China's Pandas

China has moved the last batch of pandas still living in a world-famous preserve badly damaged in last year's devastating earthquake to a nearby facility, state television reported Sunday.

CCTV said in a news broadcast the six pandas were moved on Saturday from the Wolong Panda Breeding Center, near Sichuan's capital of Chengdu, to another breeding facility in the same province.

The pandas were shown playing in a wooden house and chewing on bamboo shoots after being transported in metal cages and released into a new enclosure in the Bifengxia Giant Panda Base in the town of Ya'an.

The Wolong preserve was nearly destroyed in the May 12 earthquake, which sent boulders the size of cars crashing onto it and killed at least one panda. The quake left 90,000 people dead or missing.

Most of the 63 pandas living there have since been relocated to zoos around the country. The Wolong preserve had been the heart of China's effort to use captive breeding and artificial insemination to save giant pandas, which are revered as an unofficial national mascot.

Earlier this month, state media said China will begin building a new panda breeding center in May to replace Wolong.

Only about 1,600 pandas live in the wild, mostly in Sichuan. An additional 180 have been bred in captivity, many of them at Wolong, and scores have been loaned or given to zoos abroad, with the revenues helping fund conservation programs.

Stray dogs kill zoo animals in western Russia

A pack of stray dogs has mauled a reindeer and a mountain goat to death at a zoo in Russia's Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad, a zoo spokeswoman said on Thursday.
"Dogs got through the zoo fence - it has several holes, made by people who wanted free entry to the zoo, so it was not an obstacle for them," she said.

The dogs also attacked and bit several other animals.

"Six deer and two Cameroonian goats are currently being treated by vets, they are in the state of stress," the source said.

Malaysia seizes smuggled cobras, tortoises

Malaysian authorities seized 814 tortoises and 160 king cobras as they were being smuggled out of the country on its northern border, according to a report.

Customs officials told state news agency Bernama the wildlife was found in the back of a truck in northern Perlis state as it was clearing border formalities before entering Thailand.

State customs director Mohammad Isa Endot said the reptiles were found under 2,300 kilogrammes of garlic used to help disguise the smell of the illicit cargo.

He said the truck driver, a Thai national, was detained after failing to produce any documents for the export of the wildlife, Bernama reported.

Mohammad Isa said the tortoises and snakes had been handed over to the Wildlife and National Parks Department.

Wildlife is often smuggled out of Malaysia and into kitchens abroad.

Last month, authorities seized the butchered remains of dozens of civet cats, long-tailed monkeys and wild boar destined for sale in neighbouring countries.

Baby ring-tailed lemur at the Singapore Zoo

One of the Singapore Zoo's latest residents, this ring-tailed lemur, born on April 09. It's just one of many endangered species born at the zoo as part of its wildlife conservation program.

In addition to this ring-tailed baby, the zoo recently welcomed a baby red ruffled lemur. Both species are endangered, in large part due to deforestation in their native Madagascar.

Woman survives polar bear mauling at Berlin Zoo

Zoo keepers saved the life of a German woman who jumped into a polar bear enclosure at Berlin Zoo by pushing away of one of the animals when it attacked her.

The keepers' bravery was praised after they dragged the 32-year-old out of a moat for the animals. They had to shove the animal out of the way after one of four polar bears dived into the water and attacked her, inflicting serious bites to her legs and arms.

Knut, the zoo's baby bear that became an international celebrity in 2007 after it was hand-reared by a keeper, was in the enclosure at the time. Germany went polar bear crazy after the birth of the cute animal.

Police did not say why the woman jumped into the enclosure. She had to climb over a fence, a line of prickly hedges and a wall to get in.

She suffered serious injuries after being bitten on her arms and legs.

Last December a man who afterwards said he was "lonely" survived jumping into the same zoo enclosure when keepers diverted the bears with chunks of beef.

"The woman has proved herself to be careless by jumping into the enclosure," a police spokesman said afterwards. "Logic tells us that polar bears will do this type of thing in this situation."

