Another victim of abandoned fishing line: Hornbill
Posted by BESG on 25 June 09, Thursday
Contributed by Wang Luan Keng
Wang Luan Keng received another dead bird recently. It was an Oriental Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris), found dangling upside-down from a mangrove tree. It was caught on some fishing line left behind by some irresponsible people. The body was still a bit warm when it was retrieved. Autopsy results confirmed it was strangled to death. The adult female is mature and in fact, was almost ready to breed, having several large follicles in her ovary. The specimen is now deposited in the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore.”
We appeal to amateur anglers not to discard their used fishing lines indiscriminately. So far, we have documented a few birds entangled. In most cases they either got strangled or died from starvation, unable to release themselves to feed. Anything you do not want, please discard them properly into bins.
In April 2007, a Buffy Fish Owls (Ketupa ketupu) got entangled in a discarded fishing line.
In February 2008, a Little Heron (Butorides striatus) was found dead under similar circumstances.
In March 2008, another heron was also found dangling from a tree, again dead.
In May 2009, a Javan Myna (Acridotheres javanicus) was seen dangling from another discarded fishing in Bidadari.
Now, this…
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Categories: Hornbills, Illegal-Irresponsible
Comment by Haniman
Made Thursday, 25 of June , 2009 at 11:42 pm
I doubt fishing is even permissable in these mangrove/forest areas.Maybe the authorities ought to increase patrols and enforce the laws against illegal fishing and littering.Merely having signages obviously isn’t working enough.
Comment by TY Tan
Made Friday, 26 of June , 2009 at 12:23 am
I have been directed to this… by Ria, and I would like to offer my 2 cents.
I am a fly angler who has just came back to Singapore, and I was wondering why most people back home had a negative view on fisher folk.
Well, I shouldn’t ask I guess. Evidence is right there.
Needless to say, there is a small group of eco green sport fishermen who are very concerned with the indifferent attitude of the local angler population. We the sport anglers ourselves suffered when we see amateur fishermen pillage our fishing grounds that we clean up and take care of, often to be poached to the point of barren land in a couple of months.
As a result, a group of us is forming a society that will provide the services resembling the Fish and Wildlife services in the US; managing our fish stocks, ensuring the integrity of our habitat and wildlife, educating the public to have ownership for our natural heritage.
Lastly but not least, we hope to provide dialogue between sport anglers, agencies and nature groups, so we could come up with an effective deterrent to poaching and destructive habits and practices as so sadly illustrated in this post.
There’s too much to say, but I would like to share. Please provide me with the group email address
Regards, TY Tan
Comment by Choo Teik Ju
Made Friday, 26 of June , 2009 at 9:18 am
Not only poor and inconsiderate anglers, poor enforcement at protected area is also the main contributor to such occurence. Cases such as releasing pets, foreign species, illegal dumping and poaching are very active in our reserve and parks - just wonder what are our authorities doing. As usual, they have lots of excuse when comes to public feedback. Awareness to nature is an issue I guess.
