Lesson Learnt #1: Don't bother taking pictures at Night Safari unless you've got a really pro camera that can take photos under dim lightning.
can you spot that Greater Mousedeer in the middle of the photo?
Now that was supposed to be a deer in the middle.
It took me less than 5 pathetic shots before I was convinced that my camera was just 'sucky', according to somebody. Flash photography wasn't allowed, and so there was nothing much I could do but to pack my cam away in my bag.
Nevertheless the trip was enjoyable, and most of the time I was playing this game 'Spot-the-animal-in-the-dark'. Ahaha. I didn't like how the tiger paced incessantly up and down in its exhibit though; looks like its natural instincts been suppressed.
One thing I'd like to highlight is the plight of the Malayan Pangolin (Manis Javanica) in Asia. There was this huge poster at the exhibit showing gory pictures and descriptions of how the Malayan Pangolins are poached for their meat (that includes baby pangolins) and skinned for their scales in TCM. Yikes. Untill I saw the poster, I didn't know that pangolins were facing a serious threat due to illegal poaching.
I did a little search on the Malayan Pangolin and came across this website www.savepangolins.org and here's some quick facts:
1. Pangolins are scaly ant-eaters which are present in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
2. There are four species of Asian pangolins: the Malayan or Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica), the Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata), the Chinese or Formosan pangolin (Manis pentadactyla), the Palawan or Phillipine pangolin (Manis culionensis).
3. All of them, except the Palawan pangolin, are listed under Appendix II of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) [Appendix II lists species that are not necessarily now threatened with extinction but that may become so unless trade is closely controlled - CITES]
4. Malayan Pangolin is listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as endangered.
5. Pangolins are difficult to maintain without expert care and rarely survive in captivity.
In Singapore, the Malayan Pangolin is found in Central Catchment Area, Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and Pulau Tekong, but their numbers are relatively low. Although trade in Pangolin meat is unseen in Singapore, it is prevalent in other parts of Asia, especially China. Like almost all other TCM products, it is not scientifically proven that Pangolin scales contain health benefits to us humans.
Should you consume a TCM product in the future, think twice and check if an animal has not died in vain in its making.
