, maybe I'll catch it.

I decided to be a tourist today and visit the world's largest oceanarium - the S.E.A Aquarium at Resorts World Sentosa. Although the park opened about two years ago and I even had the privilege to interview for a position of Marine Mammal Specialist there, I was yet to explore it! I was overwhelmed with the sights of marine life in the enormous tanks. The park made it possible for visitors to see the enchanting beauty of worlds underwater, just like a scuba diver would. I sincerely hope that a good proportion of visitors leave with an idea of what it is that we are slowly destroying with our collective demands on the planet and be a little more environmentally conscious. 

Sri Lanka's Port of Galle was a key location on the Silk Route as displayed in the Maritime Museum...

..where exports included precious gems and pearls, resin, wood, spices, beeswax, coconuts, turmeric, sesame and even corals and Hawksbill turtles.

The journey begins!

Unbelievably graceful, delicate and evolved to resemble seaweed - the Leafy sea dragons

Jellyfish are made of about 95% water! 

Coral reefs teeming with life

No, there were no blue whales at the park, but this poster made me wonder how fortunate we are to live in the time of the largest animal to have EVER lived on Earth! 

After making a quick detour to the Universal Studios Singapore (it pays to have a 6-month unlimited pass since I play the the role of tour guide quite often) to go on the Transformers and the Mummy rides and watch a few shows I hadn't before, I headed home to catch the T20 Cricket World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

My shopping trolley on the first round of grocery shopping for the month (just after pay day) consists of many bags of chips, treats and ingredients to improvise new recipes. When it is the last round of shopping for the month, my grocery basket consists of the bare essentials to maintain ordinary bodily functions.

So I was out grocery shopping today and ended up buying more than I could carry. I queued for a taxi, right behind a family of two kids and their mom. To attract taxis to this mall, one had to regularly press a button that triggered a sign somewhere on the highway, letting taxis know that people were waiting. The annoying thing was that the button remained activated only for a few seconds. The two kids watched me intently as I pressed the button a few times whenever the light went off. Being curious creatures, they quickly took over the job from me as I sat back and felt smug about having trained two little baby monkeys to help me.

Yesterday at the zoo, I joined a group of five other Docents for station duty. In addition to visitors, we expected a new batch of volunteers who went around the zoo, visiting various stations i.e., "Reptile Realm" (that's us!), "Fragile Forest", "Tame and Touchables", "African Adventure", "Conservation Cove" and "Primarily Primates" to help them decide which station they wanted to volunteer at. So we put out some of our best specimens at the station, including a live Kingsnake, hoping to attract enthusiastic new recruits.

I remember my first time as a trainee having a look at all the stations, trying to pick one. It wasn't that difficult. From a very early age, my likes for snakes were mixed with both fear and fascination. I felt that more of us had to speak up for the unpopular animals which are easily shunned by the public before giving them any chance of survival. Reptiles are incredibly adapted, diverse and useful in this web of life which we are part of.

The trainees came in all sorts with various intentions. Some were fascinated by reptiles, others were averse to reptiles. Some had many stories of reptile encounters to tell and wanted to learn more. Others wanted to know if we handled live reptiles because to them, it was associated with thrill and bravery perhaps. For the record, we do get to occasionally handle snakes and lizards under the supervision of the zoo keepers, but we had to make it clear to them that if handling live reptiles was their sole intention, it won't be long before they became disappointed and unable to keep up with the required commitment levels. Our job primarily was to engage visitors with facts and try to instill in them an appreciation for reptiles in hopes that they will go back and play a part in conservation.

On this day at the station, we got a California Kingsnake from our keepers. Kingsnakes are commonly kept as pets due to their docile nature and ease of care. He was named Bob and was a favourite of the keepers, having been with the zoo for nearly a decade. Kingsnakes, like King cobras prey on other snakes. However, while the King cobra is venomous and belongs to the family of elapids, the Kingsnake is nonvenomous belonging to the family of colubrids and it kills prey by constriction. It is also not fussed about having a primarily snake diet unlike the King cobra.

King Cobras are not true cobras, instead belong to its own genus. 

