Hakuna Matata

After spending two years in the glory of reptiles, I decided to expand to an additional realm of animals for my volunteer work at the zoo - the African Adventure! And this time, I have great company because Katy Kat decided to join too. She has a strong liking towards dogs, giraffes and as I found out yesterday, giant tortoises.

It's impossible to hate giant tortoises. They are so gentle and good natured.

We just finished a fun first day of training being amazed by the special adaptations and behaviour of animals in this scope (rhinos, giraffes, zebras, cheetahs, lions, leopards, hunting dogs, warthogs, meerkats and naked mole rats).

I think it was a good decision for me to join this station because I have a recurring nightmare of being chased by a rhino. For the record, my worst animal fears are being chased by rhinos and flying cockroaches. Although we learnt that some rhinos can grow up to a staggering height of 2 meters (and I'm only 1.6 meters tall), our trainers mentioned that they can't jump, so leaving a log as an additional barrier to their enclosure can slow them down significantly. Next time I have that nightmare, I'm going to try and run towards a fallen tree in the savannah. Nope, I see no holes in that plan.

Wait what?! Lions, warthogs and meerkats??

A familiar cast

Source: Deviantart

The day ended with a game to see how well we had revised our notes. We were given a photograph of an animal and each group was asked to write down as many recalled facts as possible. The prize for the winner was too good so the competition turned fierce. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts (dammit if only I knew, I would have spent more time on my notes!), we lost the chance to have a private session to feed either the rhinos or the giraffes. Our opponents were nice enough to request the trainers to allow us to join them. For now it's a big maybe, as they will try to accommodate extra people.

~ ~ ~ 

At work, I recently decided to adopt some indoor plants. Following advice from a friendly sales lady who assured me that they are all indoor plants which will survive well in an air-conditioned office, I purchased three plants. I gave the cactus to a colleague as part of her birthday present, because I was quite sure it won't die too soon.

It's interesting to watch plants grow...even at the cost of having your boss and colleagues think you are a bit eccentric

Turns out this plant needed direct sunlight for photosynthesis

Two days later, the plant with reddish leaves starting wilting! I tried to water it but there was no change. Then I carried it to a roof top garden in the adjacent building and left it concealed among other plants, hoping a bit of sun exposure will nurse it back to life. To my horror, it rained heavily for a couple of days and I was too afraid to see what happened to the plant. When I gathered my guts and went there, I was not prepared for what I saw!

The plant had been brutally murdered by a band of barbarian snails!

Reptile Déjà vu

There's nothing like a Sunday at the zoo to recharge my worn out batteries! While on duty, one of the animal keepers came out with a Leopard gecko and I had a chance to take a closer look. It was a rather good looking, docile lizard (originally from desert habitats of Pakistan) that was unique from other geckos because it had movable eyelids and no "sticky" feet.

Source: Wikipedia

During the last holiday home, my mother passed me some old books which once belonged to me as a child. I didn't even know she kept them safely all these years! And one of them was a "Reptiles and Amphibians" picture book which I used to be very fond of. It had to be over 25 years ago that I used it, but I distinctly remembered all the pictures the moment I picked it up. I suppose I spent a lot of time observing the details on the animals of this book. Funny enough (except for the amphibians), thanks to my stint at the zoo, I can talk about all the reptiles in this book now!

I wonder if this book had anything to do with my sense of familiarity towards reptiles when I got the chance to volunteer at the zoo.

Going by the image of the Galapagos Tortoise in that book, I won't be surprised if anyone thought their shell was made of stone

 This page even has young-Shu's artistic-fail abilities, evident from an early age.

I wonder if a kid looking at these same pictures 25 years from now will be able to see all these creatures in the wild.

The World Rhino Day falls on 22 September. While at the zoo, I noticed a booth set up to raise awareness about the plight of rhinoceroses in the wild. The zoo was working closely with TRAFFIC Southeast Asia and Wildlife Conservation Society (Vietnam) to stamp out illegal trade of rhino horns. The staff at the booth were collecting nail clippings from visitors in a large glass jar (ewww!) to which I donated mine after duty too. The lesson to take away was that endangered rhino populations are killed unnecessarily to get their horn, which is made of the same stuff as our not-so-noteworthy nails.

It is also worth noting that Katy Kat decided to give volunteering at the zoo a try. What's not too known about this only-child is she loves animals (mostly dogs!) and grew up surrounded by them. She had her interview yesterday and it looks like her interviewers were very pleased with her. I'm awfully proud of you, Katy Kat!

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

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.

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

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.

The Social Butterfly

I have been quite the social butterfly this weekend.

Last night, I attended a Dinner and Dance in appreciation of zoo volunteers who had just completed two months of training. Contrary to the title, there was no dance, only dinner. It was a fun event with good food, good company and games. The CEO of the organization came down to thank us for our efforts and that was rather humbling. If I am able to make even a microscopic impact on this fight for conservation in my lifetime, I would be a very happy soldier.

