Helo

Dear All,

Ever since I've graduated, I've been hoping to see some new in our blog.
Eventhough I'm now not in Sabah nor involved in our related fields, I am still interested in knowing what happening out there in the wild.
However, there hasn't been any new of any of you since last year.
How's everyone doing? Any exciting experiences to share?

Regards,

Sheau Tsuey
Ex- Bio Pem 05-06

Taming the wild cattle

Bunga, Salty, Yeoh and I left ITBC at about 10am Monday heading to Maliau Basin Field Studies Centre via Kimanis-Keningau-Sapulut Road. The view up the Crocker Range was stunning, I know Bunga and Salty missed it - they slept. We stopped briefly at Keningau and I bought something (which proved to be useless at least until today). The Sapulut-Merotai road is not too bad considering it is still unsealed. Journey, however, wasn't that cheerful. All three students of mine chosed not to talk (is language a problem?).

And there it was - not the cattle, but the logging activity - just next to the road. Clear underneath with some tall thin trees left behind, readily identified as binuang and laran, most of them.

Then there was the sound, some pebbles on windscreen - I looked at the side mirror, tyre was gone, like being peeled off the rim and sat like a dead snake by the roadside. The car stopped (it had to). It exploded and nothing was left that look anything like a tyre. And it was so hot.

Done with that - we continued and reach MBFSC at about 5pm.

Press Interview (Sin Chew & The Star)

Dear all,

Marlina Lasama and Donna Christine Simon will be interviewed by two National newspapers, Sin Chew Jit Poh and The Star. I hope they will be able to give a valuable interview, talk about their study and their hopes for the future.

Hamid.

On camping out in the bush

Guys, this is funny - I hope Bunga and Jan will not feel offended, but if you do, please remember that you are not alone. There are many-many people who are thinking that camping in the bush is an outing like what is shown on tv. TV lies a lot!

As Jan and Bunga (and some of you, in the future) will be camping out in the bush of Maliau Basin, I think there are somethings that we need understand.

Bunga suggested that we bring a stove and gas tank. Also, some charcoal. My answer is that we are not going to take them and we will make fire in the bush. Bunga shot back "what about if it rains?". She's right and so are you. 

This trip will be a trip like no other. It will be slow, wet and bad. Nothing resembling that of an outing at ODEC. We will walk and carry backpacks - only one backpack and we need to put everything that we need into that backpack. Don't bring two! Your front must be free from hanging bag - perhaps the only thing that can be out of the bag is a parang, to be hung from your waist. Both of your hands must be free all the time. Basically, we will take just enough clothing. A pair that will be always dry will be the one you will use for the nights. I will provide you with sleeping bags - I hope I can get those than be rolled into a very small ball. You will be sweating like you never did before. Therefore, you need energy and need to be fit. From now on, go jogging. Do it religuously, twice a day, morning and late afternoon. Start at the stadium for the first 5 days and try to complete 10 laps following the outermost lane. Slowly - we will never run in the bush. The idea is to tone your muscles. After that do it along the roads within the uni - I suggest you start from the stadium and follow the road uphill, turn right towards chancellory road till you get to the T junction and turn right to the IPMB road until you reach the end of the h-way - don go down to IPMB. Then jog back the same route. Please note that the first few days your feet will be aching - but carry on. You'll be alright, better be prepared than sorry.

Hamid.

Paitan's giant croc

There were 4 of us; Janet, Katherine, Dr Pushpa and I, Farid drove the white D-Max departing ITBC mid morning on Monday Aug 18th. This was the first trip to Paitan for Janet Hor - an honors candidate who braved to take on the crocs of Paitan. It sounded eerie - only it shouldn't. Kat studies the weaver-ants this year - the man-eating ants!  We have not made arrangements in Paitan for anything - boat, boatman, rental rates nothing. The only thing I was sure about was that we were going to stay overnight at Marudu Inn and NOT at Hotel California (also in Kota Marudu). We checked in and off we went to Kanibongan. Somehow this place sounded familiar and made me think that it has connections with Paitan. But it hasn't. Kanibongan does not connect to Paitan but sure it has crocodiles, right under the bridge at the Tamu. We were told "You want to work in Paitan, you go to Paitan, mate" - Fair Dinkum, we did.