Source: A snake blog

A California Kingsnake

This morning, I was very touched by Arunachalam Muruganantham's story on the BBC news. There was a time, long ago when even I couldn't afford the luxury of a pack of sanitary pads every month. Now, when buying a pack off the shelf, I don't even give it a second thought because it's taken for granted. But to think that so many girls and women out there are still resorting to unhygienic and inconvenient means of managing their period because they simply can't afford it (as reminded by this article) made me sad. That is also why I was amazed by this "uneducated" man's determination to dare to go where no man went with only his self-belief to guide him until he turned an idea to a practical application. His story sounded more like a successful PhD project with a beneficial outcome to the general public! Not many people (regardless of income level) will walk away from a patent like that and not use it to accumilate as much money as they can.

The life of busy bees

I read an interesting line up of conservation-related books, thanks to the birthday gifts I got from my thoughtful friend Ryuu who has good tastes in books. 

Ta-daa! The original book by Douglas Adams

The first book on "Last Chance to See" is recounted by the late Douglas Adams with a good dose of humour. It is the story of how he teamed up with zoologist Mark Carwadine in 1985 and they set off on an amazing expedition around the world in search of species on the brink of extinction. There was also a BBC radio documentary series on the same journey in 1989.

The book details their adventures looking for nine selected animals. Not only that, through Douglas' account, we meet many passionate conservationists working on the field (against the clock) to desperately save the last few animals in the wild.

The Aye-aye in Madagascar
The Komodo dragon on the island of Komodo in Indonesia
The Kakapo in New Zealand
The Mountain gorilla in Zaire
The Northern white rhinoceros in Zaire
The Yangtze River Dolphin in China
The Rodrigues fruit bat on the island of Rodrigues, Mauritius;
The Amazonian manatee in Brazil
The Juan Fernández fur seal on the Juan Fernández Islands, Chile

In Mark's epilogue to this book he says:

"Even so, the loss of a few species may seem almost irrelevant compared to the major environmental problems such as global warming or the destruction of the ozone layer. But while nature has considerable resilience, there is a limit to how far that can be stretched. No one knows how close to the limit we are getting. The darker it gets, the faster we're driving. 

There's one last reason for caring, and I believe that no other is necessary. It is certainly the reason why so many people have devoted their lives to protecting the likes of rhinos, parakeets, kakapos and dolphins. And it is simply this: the world would be a poorer, darker, lonelier place without them."

The second book on "The Last Chance to See" is a personal account of Mark Carwardine and Stephen Fry who, once again, go to distant corners of the planet to follow up on the endangered animals following the initial expedition by Douglas Adams TWENTY years ago. The "then vs now" situations that this book highlights from a conservation point of view is incredible!

I read this book twice and I'm getting the itch to read it again. Some chapters in this book can move a reader to tears.

The most disturbing thing about extinctions at present is the rate at which they are happening. At the time this account was written, most of the animals had suffered massive decline in numbers. The White Rhino hit extinction in the wild during their time in the African continent following a rebel crossfire in Congo DRC. In this book too, we meet many dedicated conservationists working tirelessly in the midst of hardships and sometimes putting their own lives in danger to save the featured animals from extinction.

The book was such a moving, intelligent, thought-provoking, compassionate and humourous account of their incredible journey and a yet another stark reminder of the perils that natural environments and animals are facing as we move forward towards 'development'.

The next book in the reading list was late Gerald Durrell's The Corfu Trilogy.

Goodreads describes it as follows:

The Corfu Trilogy consists of the popular classic My Family and Other Animals and its delightful sequels, Birds, Beasts and Relatives and The Garden of the Gods. All three books are set on the enchanted island of Corfu in the 1930s, and tell the story of the eccentric English family who moved there. For Gerald, the budding zoologist, Corfu was a natural paradise, teeming with strange birds and beasts that he could collect, watch and care for. But life was not without its problems - his family often objected to his animal-collecting activities, especially when the beasts wound up in the villa or - even worse - the fridge. With hilarious yet endearing portraits of his family and their many unusual hangers-on, The Corfu Trilogy also captures the beginnings of the author's lifelong love of animals. Recounted with immense humour and charm, this wonderful account of Corfu's natural history reveals a rare, magical childhood.

