The Flying Saucer At Sunset

Lenticular clouds (Altocumulus lenticularis) are stationary lens-shaped clouds with a smooth layered appearance that form in the troposphere, usually above mountain ranges. One was spotted in Singapore recently...

Eyes Of 30,000 Honeycombs

With 30,000 individual facets, dragonflies have the most number of facets among insects. Each facet, or ommatidia, creates its own image, and the dragonfly brain has eight pairs of descending visual neurons to compile those thousands of images into one picture...

A Kaleidoscope Of Colours, Shapes And Patterns

Spectacular and innovative in design, the Flower Dome replicates the cool-dry climate of Mediterranean regions like South Africa, California and parts of Spain and Italy. Home to a collection of plants from deserts all over the world, it showcases the adaptations of plants to arid environments...

Lightning Strikes, Not Once, But Many Times

Unlike light, lightning does not travel in a straight line. Instead, it has many branches. These other branches flashed at the same time as the main strike. The branches are actually the step leaders that were connected to the leader that made it to its target...

Are You My Dinner Tonight?

A T-Rex has 24-26 teeth on its upper jaw and 24 more on its lower jaw. Juveniles have small, sharp blade-shaped teeth to cut flesh, whereas adults have huge, blunt, rounded teeth for crushing bones. Is the T-Rex a bone-crushing scavenger?

Showing posts with label Monkeys. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Monkeys. Show all posts

Sarawak - More To Discover

Recently Merlion Wayfarer attended a uniquely Sarawakian evening, which saw the Sarawak Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports, the Honourable Datuk Haji Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah launch the Visit Sarawak logo which preceded its tourism campaign. 

The "Visit Sarawak" Logo

The overall style of the logo is simple, friendly and approachable while keeping its impactful nature. The brush strokes of the logo font portrays a fun and friendliness, representing the unparalleled hospitality found in Sarawak. The different and vibrant colours represent the diversity and multitude of elements that make Sarawak unique.


  • Red and yellow indicate the colours in the Sarawak flag, hence their use in the letters “S” and “R”.
      
  • Orange represents the strong spirit and vibrant energy of the different ethnic communities within Sarawak.
      
  • Green represents the luscious rainforests teeming with life.
      
  • Blue reflects the calmness of the ocean along Sarawak’s long coastline.
      
  • The stylised “S” in the logo features a curling pattern, imitating a traditional design that is often used in the artwork of the Dayak and Orang Ulu people.
      
  • The ‘hornbill head’ in the centre replacing the ‘A’ alphabet represents the “Bumi Kenyalang” that the State has been labelled for many years as well as the cultural significance the hornbill has to the indigenous people of Sarawak. It also adds another natural element to the logo, as one of Sarawak’s main attractions is its nature.

"More To Discover"

The “More to Discover” phrase ensures that a person needs to set foot in Sarawak personally to truly discover all the attractions Sarawak holds. It also promises that once a person has been to Sarawak, there is always more for them to experience and discover, as there is far more within the State than can be experienced by a traveller within one trip.

Discover Culture

As the largest state in Malaysia, Sarawak is home to 27 ethnic groups, speaking 45 languages and dialects, and each with their own stories, colorful cultures, traditions, and beliefs that makes Sarawak a cultural extravaganza just waiting to be explored.

What's a launch event without a bit of excitement?
Here, a tribal performer holds up a wand of balloons while invited members of the audience attempt a tryout with a blowpipe...

Discover Adventures

On land, visitors have a plethora of adventures to choose from – from jungle trekking, adventure caving, to mountain climbing, rock climbing and jungle expeditions. In water, visitors can choose from river activities, diving, water sports, fishing, jet skiing and yachting.

Urban explorers can visit Kuching, which has one of the most interesting architecture mix in Malaysia, with colonial buildings amongst modern architecture.

Discover Nature

Sarawak has a 56 totally protected areas, 37 gazetted national parks, five wildlife sanctuaries and 14 nature reserves, with rainforests the size of Austria. Its rainforests house the world’s richest and most diverse ecosystem - Home to the world’s largest flower, the Rafflesia (that can grow to the size of a coffee table), squirrels and snakes that fly, deer the size of cats, plants that eat insects (and small animals), the orang utan, the proboscis monkey, the hornbill, the Rajah Brooke butterfly and the silverleaf monkey...

The launch of the campaign showed the floral and fauna of Sarawak as a backdrop,
fronted by the graceful movements of a dancer...

For more information on Sarawak Tourism, visit sarawaktourism.com



Lower Peirce Reservoir - Monkeys Basking In The Sun

Lower Peirce Reservoir
North, Singapore
March 2015

On the fringes of the forest, this is a common sight - A pack of Macaca fascicularis (Long-Tailed Macaque) basking in the sun. Being a complete family unit, the pack consisted of the alpha male, several females, and young, some of whom were still carried by their mothers.

Oblivious to the danger, a jogger runs by with her young child in a pram.
She stops to point out the "cute monkeys" to her toddler...