First we went to Kg. Sulit, Paitan Kecil - mimang sulit mo pigi sana... I met two teenagers who were relaxing on a large boat eating sunflower seeds. They didn't know much about everything and said yes to most my questions. Not much help there. Farid drove back to Paitan bridge and immidiately we saw a couple of boats down the jetty. One, blue in color, two old ladies with bubu udang and the skipper, a long-haired fair-skinned man in his 30s. The older said that the boat would be busy, husband was ill (a very polite refusal).

+ Possible to hire your boat, Mr?

- Where to?

+ Just around here along this Paitan, looking for crocs.

- Bah... you don't fool around with this thing, ye know. They are no good, ye know. You brave, eh?

- We are from the uni in KK, these are my students, we are studying crocs...

+ UMS, eh? You people don't know nothing. These guys chase people, chase boats, chase torchlights.. ye know, before you can get away, they get you first...

- We are not going to catch them...(cut)

+ You want to go, you bring our people, ye know. My tribe, two of them...

- OK, we can do that, let's talk...

+ You haven't seen one down the river yet, 100 feet!

- Really?

+ You know nothing, ye know, you won't miss it... 100 feet!

- Sure! I won't miss a 100 feet croc. You take care there, mum, hope your husband gets well soon. Bye!

A hundred feet croc! No joke.

Let me tell you a little bit of Paitan croc's reputation. Since 2000, they launched 4 attacks. Fatal human attacks involved a headman of Kebulu and a schoolboy. Man's torso was found 15km downstream three days later. Boy was never found. A schoolgirl was grabbed before the eyes of her father who dive for the croc's head and jabbed its eyes. The girl was released and now in school. Still there bearing permanent scars. Another was a cattle, killed but not eaten. Croc was shot and fled into the water.

So, a 100 feet croc might not be too long a shot after all.

Amid.

hey!

hello,

Its been a long time since there's any news from all the wildlifers....
welcome to all the new members and good to hear from those old members!!
by the way, how's the LI experience gain by the other ex-3rd year students?
hope that all of you had an great experience just like ka han and me...
see you guys at the convocation!!

Welcome to New Wildlifers!

Hi everyone!

A warmly welcome from me to all the new wildlifers. Do share something with us here! And I am always available for any question from you. All the best!

Best regards,
Ka Han

New Members (and Old members)

Dear all,
I have invited my new students (undergrads) this year into this group. They are Janet (Hor Chai Suan), Lee Siaw Ling, Suzie (Khor Shwu Shin) and Julie (Yap Bee Suan). Another two will follow soon.

Those of you out there, please feel free to communicate with us, or please tell me if you do not want to be a part of this group anymore (sad...).

hamid.

Industrial Training at KK Wetland Centre (KKWC)

Hi wildlifers~

I am having my Industrial Training at KK Wetland Centre (KKWC), also known as KK City Bird Sanctuary (KKCBS) before. It is my 3rd day here and it's my pleasure to drop by to share a little bit of my experiences. As a Conservation Biology based student, I am under supervision of an Environmental Education officer which we will give talk about KKWC, mangroves, as well as the biodiversity here to students, teachers and public. Besides talk, of course there will be Interpretative Walk to get closer with the real mangrove environment here. Today we have session for bird-watching. We have been briefed on methods, identification, etiquettes , etc. before we went to the mangrove area for bird-watching using binocular. I have saw many types of birds but only managed to identified 10 species such as Purple Heron, Little Egret, Intermediate Egret, Great Egret, and White Collar Kingfisher. One of the endangered species of birds in Asia, Lesser Adjutant Stork was seen here before. Besides, we were told that about 10 fireflies were brought from Klias by one of the IBTP's lecturer.

It will be a good experience for visitors especially who loves the nature. For all wildlifers who are interested to come, KKWC is open from 8am-6pm everyday except Monday.

Is toad a frog?