It's true, I was thoroughly fascinated by Gerry's mostly humorous account of his childhood in Greece (which starts about 7 years after the death of his father while they lived in India). In the past few months, through his vivid descriptions, I felt like I sat right next to that family of five watching all of them as they went on about their lives, had their dining-table conversations and interacted with their close friends and queer guests. Not only that, Gerry also takes the readers and his dogs on his animal observing and collecting expeditions around the Greek island of Corfu. With a perfect union of random life situations, geography, love from his family and friends, and encouragement from his mentor Dr. Theodore, Gerry grows up to be renown figure in the field of animal conservation. So when an engaging book like that ended, I was left feeling rather sad that it was over.

A typical day at the zoo

In view of Shu's busy schedule and the lack of luxury to blog, the following report of Shu's last zoo duty session (a requirement for all volunteers completing a day of duty), was "borrowed" and pasted here. Certain parts have been edited to protect the identity of some vertebrates. For ease of understanding, Elvis is a 4.1m long king cobra, "Brian" was the other volunteer on duty and Bob is a stuffed green iguana specimen which was confiscated by Customs (while it was being smuggled) and donated to the zoo for educational purposes. What Shu doesn't admit in the duty report is being a little relieved at not having to give a speech during the king cobra feeding session. While interactions with small groups and one-on-one's are not hard at all, giving speeches to a large group does not feel that way. 

Here are two photos from Shu's post-duty strolls.

A couple of ring tailed lemurs that had come down from the trees to feed

The newest member at the Reptile Realm walk-in aviary - a green iguana

Quote - 

The day started out with a slight drizzle. It was a somewhat crowded day, with Zoo Hoo 2013 celebrations and a corporate family day adding to the total of visitors.

Elvis was still on his shedding cycle and lay straightened out just beside the glass looking dull coloured and moody. Brian used the green iguana specimen for interaction at the duty station and I spoke to visitors about Elvis and shedding while standing beside the enclosure. It is nice to have a resident green iguana (he looked magnificent that day so I took a picture) at the aviary to encourage visitors to go and see it after they've seen the stuffed specimen. I look forward to seeing the signages asking visitors not to bully it.

We had the usual types of visitors: curious children, lost visitors asking for directions, men using Bob to frighten their female family members/ friends, girls who shrieked at the piece of snake slough and Bob, parents trying to engage their young children's interest while talking to us about specimens on display, ones who wanted to pose for photos with Bob and others who were curious about reptiles.One of them asked if any of the specimens in the cabinet were for sale!

The crowds were not pouring in much until it was time for the king cobra feeding session. We had to explain to a lot of disappointed visitors that there was no feeding that day but used that as an opportunity to let them touch a snake slough and the teeth on the python skull while giving them snake facts. At one point, Elvis peed and after that raised his head and looked longingly at the back door of the enclosure (probably for food) and went back to being less-active. One of the animal keepers said he might be ready to feed next week. 

The most interesting and longest visitor interaction we had that day was with a family from Australia. There was a father, a little boy and his sister (I'm guessing around 10 - 12 year olds) and their uncle. We discussed a lot of things from tiger snakes, differences of crocodiles and alligators (sadly, we didn't have a good illustration of the crocodilian heads to show them), bearded dragons, blue tongued skinks and iguanas to the sale of crocodile and kangaroo meat. The two children were really smart, quite knowledgeable in reptiles, well behaved and so curious that it was a real pleasure to talk to them! 

After closing up the station at 3pm, there were still several visitors at Elvis' enclosure. On my way out, I happened to talk to a few more visitors. The spitting cobra had just shed and was looking very shiny and hyperactive. It was a good contrast to Elvis which was pointed out by one of the visitors. It turned out that he was an assistant zoo keeper for the primates way back in the 80's! He seemed to know so much about various animals and exhibits. He said that he visits Singapore and the zoo every year and it brings back a lot of memories. 