As with all events that require me to get well dressed up with (heavy) make-up, I was anxious the whole time. The extra attention and the unfamiliarity that it brings makes me feel uncomfortable and out of my natural element. Attempts to explain myself, brush off compliments modestly and shy away from the spotlight probably makes well-wishers think that I have low self esteem about my looks or worse, think that I secretly love the attention but pretend otherwise. I have none of those. In fact, being human, I do crave attention, but that's more for (more permanent, hard to fake and harder to achieve) inward characteristics rather than (temporary, easy to purchase and apply) exaggerated outward appearances. Try explaining all that if it came up during a dinner conversation without sounding like a freak! (I don't bother).

Why bother to dress up well, then? Well, I believe that dressing up appropriately for an occasion is essential. Whether it be a wedding, an interview, a party, a club, a holy site, a funeral - all have social rules that *I* think one must comply with if they decide to attend such an event or place. So I put in a lot of thought to blend in and avoid going under-dressed, over-dressed or inappropriately dressed. With a little advanced mental conditioning, I venture out of my comfort zones to acquire appropriate dresses/shoes (that I would not normally wear), get help from a skilled person for make up (even if I hardly recognise myself later or sometimes in the past have scared myself when looking in the mirror!) and try my best to hide the anxiousness (when I observe or imagine others reacting differently to me compared to other times).

Oh Shu, they are yet to find a cure for self-inflicted paranoia!

Anima Mundi

Only if we understand can we care. Only if we care will we help. Only if we help shall they be saved.

- Jane Goodall

Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) recently called for applications for the 2012 Docent Programme. I was fiddling through the pages of Singapore Zoo one fine day when the advertisement came to my attention. A "Docent" is a volunteer who assists the education wing at WRS by sharing information with the public at various interactive Discovery Stations based at all the parks managed by WRS. Seeing that I hadn't missed the deadline, I thought I'll give it a shot. Just short of being a paid job - which was what I really supposed to be looking for these days - this was the perfect opportunity to do something I enjoyed, observe a mind-blowing collection of wildlife at close range and get more comfortable with public interaction! After an 'interview', the batch of about 30 enthusiasts were called for a 2-day orientation session to get familiar with operations at the Singapore Zoo, Night Safari and the Jurong Bird Park - all of which were managed by the parent organisation that was WRS.

Feeding the colourful and loud lories at the world's largest lory flight aviary in Jurong Bird Park is one of the biggest attractions over there

During these two days of digesting great amounts of information and observing things at work, my limited understanding of a zoo being just a place that uses animals on display to generate income from visitors changed immensely. Given an understanding of what goes on behind the scenes by several passionate people who have been working there for many years put things in great perspective and ultimately, the experience was a huge eye opener.

While going on tours, we got to meet a few super-cute new-borns (clouded leopard cubs, FTW!) and learnt so many touching stories behind several animals that were born in captivity, rescued while smuggling or had overcome other issues and survived. Also told was a shocking story of cruelty to Orangutans as a result of the palm oil industry. As if there wasn't enough killing and orphaning of these animals going on, workers at a palm oil plantation were found using a chained female orangutan as a sex slave after shaving off it's fur and dressing it up in women's clothing and makeup. The human psychology behind such a cruel act eludes my level of understanding.

Zoos have come a long way since being places of horror for exotic animals. With growing knowledge in Science and the dire need to conserve wildlife that is rapidly declining as a result of harmful human activity, modern zoos are evolving into institutions of education and conservation, rather than just being income-generating visitor attractions to watch animals in captivity. Despite Singapore being a small country with limited natural habitats and wildlife populations, Singapore Wildlife Reserves has set a great example and a high standard, displaying the potential such institutions can tap into, both conservation-wise and revenue-wise. Of course, countries with bigger internal problems to tackle have conservation and well-being of wildlife low on their list of priorities so there is much room for improvement for zoos in developing countries where it is not uncommon to see animals kept in very poor conditions.

Up close with a stick insect - after being told not to grab these gentle and delicate creatures with force

Nowadays, cages and shackles are slowly being replaced by open enclosures and better landscaping, where animals have the freedom to move around and interact better with natural surroundings. Equipped with years of research as well as having trained veterinarians and keepers, the quality of life for animals in captivity and captive breeding programmes are seeing much success than in the past. These institutions also work hard to create interactive and enjoyable educational programmes to inspire and educate visitors, in hopes that they carry with them an appreciation for nature beyond the gates of zoos and parks. They also work closely with local authorities to combat illegal animal trade by rescuing and rehabilitating confiscated animals and spreading awareness to the public on the dangers and consequence of such trades. On an international level, wildlife institutions network with each other and with other NGOs such as WWF to share information, share expertise, have animal exchange programmes and work closely on conservation-related projects across the borders. WRS has been involved in several projects - elephant conservation in Malaysia and Sumatra, turtle conservation in Cambodia, restoring Bali Mynahs populations in Indonesia and conservation of Oriental Pied Hornbills in Singapore. Thankfully, there is so much effort put in than that which meets our eyes and ears on a daily basis!