Hello,

Dear Dr. Hamid, Tang (Tang Huoy Min) here .
I choose to write this post because I read a book today, which tells about the naming of toads and frogs.
I remembered that Dr. ask me a question during my progress report presentation, saying that if toad and frogs are 'frog', why is toad called 'toad'?
Well, here's the answer....
"The terms frog and toad can often be confusing, mainly because there are no real scientific rules to distinguish between two".
This statement are copy from book "Wildlife & Natural Resource Management by Kevin H. Deal (1998)".
Dr. please add me. My email address is mihon218@gmail.com

Kalimantan Tengah and freshwater fishes

Hi guys,
I am writing this up before the heat of my Kalteng memories fade. So, I just came back from Kalimantan Tengah (Kalteng) via Banjarmasin and actually stayed in the city of Palangkaraya for 3 nights. The land journey from Banjarmasin to Palangkaraya took about 5 hours - despite only 200km in distance. The road is less luxirious, I might say. The scenery is just like Beaufort, minus the many houses in Beaufort. It is a huge stretch of peatland all throughout. I slept for about an hour in the bus, when I woke up, it was all the same: flat, and degraded peatland all over. The rivers are huge. I crossed the longest river bridge in Indonesia, the Barito Bridge, stretching 1.2km over the Barito passing a small island in the middle where the foundations are.

What I want to share is the fact that how freshwater fishes are consumed in Kalteng. Climbing perch, snakehead, catfishes. In fact I had seven meals at the Dandang Tingang Hotel in Palangkaraya (3 brekkies, 2 lunches, 3 dinners), except the brekky this morning, we had ikan patin without fail! You better enjoy your roti canai and teh tarik with all of your hearts, because if you were in Palangkaraya for 3 nights, you might miss them a lot.

If I have time, I'll share some pics, too.

Hamid.

Flooding in Klias

Harnitta & Nasirah (and Fairus & Hafiz),

I talked to Zul just now, water is still high and rain is still doing its bit. I think I will have to pass the Klias trip to F and H - I don't think I can handle this one by having to go to Serudong and Klias. It is OK if I don't go, kan?

What you guys need to do is to keep asking for news about water level from zul and decide to go.

I hope this can be done when the water is still high but low enough to take the party to the jetty at Sg Api-Api.

Zul's hp is 0198323371

Hamid.

Snake Island trip

Hi all,

If you can't find the tidal charts, there are 2 copies in IPMB - one at the Pejabat Am and another at the Boathouse.

Cindy - please prepare 20 sample jars filled with 5% buffered formalin to preserve your samples, plus 20 empty jars and a litre of formalin just in case you are able to get an abundance of biofouling samples.

Is there a tentative plan for 17 & 18 Jan? What time do we leave KK?

Thanks.

Pushpa

Klias Snake and other directive

Guys,

This cute little serpent was captured in the swamp of Klias (Yes, where your toilet was!) near the last pondok. It was seen by Dr Fairus twigging itself as camouflage (apparetly, Fairus didn't care about his trick!).

I don't know what it is in Latin but it is only 8 cm and I think that is as big as it gets.

To Harnitta and Nasirah, one of the fishes we photographed from the fishermen was IDed as Clarias nieuhofii - a new record from Sabah! Your job now is to try your luck to find Clarias pseudonieuhofii!!!  

Clarias nieuhofii - it is different from all Clarias by having ventral, caudal and anal fins not separated.

The crockers, quickly find the latest tidal chart for 2008! We need to go to Beringgis and Klias soon!!!

Hamid.

happy new yer

Hi guys!

Happy new year! January and February will be my busiest months yet - so guys, please keep me informed of things you want to do these coming two months.

I've had a good nice break and could have the looongest break I ever had, or at least if felt like a long one. Take it from me, if you wanted your break to be a long one, don't go anywhere. Eat sleep, eat sleep... Trust me, it'll be long.

Hamid.

Crockers rocked!

Izwan (Matt) and friends started their crocking trip for the first time in Kinarut early Nov - and saw nothing. I don't blame them because I was also in the boat and we chose the wrong time (because there was no right time). Then we did Beringgis (Kawang). Tidal chart indicates that low tide is at 0417. I foolishly planned to hit Bringgis, going upstream at 0330 (thinking at that time, most of the tide is already gone). It hadn't. In fact the water was very much going out to sea, fast and unrelentless. The 30hp outboard was screaming, belching white noxious smoke and we went up slowly. Pushpa said "All we need is one eye... only one, and that will be enough, and we'll go home".

Fair Dinkum. There not one, but two eyes! Apparently the other eye of the baby croc was still very much intact! Pak Jurin struggled to get his boat close to the mudflat. Between his excellent manuever and the pushing water, croc was gone. But we were all happy, the happiest was Matt - now that his burning question (for the thesis) is answered! Yene silently clocked her data, parasiting on the locations baby crocs.

We didn't go home, though and kept seeing eyes, there were 6 of them all hatchlings. Sorry guys, no picture of croc babies yet.