Some time ago, I played tour guide to a friend of mine. After watching the Rainforest Fights Back show that day as a "visitor", I learnt that there was an opportunity for visitors to take photos with a python, when only a few weeks ago, I ignorantly told a visitor that we don't have that any more. Seems like we have much to learn and explore the zoo ourselves to face some of the questions from the visitors we interact with! 

Happy exploring everyone, and enjoy your week.

Brian, do you like to add anything?

-unquote

The Haze-o-calypse

The end of June has plagued Singapore with "The Haze", affecting the air quality of every breathing living thing here. It has caught international attention and put the tiny island of Singapore back on the map. There seems to be a temporary improvement in the quality of air but we are not out of the blue yet even as I write this post. I do hope the situation does not worsen again because I like to have a fighting chance to achieve my future dreams and ambitions, and that too, in good health.

                                                Singapore's experience of the haze of 2013

Last Friday when air pollution levels hit the highest record of 401 PSI (borderline hazardous levels are capped at 300 PSI), it felt like the end of the world was here. There was much panic and fear around, not knowing when or if the levels will go down or continue to rise. While monitoring hourly PSI levels on the internet and smelling smoke everywhere, I kept imagining that we were going to be another statistic like the survivors of Chernobyl. My parents were worried sick and kept asking me to fly back home to Sri Lanka escape the haze of Singapore.

Today is a significant improvement from Friday the 21st of June, when PSI levels hit 401 (screen shot taken from www.nea.gov.sg/psi)

The outdoors are filled with people in face masks. The parks are empty as we have been advised to keep strenuous physical activity outdoors to a minimum. The indoors offer some security but when the situation was at its worst last week, we woke up in houses filled with smoke and worked in offices (without our masks on) where the smell of burning wood still got through the central air conditioning systems. People we hardly knew made small talk of the haze in buses and trains. Some time last week, stores everywhere ran out of face masks. When a store received new stocks of face masks, people queued up and it sold out in minutes like hotcakes. People even rushed to buy air purifiers and there just weren't enough stocks in the stores to fulfill the demand. 

Ordinary paper masks offer no protection from the hazardous particles in the air but it was a few days before the general population got access to special N95 type masks. Plenty of people in vulnerable states like the elderly, children, pregnant mothers and those with existing respiratory problems were using the ordinary face masks until they found effective N95 masks. Business, including in construction sectors, went on as usual and low income construction workers continued to work outside when PSI levels soared past 300.

One type of N95 mask

Indonesia is the largest producer of palm oil - besides countries like Malaysia, Nigeria and Thailand - supplying the global demand for palm oil. Palm oil is an essential ingredient in a lot of things we use and can't do without now. Every year during the dry season, Indonesia (our neighbour) burns a large area of their palm oil plantations, preparing the land for the next round of the oil palm crop. It's far easier and cheaper to set fire and let it burn away the area than clean up debris with hired labour, plus the charred remains make the soil fertile. 

The problem is that these fires are often illegal and uncontrolled, spreading into natural forests, destroying everything in its path. A lot of the time, these regular activities go unnoticed and ignored on an international level because it's just another nagging ear sore caused by scientists or a conservationist group. And many people maintain the attitude "if it doesn't affect me or my loved ones directly, why should I care?". But this year it changed in Singapore. It noticeably affected people past international borders. The government became actively engaged because the haze was adversely affecting the health of its people and the country's economy. 

This image shows the source of the smoke - fires originating in the oil plantations of Sumatra in Indonesia

Either we have an incredible ability to forget and move on with crisis situations or we may have become numb to media coverage and cries on environmental pollution. I can vouch for that because we here in Singapore are going on about life as usual, while taking recommended preventative measures to get past this haze. Maybe we don't want to add up the math of the climate crisis happening in other parts of the world or analyse deeper into what lessons this haze can teach us. After all, the governments of Singapore and Indonesia are taking measures to improve air quality in the area, protect the people and bring culprits of this haze to justice. We don't know yet what diseases and long term effects on health this extended exposure will bring. Perhaps, being resilient creatures of years of evolutionary success, we may not be affected much. But for now, the general attitude is "We feel fine and therefore don't particularly feel motivated to change our lifestyles or become more environmentally friendly".