Compared to the past, where exotic animals were seen mostly as creatures to be acquired, eaten, used as medicines or decorations, there is an emerging shift in the mindset of people who visit these places, thanks to years of education and awareness spread by zoos, schools, work of conservation groups and media such as National Geographic Channel, Discovery Channel and Animal Planet. There is a slow but increasing trend in the number of people who are becoming more interested, empathetic, curious, appreciative and conscious of mother nature and all her components. These people try to make time to visit places that represent nature, take their children to such places to try to instill in them the same level of consciousness and make small lifestyle changes to do what they can to help. With this significant achievement, there is much support for governments and various pro-conservation groups to tackle the larger problems at hand causing loss of natural habitats and biodiversity. A growing human population, exploitation of natural resources, deforestation, palm oil plantations, poor agriculture practices, industrial wastes, overgrazing by livestock, forest fires, oil spills, building of dams, over-fishing, animal poaching, illegal pet trading are some of the concerns that needs to be addressed urgently before we lose the wild animals to extinction one by one.

A few more weeks of training and assessments to go through at the Reptile Realm Discovery Station before I am a full fledged Docent.

Recommended links:
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF)
World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA)
Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)
Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
National Geographic
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)

The Chek Jawa Tour

The route to Chek Jawa wetlands on the island of Pulau Ubin is a very interesting one, especially in the early mornings. Making it to Changi Village (it seems to take forever in a bus!) and after standing in the queues at the Changi Ferry Terminal, one finally gets to board an old fashioned wooden bumboat. Step into one and metropolitan Singapore is easily forgotten. 

Watching the sunrise as the boat makes its way to Pulau Ubin

Pulau Ubin is a rural village where some of the last kampong villages of Singapore can be seen. It is also home to Chek Jawa, a preserved coral reef area with an impressive collection of marine life and associated ecosystems. Without the pressures of urban development, the island has become a popular tourist attraction where people can relax in the laid back surroundings, cycle, camp and enjoy it's rich biodiversity not too far away from the mainland. There's also a curious family of Pied Oriental Hornbills who've been granted permanent residence in the island and seem to be quite happy with the attention they get from the NParks staff and visitors. Speaking of attention seekers, there are lots of wild boars and their piglets too.

The coastal boardwalk. It is worthwhile to mention that HSBC is a huge benefactor for the conservation efforts that go on here and it has set a good example for the corporate world

I once chanced upon an opportunity to volunteer at the Ubin-HSBC Volunteer Hub (managed by friendly NParks staff) as a guide for the Chek Jawa inter-tidal walk. I liked the place, I had a lot of time on my hands and the job was simple enough; introducing the different marine species and habitats to small groups of visitors. My only concern was public speaking because so far, I have successfully dodged about 98% of situations in life that involved any type of public speaking. It didn't require a biology background, however, mine certainly helped me during training. Training was on the job and we followed experienced guides on their tours and learnt by observation. Reading up was entirely up to us. There were only a few tours during a given month, as it was tide-dependent and most of the marine life is visible only during the inter-tidal period.

Rock oysters (left) and barnacles and limpets (right) firmly attached to the rusted pontoon that even the changing tides don't wash them off them

A very soft carpet anemone (left) and workings of a sand bubbler crab (right)

The relatively small area of Chek Jawa is prized for having six distinct ecosystems (coastal forest, rocky shore, mangroves, sea grass lagoon, sandy bank and coral rubble) lying very close to one other. This makes it an ideal area for researchers to observe and study various inhabitants that occupy these different ecosystems and their associations during varying tides. Experienced NParks staff dubbed "hunters" go early before the tours start and look for specimens on the sea grass lagoon and sandy banks. Their findings are displayed in plastic trays as temporary exhibits for the benefit and education of tour participants. This exhibit is an added bonus to see a larger collection of species that are not always visible during the walk to inexperienced eyes. The staff try to maintain a fine balance between the disturbance to the fragile environment (by human impact) and using specimens for public outreach /conservation efforts. The specimens are released when the tour groups wrap up.

 

A sea horse daddy carries the offspring in his pouch (left) and a sea hare (right). The area is also home to many types of anemones, sponges, corals, sea stars, sea cucumbers, bivalves, fish, crabs, squids, worms, mud skippers, seaweed, sea grass, to name a few - all easily spotted during the tour

Part of the challenge of being a tour guide will be to learn to adjust the facts to cater to people from different backgrounds. The audience can vary from people with a strong science background (more questions to answer!), to those from non-science backgrounds, to children (who have short attention spans) so not everyone will enjoy too much details. During one of my trainings, I was mildly annoyed to see a group of housewives ask the tour guide at each exhibit if these animals were edible and some went on to speak of their memorable experiences in trying out various seafood dishes. Not everyone sees the place with the same level of appreciation but what they all need to take back from the tour is some awareness and initiative to do what little they can to preserve these habitats.

Unfortunately, the Chek Jawa tour was put on hold for the rest of the year as the floating pontoon was due for upgrading, so my training will have to be completed when it resumes in early 2013. On a positive note, I think it'll be quite interesting to see the changes to the species populations and ecosystems when it re-opens after a prolonged period of minimal human impact by visitors to the area. Assuming the upgrading works are done carefully, that is.