Feeza crocked Serudong in the wee hours of Dec 10th - departing from Pulau Sebatik and reported to Wallace Bay Police Station and Sebatik PGA post near the Indonesiaon border, she sat mid-boat with Yene, Matt, Azniza and me. Jang Asoi was skipper and just shot a buck two days earlier. I must tell you guys, we had the best crocking condition and the river had compeletely released the tide off into Cowie Bay. We saw 9 crocs.

But, as if that was not enough, Yene, Feeza and Matt joined me crocking Tenegang at Kinabatangan. Bad time - flood! But we saw 3 crocs.

I'll have some of pics during the three trips soon. I'm happy. Matt is planning to hit Klias after Eid - I'm already jealous of what he'll find!

tiga snakers reply

ok dr, i see you tomorow..i try to bring aiman too..

Such a rainy day

Today is the 4th day in Danum V. and its raining all day long (since the day i arrived!). Can't do much, even Kalsum get stucked on the ground (so windy..who dares to climb the trees). My plan to do stick insecting is perished. Maybe next month(s) after the monsoon season is over and i've got a clear instruction from DNM. Going to KL next week for Natural History Museum Workshop.

Bats group (and many other things)

Dear Dr. Hamid,

Last week, Agos, Ehsan, Nurul and myself went to Gomantong..doing some site survey and arranging a few things with SWD people there. Everything goes well..except on the way back, our transport (a rented Rusa) had "tabrak" a lori, which front of it. None of us was injured, but Agos is not in good shape..(he's the driver during the incident), and i had to pay for ketuk balik keta..

and this week, i'm in Danum, to get ideas on how to do my work in Sukau and Gomantong. If you remembered, Dato Noramly n i was granted a permit to conduct a research on Orthoptera in Canopy in Danum V...

Apart of this things, hope u had received my email. C U soon.

Tiga Snakers

Dr Puspa, Cindy, Haifz and Aiman.

Cindy came to see me and we discussed about several things. One of them is the scale - I dug up my old stuff and found a spring scale of 3kg but with smaller grades, 10g I think. So that's great and we're OK now.

We agreed for 5-7 December.

Hamid.

trip to kalampunian damit

Dear Dr Hamid,

how are you? Dr pushpa have gave me and you the copy of the permit. I would like to ask if you are free on 26hb-30hb nov for the 4days trip to Kalampunian Damit. when can i meet you to discuss about the tools we gonna use during the trip?

thank you.
cindy

Field trip to Kalampunian Damit

Hi there,

I have just received a fax from Sabah Parks giving us permission to conduct Cindy's work on Pulau Kalampunian Damit. Please let me know when we can schedule the trip - the sooner, the better. We have been given 4 days in November 2007 and an exemption on the camping fees. We also need to discuss details of the trip with the 'Pegawai Penguasa Taman Pulau Tiga'.

Thanks!

Regards,
Pushpa

Brief report

Dear Dr,

First of all I would like to apologise for not making any report about my (Christopher’s as well) final year project progression. The following are some brief report on what we have done for our field sampling so far.

In our first trip to Paitan (09 Aug until 13 Aug), we manage to interview with 23 local people from 6 different villages (Pengkalan Kanibungan, Sinukap, Pias, Masin Besar, Sulit Bina Baru and Batangan Darat) who are still hunting. We also asked help from a Ketua Kampung from Kampung Masin Besar and some local people to be our guide to enter the Paitan Forest Reserve (PFR).

During our second trip to Paitan (27 Sept until 01 Oct), we could only manage to interview with 7 local people who are currently still hunting. This situation occurred because most of the villagers we met are rubber taper and they have their own small plantation land. More over, there are “out siders” who will sell meat (RM6 per kg for pork and RM10 for deer meat) to them which means they can obtain their protein source easily. We have entered the PFR with the help of one villager from Kampung Masin Besar. From his experience, he showed the marking that left out by deer and pig.

Our next trip will be on 11 Oct until 16 Oct. We are going to establish and walk our line transects. Hope we are lucky enough to see some.

That’s all.

Wish you all Selamat Hari Raya.

REMINDER FOR PROJECT I

Guys,
Please be reminded that the dates for Project I has been announced. I will be on leave until from today until 21 October. There will be only a small window on 22 October that I will be here, after which I will leave for tasks out of the campus until 29 October. That will be the only window that i will be able to see your work.

