Singapore Cat Abuser

"I was informed by a friend who worked at a vet that a customer came in with a dying cat, along with the letter.

"The owner told my friend that their cat went missing for 3 to 4 weeks, and was later found at their doorstep inside a plastic bag together with the letter.

"The letter mentions that the cat was kidnapped and tortured extensively. The abuser even went as far as to describe the details of the torture.

"The cat is now in its last moments and may leave this world at any time. I hope this pyscho gets apprehended and faces the highest degree of punishment there is in this world.

"There are a lot of cases of cat abuse in Singapore, and very few of the abusers have been caught. Cats are being cut apart, thrown from buildings, and even beheaded.

"I do not understand what kind of sick-minded people who do such a thing to another living thing, let alone a helpless animal.

"Please share this post with all your family and friends. I hope someone who has any information on this case will step up and inform the authorities if you know who the culprit is.

"To that sick-minded person, I hope you get help soon. Please help yourself before you actually kill someone."

Contractor caught in 'monkey business' over illegal trap

A government contractor is under investigation for allegedly setting up a monkey trap illegally in the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.

The National Parks Board (NParks) confirmed recently that it is investigating Mr Jack Pang after he was caught setting up a cage in the reserve.

Although he was hired by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) to capture macaques, he allegedly did not have permission to trap them in the reserve.

In fact, under the Parks and Trees Act, no one is allowed to capture animals from nature reserves and national parks without approval from the commissioner of parks and recreation.

Supermoon meets Supertree

Hi There!

Exotic mini-zoo seized from Singapore HDB Flat

More than 30 wild animals, including pythons, tortoises, a slow loris and a marmoset have been seized from a flat in Singapore in the city's largest such haul of banned wildlife in more than a decade, a government agency said Tuesday.

The owner, who kept the animals in a public housing apartment, could be jailed for two years and fined up to SG$500,000 ($297,000), the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) said in a statement.

The 32 animals included a Sunda slow loris, a nocturnal tree-dwelling primate; a common marmoset, a small monkey with a long tail; and three ball pythons, which are popular in the pet trade because of their docile nature.

There were also three black-tailed prairie dogs, several types of tortoise, five ornate horned frogs, an iguana, a gecko and a degu, a small rodent endemic to central Chile.

"The seizure, which includes highly endangered and threatened species like the slow loris, marmoset, Indian star tortoise and ball python, is AVA's largest inland seizure of wildlife since 2002," the agency said in a statement.

"A man is currently assisting AVA in the investigations."

Residents in public housing, where most Singaporeans live, are only allowed to keep approved pets such as non-endangered birds, aquarium fish and one small dog per household.

The animals, which were rescued earlier this month, are now in the care of a company running the Singapore Zoo, said the AVA, which raided the flat after a tipoff.

It warned the public that keeping illegal wildlife could pose health hazards and threaten the densely populated tropical island's biodiversity if the animals enter the local environment.

The animals that were seized have been sent to the Wildlife Reserves Singapore for proper care and custody.

1 Sunda slow loris

1 Common marmoset

2 Indian star tortoise

3 Leopard tortoise

2 Red-footed tortoise

2 Yellow-footed  tortoise

2 Alligator snapping  turtle

3 Ball python

5 Ornate horned frog

2 Green iguana

1 Inland bearded dragon

2 Sailfin dragon

1 Lined flat-tail gecko

3 Black-tailed prairie dog

2 Degu

Piranhas at River Safari exhibit placed under maximum security

Shouldn't all animals be protected? Well, its the Piranhas people are concerned. The risk of them escaping into our local habitat, reservoirs will damage our eco-surroundings.

Their tanks are padlocked, they are microchipped and, should they breed, their eggs are destroyed.

These are the living conditions of the most highly guarded creatures at the River Safari - the red-bellied piranhas.

The security measures are befitting of their fearsome image, thanks to their portrayal as ferocious man-eaters in movies like Piranhas 3D.

But River Safari's curator Wah Yap Hon would have you know that there is little truth in that.