What about the animals, plants and their habitats that are getting destroyed by the fires? What of the animals that live outdoors and have no protection whatsoever from what they breathe in? No one can afford to care because the truth is, no matter what, it is a game of priorities and survival of the fittest. This incident should really be a wake up call or it will be a wasted lesson on us all. This is a snapshot of the fate that we are bringing upon ourselves and the planet at large with the lifestyles and desires we have acquired over the years. Conscientious people can take small measures to stall the untimely death of the planet, but the real power lies with the governments. We are well past the point where measures like optimistic recycling efforts of a few individuals will reverse the situation (but that doesn't mean we should stop trying!). Only international environmental policies and tough measures to control consumerism taken by proactive governments with good leadership can offer a glimmer of hope.

But otherwise, our future generations are pretty much doomed.

Animal Keeper for a Weekend

Last weekend, just for two days, I had a "career switch" to something entirely different to what I usually do for a living.

And for those two days, if someone asked me to fill in a questionnaire to describe my job, I could have said:

"I work outdoors in a rainforest themed zoo looking after animals. We have no computers, no office cubicles or air conditioning. My colleagues are animal loving people who are very much down to earth. We dress in comfortable clothes and care not for fashion, heels, hairstyles, handbags, manicured fingernails or make up. We work hard and we enjoy getting dirty. We care not for business etiquette, office politics or forced small talk. I hate to miss a day of work because the animals in our care wait for us, specially when it's time for food. And spending my days, watching them, being in their company and looking out for their well-being makes me happy."

My volunteer stint as a Docent at the zoo gave me an opportunity to go on an Animal Keeper attachment for two whole days. "Working hours" were from 9am to 5pm with two tea breaks and a lunch break in between. Basically, I had to follow the experienced Animal Keepers and make myself useful. Despite being new at the job, it only took a matter of minutes to fit right in to the work environment!

The team of Keepers I was assigned to looked after a tiny herd of pygmy hippos, kangaroos, wallabies, tree kangaroos, a cassowary, an emu, red-footed tortoises, dwarf caimans, blue tongued skinks, bearded dragons, a frilled lizard, a carpet python, saki monkeys, brown lemurs, red ruffed lemurs, gibbons, spider monkeys, a sail-finned lizard, freshwater rays and several species of freshwater fish. If you are wondering how that group of mostly unrelated animals came to the care of one team, it's merely the location of animal exhibits in relation to the keepers' quarters.

Boots - the most important part of the uniform. I never quite got used to them during the two days.

 

The rake - another useful tool for an Animal Keeper (not to bully the animals, but to keep their enclosures clean)

The apprentice follows the Keeper (secretly snapping photos) to get instructions on cleaning the Kangaroo enclosure

The chunk of responsibilities of a Keeper is food preparation and feeding, followed by cleaning the enclosures. I was really amazed to watch them prepare food for various types of animals. For most of these Keepers who have worked at the zoo for decades, what looked like complex recipes to me, were only second nature. And they moved really fast while doing it! Fruit/vegetable types, size/shapes of cut pieces, amounts/ratios for mixing fruits/ vegetables/ leaves/ nuts, additional food pellets, multivitamins/ medicines - it was all very complicated. No surprises, they didn't involve me in food preparation during rush hour, except for letting me wash up and peel off stickers from apples and oranges. Because if they did, many animals would have starved that day.

It also occurred to me that these animals that are well fed, well cared for and without natural predators probably enjoy a longer lifespan at the zoo compared to ones in the wild, if all the other conditions were right. The Head Keeper told me that they have to watch their diets carefully and not overfeed them because just like us, they can get obese and get a variety of chronic diseases. That might explain the board below, with recipes written down to the detail.

