Confirmed sighting: A small pod of Irrawaddy dolphins seen in Tawau coastal waters. (Photo courtesy of Shavez Cheema).
KOTA KINABALU: A team of conservationists is embarking on a dolphin conservation project by engaging with local communities.
Shavez Cheema, founder of 1StopBorneo Wildlife, said he sighted dolphins in Sabah’s waters during his research on frogs and mammals.
“A partner of mine who specialises in the study of insects has also reported seeing dolphins in residential areas close to the sea, ” he said.
He said there was a need to create more awareness about dolphins and felt that the best way to protect and conserve them was through engagement with locals.
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Published on: Sunday, January 03, 2021
By: Shavez Cheema
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Besides swimming, pangolins also have the ability to climb rocks.
BEING part of the leadership of various wildlife rescues in Borneo either physically leading them or having a network of rescuers in different cities and towns in Borneo, we advise and guide them the best way to release them.
In Sabah, for example, we mostly collaborate with the Wildlife Rescue Unit and give them the information leading to rescues whenever appropriate. We have successfully conducted 137 rescues on Borneo with recorded details and photographs of each operation up to date at November 2020 (details available on request).
Description:
A parasitic fig wasp at about 4mm long (ovipositor included). Escaped from a male fruit of the Cuming s Fig (Ficus cumingii). This is a parasitic wasp which does not pollinate the figs as it does not need to enter the fruits. Since the females have long ovipositors, she can easily inject her eggs directly into the fig from outside. Only fig wasps which enters fig fruits are beneficial parasites while fig wasps with long ovipositor like these are parasitic and does not bring any benefit to figs.
Habitat:
Found after cutting open a male Cuming s fig fruit. Ficus cumingii is a common fig species from Philippines which have successfully arrived the east coast of Sabah, Borneo and slowly becoming abundant in the urban areas. This species is unique where it has some leaves that are growing opposite to each other which is unlike all the other fig species. Although this photo shows the side of the plant which have non-opposite leaves instead. Leaves are are very rough with t