Hamid.

Salam Aidilfitri~

Wishing all Selamat Menyambut Hari Raya Aidilfitri!Have a wonderful celebration and happy holidays!

A better way of studying frogs

I was reading Daily Express posted on Oct 1st, when one of this article title 'No need for dissection as see-through frogs jump in' caught my attention. It was about Japanese researchers at Tokyo that produced see-through frogs letting them observe organs, blood vessels and eggs under the skin without preforming dissection. Two kinds of recessive genes have been known to cause the frog (Rena japonica, rare mutant of Japanese brown frog) to pale. Two frogs with the recessive genes were crossed which produced offspring that looked normal. Crossing the offspring led to a frog whose skin is transparent from the tadpole stage. The researchers can see changes of organs when tadpoles mutate into frogs. Transparent frog can also reproduce, but their grandchildren die shortly after birth.

It's amazing as a new way to be able to observe the development of the internal body through time. Researchers also can see at what stage the cancer starts. However, its unrealistic to apply same method to mammals as their skin structure is different.

Eid Mubaarak!

Dear all,

This should be my last day in office before a long raya break and may well be my last posting to this blog before I come back to office in two weeks time.

On behalf of myself and my small family, I wish all of you here Eid Mubaarak - minal eidin wal faaizin, kullu aam, aantum bikhair - amin. I pray that you have a prosperous, rewarding and a healthy life for the year to come. For those who fast, may the sunrise of the eid brings you the joy and the moment to strengthen brotherhood and friendships. May this teach all of us that once we fall, we need to get up and keep on going because such is life. For my dear students, I believe that all of you can do it and you will do it beautifully.

SELAMAT HARI RAYA IDILFITRI, MAAF ZAHIR DAN BATIN.

Hamid

Lili

Marwan @ Ultraman Tiga

Secondary Data

Dear dr,

(Marlina, norafiza, yene, and izwan) said.......

about the secondary data that u asked us to get from Sabah Wildlife Department. last tuesday, we made an appoinment with Puan Jumrafiah, and she agreed to meet us at 11.00a.m. However, when we get there, she already left to Lok Kawi due to the unexpected business. we also tried to meet with En. Karim but still, he was not there. Somewhere in Sandakan if i'm not mistaken.
the another day, we went again to the library. try to look for the data about illegal harvestment but they were not there. Puan Azren whose incharged there said, we still need to meet Pn. Jumrafiah because she is the one whose exactly knows about those things.

about the sea tide table, we already have it...the data is based on k.kinabalu and Tawau area year 2007.

those we want to seek for your advice regarding this situation,....

thanks

gastrolith

dear dr,

i have read a book about gastrolith component in the crocodile's stomatch, here i put the contents about. i hope that u can give an opinion about that.....

thanks

Terdapat banyak artikel yang menceritakan tentang objek-objek keras yang di jumpai di dalam perut buaya seperti batu misalnya. Kepentingan objek keras ini, sangatlah jelas sehinggakan perut buaya yang hidup di kawasan yang berlumpur juga turut mngandungi objek tersebut. Dalam sesetengah kes, batu-batuan yang di jumpai di dalam perut buaya berasal dari kawasan yang beberapa batu jauhnya. Terdapat juga direkodkan objek-objek seperti botol air, termos, dan plastik juga dijumpai di dalam perut buaya tersebut. Pada mulanya objek-objek ini dianggap bertindak sebagai pemberat, untuk memberikan lebih keseimbangan ketika berada di dalam air. Namun begitu, sesudah diperiksa berat objek-objek tersebut hanya memberikan satu peratus daripada berat keseluruhan buaya tersebut. Maka, satu eksperimen telah dijalankan terhadap tubuh caiman dengan menggunakan sinar-x. Setelah 36 jam apabila caiman tersebut diberi makan tikus yang telah mati, mereka mendapati bahawa objek-objek keras tersebut berputar sehingga tikus tersebut tercerai menjadi serpihan kecil. Berdasarkan eksperimen ini, objek-objek keras yang terdapat dalam tubuh buaya membantu dalam proses pencernaan makanan ( Penny, 1991). Ini jelas sekali kerana buaya hanya menelan mangsa tanpa mengunyah, di mana proses menelan banyak dibantu oleh daya graviti (Ahmad, 1998).