In a Straits Times report ("Monkey see, monkey do: 5 monkey hot spots in Singapore"), Upper Thomson was listed as a "monkey spot". Residents reported incidents where monkeys smashed their flower pots, gnawed through water containers, upset pots of plants and stole fruit from the trees they planted.

Most macaques are non-aggressive, as long as they are not threatened and food is not carried in front of them. Once past the danger post by them, a regular visit to Lower Peirce Reservoir is always a treasure trove of small finds.

A curious female Telamonia festiva (Jolly Telamonia) peers from bneath a leaf...

A moth caterpillar balances itself at the edge of the stem...

This bug is big - With legs extended, it was almost the size of a human palm...

If you see a beetle with bright yellow spots on its back but much larger in size than a typical ladybird beetle and having a slightly more elongated body, it may be a fungus beetle. Fungus beetles, as the name implies, are affiliated with fungus. However, they are not always seen on fungus as they do fly around and land on some other surfaces. They belong to the family Endomychidae, commonly called Handsome Fungus Beetles.

The Lower Peirce version of Eumorphus quadriguttatus (Handsome Fungus Beetle)...

A male Tyriobapta torrida (Treehugger) Dragonfly from Libellulidae family. They are found in forest swamps and near waterways, guarding small territories in shaded areas...

A juvenile Argiope (St Andrew's Cross Spider) resting in a dark corner...

A cheeky Chrysilla lauta (Elegant Golden Jumper) Male Spider glaring back...

A grasshopper-like Cicadellidae (Leafhopper) resting in a very prominent location with the colour contrast...

March is certainly the spiderling season with lots hatching. On the web, dew drops can be seen collecting in big puddles...

A delicate damselfly rests by the water edge...

An Ampullariidae (Apple Snail) slowly gliding along a stalk...

A parting tribute to Mr Lee as the skies turned dark with rain clouds...

Sources




Bukit Timah Nature Reserve - A Biodiverse Spider Habitat

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve
Central, Singapore
January 2014

Bukit Timah is located near the centre of the Singapore main island. Best known for its hill which stands at an altitude of 163.63 metres. it is the highest point in the city-state of Singapore.

A huge variety of trees and plants ensure abundance in biodiversity...

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve contains pockets of hill dipterocarp forest, not found anywhere else in Singapore. For a reserve of only 0.2% of Singapore's total area or 163 hectares, it is amazingly rich in biodiversity with about 40% of the nation's flora and fauna.

Nephila inaurata (Red-Legged Golden Orb-Web Spider) 
- a huge female many times bigger than your regular orb-webber...

Cyclosa bifida (Long-Bellied Cyclosa Spider) - See its tortoise-shell like carapace?


It slowly spins the victimized fly around...

Other orb-weavers laying in wait, including 
an Argiope Versicolor (Multi-Coloured St Andrew's Cross Spider) Male...

A gold-hued web without an owner...

Another Cyclosa bifida (Long-Bellied Cyclosa Spider) - 
One of the most photogenic orb spiders on a web...


Several Cyclosa Spiders at work...

 A restful Tanaecia pelea (Malay Viscount) Butterfly on the cemented path...

Gasteracantha hasseltii (Hasselt's Spiny Spider) - 
The spider with enough nasty-looking "thorns" to discourage would-be predators...

Park Visitors At Bukit Timah Hill & Punggol Beach

Bukit Timah Hill & Punggol Beach
Central & North-East, Singapore
January 2014

Merlion Wayfarer was out at nature spots over the weekend and was distressed to see the actions of some inconsiderate park visitors.

At the summit of Bukit Timah Hill on Saturday, a group of North Asians were there taking a break after reaching the summit. Finding the long-tailed macaques "cute", they started cutting up their green apples and throwing the slices at the monkeys.


Merlion Wayfarer noticed a monkey up on a nearby tree with a strange white object. In its arms was a lunchbox discarded by an inconsiderate park visitor. It was trying, first to open the lunchbox, then when it failed, it tried to bite it open.

According to online research, shreds of plastic have been found to be ingested by animals by mistake or along with food materials. Animals chew the plastic containers to get food inside and in the process, pieces of plastic gets ingested. Such plastic pieces accumulate inside the digestive system and make animals sick. Worse still, animals can even choke to death from blockages caused by plastic pieces.

By feeding monkeys, park visitors are conditioning the monkeys to prefer easy handouts from humans instead of foraging for natural food in the forest. They will approach humans, especially those carrying plastic bags, which they have learnt to associate with food, and snatch these away. Various incidents have been reported on citizen journalism site, STOMP:

On Sunday, she was at Punggol Beach and saw the following behaviour by some foreign workers:
A group of them were turning over all the rocks for fun to see if they can spot any sea creatures. When they found a crab or shrimp hidden inside, they will take another rock to chisel at the big rock until the hidden animal scuttles out or is killed by their actions.


Nearby, a Ardea Cinerea (Grey Heron) watches. 
It depends on the molluscs and crustaceans by the shore for food...

This article is currently in STOMP on 20 January 2014
http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/singaporeseen/this-urban-jungle/visitor-distressed-to-see-monkey-eating-plastic-rubbish-at-bukit-timah-hill
(Source : SPH)



More photos are available on :


Sources