Project update 21, publication update 19: Project Pteropus delivers results!

Sheema completed her PhD in Ecology last November, when she successfully defended her thesis at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. Now comes the good part: sharing the results, data and information from her research! We’re happy to announce that 2 new papers from her thesis just got published this month.

Fruit bats are important ecosystem service providers, pollinating flowers and dispersing seeds over long distances. Instead of protecting these useful flying mammals however, humans are threatening their survival through hunting and persecution.

Finding out what flying foxes eat is a first step towards discovering what flowers they pollinate and what seeds they disperse. This will help strengthen the cause to promote their protection. Project Pteropus started investigating this question in 2015, and now, the results of the analysis are finally out! We’ve made a first start towards answering the question of ‘What do the Tioman Island flying foxes eat?’

Identifying flying fox food plants by collecting and analysing droppings

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Video Update 7: Harimau Selamanya

In conjunction with Earth Day, a documentary is being released to call on Muslims to take better care of our planet’s precious biodiversity.

This five-minute film, entitled ‘Harimau Selamanya’, highlights the need to protect our environment in the context of Islam, with a special focus on the plight of the Malayan tiger.

It includes a special appearance by HRH Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin, along with experts who impart their knowledge on the responsibility of a good Muslim to protect the planet and its creatures.

This documentary highlights the tenets of Islam, which forbid Muslims from hunting any species to extinction. Such acts are declared as ‘haram’ and every follower is duty bound as ‘caliphs’ to protect Allah’s creations.

Watch the video here!

More details on the background of this video can be found here.

Follow the video’s impact through:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/harimaubuatselamanya/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rimauselamanya

Instagram: https://instagram.com/harimauselamanya

Project update 20: Harimau Selamanya year 2 in review

The end of 2015 marks the completion of the second year for Project Harimau Selamanya. The year 2015 has been more productive and eventful than we could have ever imagined when we started off! In the space of a year, we have continued deepening collaboration with state and federal government partners. Our field team has also strengthened their fieldwork and wildlife detection skills through professional training and field practice. Best of all, our camera trap efforts have paid off with important data to help with the conservation of Kenyir’s forests! All these were made possible with Perhilitan and the state government’s commitment to project collaboration, as well as the generous funding from Panthera and Woodland Park Zoo.

2015 saw a vibrant field team in Harimau Selamanya headed by Reuben, Wai Yee, Sri and Junn Kitt and staffed by our fantastic field assistants Puyee, Baki, Donos, Maslan, Landur and Rahmat. We were also joined by enthusiastic and conservation-driven research assistants Akmal, Zatul and Shu Woan.

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The 2015 Harimau Selamanya team

The 2015 team oversaw three simultaneously-running major projects: Continue reading