Fighting Fish (Betta spp)

Hi! I've collected some fighting fish since early this year and some were kept alive at home. These two have been in tanks for many months now and I don't think I can breed them - for lacks of concentration and time constraint. So I decided to turn them into specimens instead.

The one on top is Betta chini, a recently described species from Klias swamp. The one below is B. unimaculata from Tabin Wildlife Reserve.

The are problems with describing bettas because the characteristics of all of them are conservative and almost similar. For exsample, they might have almost similar number of rays in their fins. S

So, you would stand up and say "Itu sinang maa, diolang punia kaler lain maa..". Yes! I thought so, but no, that is not the case. Colors depend a lot on the water quality, food, temperature, physical condition and also the psychological condition of the bloody fish.

If you looked closely, the shape of the mouth may give a clue. You can also see a black streak along the side of the head of B. chini. However, the size of B. unimaculata is almost twice as big!

Harnitta, a student from Nat uni of Singapore did the taxonomy of bettas from Peninsula, Sarawak, Kalimatnan and Brunei. I think he has finished under the supervision of Dr Peter Ng, NUS. There are 5 recognised species from Sabah - I wonder what they are.

Hamid.

The Tiga Snakes (yello lipped sea krait projects)

Cindy and Aiman,
I receive a cc of Cindy's proposal to be sent to Sabah Parks by Dr Pushpa (Wow, Pushpa! You di this for real? - I thought Cindy should do that)

Hey, Cindy!!!! You are harassing my friend there. don't you know how to write a letter?

aiman, I've not seen yours and I don't know if you are going to send one for the permit.

But please note that the new Assistant Director (Research) at Sabah Park is Mr. Maklarin Hj, Lakim.

Hamid.

WELCOME, LEHA AND FARINA!

Dear all,
our new contributors are Nurzhafarina Othman (now in Cardiff - being grilled up her throat with lectures and lab work on Bornean elephant) and Nor Shalihah Sidek (now a research officer attached with WWF Malaysia - P Malaysia). Both are ex-Consrv Biol students.

Guys, welcome and please contribute when you feel like doing so. I can entertain questions and share ideas whenever i think is appropriate and I am able to do so - this is what this blog's all about.

In a few days another space tourist will depart the earth and go up space - he 's from Malaysia and in Malaysia he is called an "astronout". For you guys who are scientist, you can see now how easy a correct definition can be sprawled and diverted into one that is completely useless. It takes a lot to be an astronout - that's for sure. Malaysian style astronout is as easy as entering and competing for Akademi Fantasia. Let's be proud of our RM 95M because with that money we send a Malaysian to space. That's it.

p/s guess what? I have taken a lot of CB students' marks because they gave wrong definitions for many terms in biology - and that is wahy I cannot tolerate the astronout thing.

Hamid.

Thanks For Inviting Me

Thanks Dr Hamid,

It is a pleasure to read your interesting and great blog. Reporting your days and experience like a journalist in enviro magazine!Good to know what you get and lots of things can be share here, dont u?

Hi to all bloggers, nice to be here.

On being stylish and brand-concious

Even if you're a coconut crab!

After walking around Sipadan looking for nesting turtles (didn't see any that night), we decided to go into the forest. Sipadan is a small island, 600m long, 400m wide and has a forest. Just we were about to leave the police quarters (a part of the previous resort from where Malaysians and tourists were kidnapped by the Abu Sayyef some years ago) we met this guy - clad in blue 20th century plastic garment. You see, a coconut crab is a hermit crab, period. In it's early life, this naked-born crab has to find something to cover his private parts - which is the abdomen (This is Malaysia, you can be charged for being naked in the open!). So, yes, he tried on many shells and other things - finally he thought this blue bottle cap is the best.

I showed this picture to Datin Glenda Noramly the next day - and she said "I like this guy - he's got style". Sure, I thought. And branded too - the brand is Dynamo. Here goes:

This guy has got to grow with style and will not settle on one brand - obviously the washing liquid bottle cap is standard-issue and will never grow. So a large coconut crab, like what I posted earlier, is entitled to be naked in the open.

n/b - at night, and if you see a clumsy coconut crab go down to the shore, you can be sure that it is a female wanting to disperse her eggs into the water. The larvae spend life in the water as planktons before coming up ashore and fitting its abdomen into any empty shell.