The Keepers don't have to look at it much anymore, but the special diets of all the animals including feeding times are pasted up for all to see

The animals in their care were mostly herbivores so there were plenty of fruits, leaves, yams, nuts and vegetables delivered to the headquarters each morning. The omnivores got bits of boiled eggs, worms and boiled meat as additional protein sources

I promised to keep an open mind before I decided to volunteer. The job wasn't all that exciting when it came to using live food as food for other animals. Or for that matter feeding mice - that were ultimately going to be food for the snakes - with fruits and vegetables. The Bearded Dragons and the Blue Tongued Skinks ate crickets and luckily, I was spared the job of scooping a handfuls of crickets from a glass box and throwing them in a ceramic pot with a tiny hole, for the crickets to escape one by one, only to be licked up by a reptile. However, I wasn't spared of closing the enclosure door after putting in the ceramic pot and the Bearded Dragon very nearly jumped out. I panicked but the Keeper told me not to worry and patted the Dragon on the back and I followed suit. For the first time in my life, I even helped  peel frozen prawns and removed their heads as part of the diet for the freshwater Rays.
 

 

(Left) It took a lot of will on my part to pick out thirty live giant worms for the token feeding session of the Saki monkeys. (Right) Mealworms for the fish.

The job of throwing in food for the Koi  (fish food pellets and bread) was fun

A big splash - competitive Koi and a few turtles in the same pond going for their food 

Brown lemurs feeding during the visitor interaction time. 

The Head Keeper joked that he calls the Brown lemurs the "Banana lemurs" because that's what they pick out first from their plates, much like fussy children. He let me hold the plates on both days during the visitor interaction session and feed them while a zoo staff gave an introduction of lemurs to the visitors present. I even got to hand out little cubes of fruit and have their tiny primate hands grab it from me. Several of the 100 species of lemurs living in Madagascar - the only natural homeland of lemurs - are endangered as a result of deforestation and fragmentation of forests for urban development. Tell me something else that isn't new. 

The Saki monkeys in addition to their main meals, received peanuts and worms as tokens during the visitor interaction sessions. On the first day, I was more than happy to hand out peanuts to them, but on the second day, I politely refused the instructions of the Keeper to hand out squirming worms to the same group of monkeys

I spent a good amount of time at the kangaroo and wallaby enclosure helping the Keepers to clean up and my token for that was to get to feed them and get really close. The kangaroos were rather tame and were loved by all the Keepers who even named them. Of all the wallabies, only two of them (Pinky and Sweetie, I think) that were hand-reared were bold enough to come close to humans. 

No doubt the most adorable of the lot - a group of Eastern Grey Kangaroos. There was Ricky, Stella, Jessie and a joey without a name, who I called Joey.

The wallabies weren't too comfortable getting close to us humans. 

I was instructed not to approach the kangaroos or pat them, especially the dominant male, when I was alone cleaning the shed. I understood that they were wild creatures that needed their space and fought the urge to pounce on Joey and hug him tight. They were rather curious and watched me as I pretended not to notice them while I raked leaves. Part of me was frightened of being attacked, despite their cuddly appearances. At one point, Stella (a smaller female) tried to probably play or wrestle gently with me and I desperately called out in muffled voices to the Keeper "Mr H, HELP! I'm about to be attacked.". But he never heard me or came to my aid and eventually Stella got bored and left. Maybe I overreacted a little.

Raking time at the kangaroo shed

When it rained, and it does a lot here, the kangaroos and wallabies have their meals in a sheltered area (Shu, you are giving too much blog space to the marsupials!)

Back at the Keepers' quarters, they were a chatty bunch. During tea break, we spoke of various things like travels, food, childhood and animals to cost of living and corrupt governments in other parts of the world. Spending time with the Keepers is a sure way to hear many touching animal stories of the zoo. All of them had worked there for over 10 years (one of them going on his 30th year!). Compared to high employee turnover in the corporate business world where remuneration was several times higher even, here were people content and happy with their responsibilities and the benefits that came with it. I think there is an important lesson there about doing things that drives you (rather than doing things that drive you towards boredom, depression and insanity).

In zoos, the Keepers don't refer to populations as "one male and five females and three unspecified". They simply say "1.5.3", where it is the ratio of male to female to gender unknown. One of the Keepers gave me a lesson in differentiating males from females. Now we may think it is pretty obvious, but in some species like Hippos and rats even, when the males are frightened or stressed (and in his exact words), "the balls may retract inwards making it hard to tell", so the best way to tell them apart is by the presence or absence of nipples, where the former would be a female. If anything, it made an amusing topic for conversation.