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Singapore raised to observer status on Arctic Council

Arctic states today (May 15) agreed to let nations that are located nowhere near the Earth’s north to become observers to their diplomatic council, boosting rising superpowers China, India and South Korea that are seeking to mine the region for its untapped energy and other natural resources.

The European Union also was tentatively granted observer status to the eight-state council but must first address several questions about its bid, including concerns about its ban on Canadian seal exports.

It was an odd but not entirely unexpected move by the long-obscure Arctic Council, which traditionally has served as a watchdog for the rights of the region’s indigenous people and protector of its fragile ecosystem.

Widespread thawing of Arctic ice, which keeps the rest of the world cooler, has alarmed environmentalists but has become an economic lure to nations seeking to ship cargo across once-frozen seas. The global warming is making the Arctic’s elusive supply of oil, gas, minerals and precious metals available — in some areas, for the first time ever - as ever-expanding counties like China and India hunt for additional energy supplies.

Officials estimate the Arctic holds 13 per cent of the world’s undiscovered oil reserves, and 30 per cent of undiscovered gas deposits.

Ministers suggested the inclusion of the energy-hungry nations at the Arctic Council will force them to uphold the diplomatic panel’s core goals of safeguarding the region.

“There is no such thing as a free lunch,” said Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide. “By becoming an observer you’re also signing up to the principles embodied by this organization, and that is why we have been working hard to make that happen.”

In all, six nations - China, India, Italy, Japan, Korea and Singapore - were granted observer status to the council, joining several previously-accepted counties from Europe. The eight states that are permanent members of the non-binding panel all touch the Arctic Circle, including the United States, through Alaska. Denmark is connected to the Arctic Circle through its relationship with Greenland, which is a semi-autonomous territory.

Canada’s minister to the council, Leona Aglukkaq, voiced mild but restrained discomfort with the new observers to the council, which she said was created “by northerners, for northerners, before the Arctic was of interest to the rest of the world.” Canada will chair of the council for the next two years.

The ministers’ short meeting, which is held only every two years, also attracted a scattering of protesters form the environmental group Greenpeace, who held banners outside Kiruna’s small city hall urging “No Arctic oil.” A hulking black mountain, from which iron ore is mined, served as the backdrop for the meeting in the small Arctic town where snow had melted to slush.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, sporting a blue suit coat amid the ski sweaters and tribal costumes at the meeting, said the world must crack down on polluting emissions that endanger the Arctic. He said the U.S. and China are two of the globe’s largest contributors to emissions.

“No one nation can solve this,” Kerry said. “No one is doing enough. The problem is that everything we do, or everything that another nation does, is going to be wiped out by China or another nation if they continue with coal-fired power at the rate we are seeing. So the warning signals are there.”

Singapore has interest in the Arctic region

SINGAPORE'S application for permanent observer status in the Arctic Council might seem like an obscure pitch for a country lying just a smear north of the Equator.

But the Republic's interest in the icy northern region ranges from the risk of rising sea levels caused by melting polar ice to the possibility that its port might be bypassed should the Northern Sea Route running through the Arctic coast take off in a big way.

The council comprises eight Arctic states, including Canada, Russia and the United States.

Tomorrow's Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting, which takes place once every two years and will open in Kiruna in northern Sweden, is expected to decide on the applications. Singapore's special envoy for Arctic Affairs Kemal Siddique is in Sweden.

Singapore applied for permanent observer status, which is likely to allow a country to attend council meetings and take part in working groups, in December 2011. Others that have applied for similar status include China, the European Union, India, Japan, Italy and South Korea.

While Singapore has no territorial or resource claims, it does have various economic and political interests in the Arctic. As a major international port, it takes a keen interest in maritime affairs.

The emergence of new sea routes would reduce the distance between the North Atlantic and the North Pacific, causing shifts in shipping patterns a few months every year. The implications of these shifts could have far-reaching consequences for Singapore's economic viability and existence.

Rising sea levels caused by melting polar ice could threaten Singapore. Moreover, the island is on the migratory pathway of some Arctic species and the effects of climate change on Arctic flora and fauna would affect those here.

Singapore hopes to contribute its shipping-related expertise in areas such as oil spill prevention and maritime traffic management to the Arctic Council.