Would you eat a coconut crab? I don't think I would but it is on sale in KK - OCEAN seafood restaurant to be exact - because I saw one there.

Hamid.

The coconut that love the crab!

Hi all!

It shouldabeen the crab that love the coconut - have you seen a coconut crab before? Here's one, we captured in Sipadan and let go - Birgus latro the largest land athropod in the world, grows up to 5kgs. The one we got might have been around 3 kgs. There are two forms - blue and orange with the blue form being more common. This one is blue.

We purposely went after this crab at night and found two, this was the second one that we actually captured, well, I lied - didn't actually captured it. We used a pvc pipe that the guy grabbed with his pinchers and that was how I brought it to our place. He hanged there for about 10 minutes.

He became a model first thing the next morning and gave posts no human model can do.

We had a great time in Sipadan and many things happened for first time for me - including he mite-bites, still scratching here.

Hamid.

Koprey and banteng

Dear all,

The debate on the purity of the kouprey (Bos sauveli) being a good natural species went on for several years and recently a bold statement was made that based on analysis on the microsat cytrochrome b sequence - that the kouprey is a hybrid between the banteng (B. javanicus) and the local zebu (B. indicus), and that the kouprey is not worth conserving. Pls note that the number of kouprey is so low that it is difficult to see them in the wild and the forest of Cambodia is not that large either.

However, read Nature 449:124 (based on Hassanin & Ropiquet's 2007 work: see Proc. R. Soc. doi:10.1098/rspb.2007.0830) - that the kouprey is a distinct species. How easy can we go wrong between conserving and not conserving a species?

I explained in my lecture just now that the Borenan banteng might be the only population that can stand proud of being a purebreed when many other populations in the species range has had contacts with domestic cattle.

Problem is, there may be people who are planning hunting one tonight!

Picture is taken from Hassanin & Ropiquet (2007).

Hamid.

The encounter (Sea Gypsy of Semporna)

Hi all.

I heard many stories about this group of people and I think at one point some academicians at UMS set out to study them, too. The Sea Gypsy refers to a group of people that live at sea more than 60% of the time, nomads and usually have no official identification and no country that they belong to. They, otherwise, live prefectly well. They can be found in the tropics from Andaman, Myanmar, Thailand, Some parts of Indochina, eastern Sabah, the Philippines and Indonesia. I think many other countries have them, too. I met them recently - not on purpose but two small canoes were taken in and booked for tresspassing the Marine Park. They are known here as the Pala'o - from the word "perahu" - people who live in boats.

Three boys, the smallest said that he was 9 - He looks more like 12 to me. But it is obvious that they do not have a dimension of numbers and time (a study by an expert in Andaman). They are free people and age does not mean anything.

That is not the traditinal boat that they used to have. Traditional gypsy in Semporna used the lepa-lepa, a long wooden sail boat with a lot of carvings and colors. They do away with lepa-lepa now and use boats made/bought in Semporna. Funnily, the Regatta Lepa Lepa, held annually in Semporna is not about the Palao - it is about the boat thet they have now abandoned. Is their culture being erased?

The bamboo poles seen on the port and starboard of the boat are actually wrapped with rain-tarp for shelter and they sometimes even sleep on this tiny boat at sea. Of course they have bigger ones. Space is made on deck by having bamboo flooring between the outriggers. In the trunk are some polysterine boxes for fish and other sea catch.

They even cook on the boat. Seen here is their stove - fire is made on sand and stones. In the wok is tapioca "putu" a popular food at sea not only amongst this people but for fishermen in general. Slightly to the lower left of the wok is a smoked fish - almost burnt. But many of their protein is not cooked and eaten raw, just like what the Japanese likes to eat. "Latok" - a seaweed that looks like a bunch of grapes, "Tayum" - the sea urchin, "ba'at" - the sea cucumber and "tehe-tehe" another sea urchin are almost always eaten raw. The words are Bajau - I'm unsure if Pala'o use the same words. The bamboo deck is clearer here.

Then the Park management recorded their details - writing their names and their island, whatever they say. Even the boy clad in blue t-shirt was unsure if what he told the guy was right or wrong. The boy in Hawaiian short appeared indifferent and wished he was at sea. The mid-age man at the back seemed to know all of them and spoke on behalf of the group - in Suluk. They have their own language. They were in two canoes - I'm switching between boat and canoe here, I feel a boat is too modern and too big. Whatever. One was a dugout canoe that was confiscated but the boat with outrigger was returned to them. As a punishment, they were asked to do community work - collecting rubbish in and around the Park complex which they did without hesitation. Then, the Park management fed them with rice and fruits, which they ate well. They they were let go. Their catch - three large octopuses were confiscated. Each was about 3kg. I asked the boy (scratching his head) what he call it in their language - he said "koheta".