Visit to the Singapore Zoo

Right, we went to the Zoo, again! This time, as proud members of the Zoo. Just received the membership card a few days ago. The Singapore Zoo will be the place where we frequently visit for the next few months, since it's only about 10 min drive away from our house, and Hao Re loves seeing the animals!

But today was not a good day for us also. As soon as we finished our breakfast at the Ah Meng Coffee Shop in front of the zoo, it started to rain drizzle. We were not bothered by the drizzle and continued our exploration. Hao Re was sitting in his stroller with a small hood to shed off the rain. Me and hubby walked under the drizzle, kind of romantic, huh!

But to be honest, though it's only drizzling, it did spolit our mood. So didn't see much, it was feeding time for the many different types of monkey, so we just watched that. It's actually nice to see so many different types of beautiful monkeys, as for the past 2 trips, when we were trying to search for the monkeys, they were all hiding, can see none of them. Only during the feeding time, they all showed up.

After that, went to have a drink at the restaurant, then decided to head home. As soon as we were about to leave the zoo, the rain stopped. Duh! Oh well, didn't bother to turn back, we can always come the other times. So it's bye-bye to all the animals, after spent about 1 hour there.

The theme park's "cage of death" that drops tourists into a crocodile's lair

Without the cage you wouldn' t stand a chance swimming with a massive saltwater crocodile.

Is Singapore A boring place?

(Here is the answer from my Ang Mo Friend) I think the answer to " whether singapore is a fun or boring place " depends on individual.

If you hail from a place where it is cold all year round for example, it maybe totally different experience.

if you like shopping , there are quite a number of choices
from the big malls like takashimaya, paragon, wisma atrium and isetan (all along the Orchard road shopping belt) to small individual stores in Far east shopping center, lucky plaza. Of cos there are Bugis Village (where u get similar things that u find in Far East plaza but at a slightly lower price) Marina square and city hall and citylink underground shopping . if you are going off the normal tourist belt , u can try Queensway shopping center(the prices of the sports shoes here are usually lower.

Then after all the shopping , you can drop by the Botanical garden for a nice dinner. jus off orchard . near tanglin road. There are 2 restaurant and a food court there. I will recommend Halia (malay for ginger) restaurant which is cheaper than Au Jardin but better than the food court if you want a cosy ambience.

If you have a few more days , you can go to the Singapore Zoo/Night safari or bird of cos i don't recommend that you go to both. I personally like the night safari, Firstly because its cooler at night , you can take the train instead of walking and you can see the animals in a different setting. Of cos some people complain that they cant see the animals because its too dark. You can also have your dinner on the train in the night safari. of cos there are other cheaper alternatives in the park.

If you yearn more for the night life where the other wild things are. you can head down to clarke quay or robertson quay. Attica, zouk, longbar, one fullerton etc depending on your taste.

now , if you like to see more of the local scene, you can go to little india in serangoon, geylang (redlight district) and chinatown. Little india gets crowded during week end with all the foreign labours on their off days, you get to "excite" all your senses. Smell, sight and noise. Geylang , not the official malay village which the tourist board want you to go, but go to the red light district. Lorong 1 to maybe 16. I am not promoting prostituition here, but i guess its a eye opener for some. Its quite safe to walk around there but of cos take precaution especially if you are a lady. in case some one mistake you for being one of the workers theres. Jus look and dont disturb the ladies unless you want their minders to come after you. its also a place for food . Jus look and try

Then there is chinatown, "nothing much" here but you can go for a body masage in pearl center or people's park center. But beware of the sleazy one. there are also shop selling "Chinese" products. Yue hwa will be good for traditional items

Beach wise if you like to rollerblade , you can try east coast park, if you like beach volley ball or jus sun tanning , its better to go sentosa. YOu can hang around some of the beach bars there. Cafe del mar etc. blades and balls can be loaned from the premises there.

lastly there is one more place. bukit timah nature resrve. u can jus trek thro the hill. ( nothing too difficult ) , But i recommend those keen for a thrill ride to go there on a weekend. I know of a operator there lending out mountain bike for you to ride thro the trail. Must loan the helmet for safety. Its not a difficult trail but you will need enough skill and confidence. Try not to go on a rainy day, the trail will be wet.

thats all for the day