Inbreeding was a topic that popped up a lot. While the zoo has many captive breeding programs, they are careful enough to maintain genetic diversity and prevent too much inbreeding which, over many generations can lead to reduced fertility, abnormalities and reduced resistance to diseases among other things. On a day I was there, they planned to separate a young female Pygmy Hippo from the herd before older males (including the father) mated with her. The zoo is in a constant flux of having births and deaths. I also heard of a baby white rhino arrival. Hurrah! The rate of rhinoceros deaths by poachers far exceeds births, so every new life is a cause for celebration. While removing a dead fish, the Keeper chuckled as he told me that visitors usually panic upon seeing floating dead fish in the tank like it's an unnatural thing!

This Pygmy Hippo had to be separated from the herd because he could not get along with the father and is waiting to go on a zoo exchange program. It's a good thing zoos around the world keep in touch and exchange animals

The Red Ruffed Lemurs waiting to be fed

The zoo, known for nicely landscaped enclosures, has the gibbons roaming freely on a tiny island. They are afraid of water (hydrophobic) so it also works as a natural deterrent that marks the boundaries of their enclosure. The Keeper let me throw a tied up bunch of Kangkong leaves across the water to the gibbon pictured below and she actually caught it! It was a lucky throw because the second time, I got too excited (people were watching and the pressure mounted) and instead of going over the water in a good projectile to her hands, the bunch went vertically upwards and landed in the water. I swear she gave me a "Meh, you stupid ape" look.

A White Handed Gibbon - she's got really long hands. They are on the IUCN's endangered list.

Reptiles, compared to mammals, don't have to be fed too often because of their low metabolic rates and reduced energy requirements for regulating body temperature. The dwarf caimans didn't have to be fed at all while I was there. The Keeper told me that they seemed satisfied feeding on the fish in their pool. A trio of red-footed tortoises had to be fed. Since they were too slow to come to the feeding area, I was asked to find them and carry them to the central feeding area and place them next to the tray. They were spoilt, if you asked me. Oh, I finally got the answer to how tortoises mate! Given their physical structures, mating seems virtually impossible and tedious. When a Keeper showed me how to tell apart a male tortoise from a female one, the mystery was solved. The underside (plastron) of a female is flat, while in a male, it is curved inwards like a dome making it possible for the male to mount over her shell, without slipping off. 

On a joyous note, there was a batch of tortoise eggs laid exactly three months ago. It was carefully surrounded by a wire mesh to protect the eggs from monitor lizards, I was told. The Keeper in charge told me earlier in the day about this batch of of eggs that were slightly late to hatch. Although it could be normal because hatching may be delayed due to environmental factors, he told me we can have a careful look to rule out if the eggs were infertile or decomposed by now. He carefully loosened the soil to inspect the eggs and they looked perfectly round like table tennis balls and healthy. I suppose I'll have to follow up on this and the baby rhino the next time I visit.

A very hungry tortoise. They even get sprinkles of Calcium powder in their food for healthy bones.

 Through a fence - the impressive Cassowary, known to deliver painful kicks. The Keepers have a buddy system, where one Keeper entices it to one area of the enclosure and locks it up, while another Keeper cleans the other area.

They also lay impressive piles of poop which are very foul smelling

A tree kangaroo that could not be kept with her violent male partner in an open enclosure and therefore lived mostly in a cage. She looked incredibly sad. I couldn't tell if it was the natural facial expression of tree kangaroos to look sad like that, but she looked as if she was telling me painfully of the plight animal-kind faces as a result of dire consequences of human activities

When it was time to leave, a couple of Keepers asked me when I was coming again to help out. I had no idea, to be honest, with a full time 6-day job. Just to confirm, I asked if they didn't find an apprentice a bit of a burden, standing in their way and stepping on their shoes, etc, but I was assured that extra help was always welcome. I took it as a positive sign that I made a good apprentice! All in all, this was a great experience and I'm really thankful to all those who made it possible.