On my way to Sipadan, I saw this Palao village on near the island of Omadal. The stilt huts were erected on a sand-bank mid sea, seen here at low tide. Huts were small, but one of them had a tv antennae. In there live about 5 people, usually 3 or three generations. They never had their huts destroyed by storm. Amazing. Then I passed the Kapalai island resort - also a sandbank but a resort was built on stilt - just the way the Palao built theirs. They are worth learning from!

You can read many amazing stories of the sea gypsies in this world. One was the story about the Moken people of the Andaman that saved themselves from the recent tsunami by relying on stories told to them by words of mouth. They knew the wave was coming and ran to higher land. Their village was gone but nobody died.

OK, guys. I think they are amazing people.

Hamid.

Klias Fish (Harnitta)

We know some species of fish from Klias as follows:

Betta sp (at least 2 species, B. akarensis and B. chini)
Channa sp (C. melasoma and C. striatus - but you need to do a deep taxonomic work on the striatus - learn all meristics and morphometrics of this species, this will help you)

Anabas testudineus
Ompok sp (undetermined species - I think there are more of this group)
Puntius johorensis (first record for Sabah)
Clarias sp (several species)
Nandus nebulosus (there might be another species - type was found in Sandakan)
Trichogaster sp (at least 2 species)

And several others that are all interesting.

I think, we need a strategy because some groups might need proper attention. The Clariids, Silurids and Anabantids (Bettas) are the most important groups. I suggest that night fishing using finer nets and three-pieces gill nets will produce most of the interesting fish. Also, because we will spend the night in the swamp, a frequent check at night will reduce many casualties and unnecessary damage to some fish.

It will pay to preserve them as quickly as possible - and I specifically refer to the stomach contents.

Hamid.

Goannas in the making

Hello, all.

I was in Sipadan and some other islands near Semporna recently - that was my first time in Sipadan, and believe it or not, I think it was enough. I was there 2 half days, one full day and 2 full nights. The first thing I did was trying to find the nests of the megapodes. Found three. I was joined later by friends and we hit the trails (in no time we finished the whole island - it is too small to be famous). And we found this:





Two goannas (Varanus salvator), mating (of course the maximum number must be two). As you can see, the male is the one on top looking to the left, the female is looking to the right. Both of them, I think, felt disturbed by us pointing cameras and passing obscene comments and laughed from the top of our lungs (Somehow, we thought fasting and watching mating goannas can go together, and it is scientific and educational - you may disagree, I won't mind). Male goannas have two hemipenis - literally means, they have two penises! They are located to the left and to the right of the cloaca and can be easily be seen if the tail-base is given some firm pressure (but large male goannas almost always "show" their genitals, fully erected when threatened - an ability no human being can ever perform no matter how much one would ever wanted to do it!). When mating, a male can choose to use either one. In this picture, the male is using his left penis. The sperm sacs of female goannas are also located at the same position, and they, too, have two sacs. That's as equal as the world can be. We decided to leave them alone - hey, this is Sipadan and it is the paradise. Everybody is entitled to do whatever he wants to do.

The male goanna in the picture was about 3 meters long from snout to tip of tail and may be about 8-9 kgs. The female was a little smaller. I caught one of that size in Pulau Tiga in 2000.

I personally saw many more goannas and I disturbed another one who was basking. Well, he started it first, hissing at me when I was passing. So I responded my throwing pieces of coconut skins (I did it three times, all three landed on him giving audible thuds). He lashed his tail to the coconut skins. Then I left him, still angry (didn't check his hemipenis, nevertheless). Hope I helped with his body temperature.

But Sipadan can be nasty. Tiny creatures, may be mites have crawled up my legs and started making nasty bites in areas where my underpants grip my skin. Like this:





Almost al of us had it. As I said, once is enough. No more Sipadan for me, thank you. I never saw the mites or whatever that did the crime on me. They must have been really-really tiny and loved underpants.

I have some other things to write about the trip, but let me keep them for later.

Hamid.