Due to irresponsibility or ignorance, many animals are abandoned once they have outgrown their cuteness. Some people release them for religious merit making, failing to realize that their apparent act of mercy is instead an extreme act of cruelty. It was estimated that 90% of the animals being released died within the day of release, being unable to adapt to the environment. For those that were found alive, many were found with skin diseases, suffered malnutrition or had broken limbs. The few species that manage to adapt and thrive in our environment feed on our native animals, compete with them for food or introduce diseases to them. This can lead to extinction of local animals. Some of them, such as the freshwater stingrays found in Seletar reservoir and the snapping turtle found recently in Mac Ritchie can kill and amputate fingers of human beings respectively.
I am interested to find out how much people who are residing in Singapore know about the harmful effects of releasing animals into the wild and their stand on this practice.
Reason for Attitudinal Survey
The issue regarding the release of non-native animals into reservoirs, parks and even nature reserves had been brought up repeatedly on news programs and newspapers. Yet, many invasive species are still being found in the wild, especially shortly before or after Vesak day. It is important to find out the awareness level and public opinions to enable suitable awareness campaigns to be made to curb such cruel and harmful practices.
(Edited)
American bullfrog. 
http://www.turtlesite.info/pictures/Turtle,R
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http://www.iscr.ed.ac.uk/news/Images2/xenopusfrog.jpg
10 comments:
There is certainly a need for greater awareness on the issue. Thankfully, www.Acres.org.sg has decided to lead the way and stop the problem of abandoned animals. For the past 6 years Acres has successfully campaigned for improvements in local legislation to protect wild animals, rescuing over 160 animals from the illegal wildlife trade. Right now, Acres are also actively fund raising in hopes of furnishing the largest animal shelter in Singapore.
yu ming,
Thanks to the help of Acres, I believe many abandoned animals have been saved. But I am sure there are also a lot more which did not make it. However, I feel that the more pressing issue would be the kind of damage which has been inflicted on the balance of the ecosystem. The damage of an foreign species, be it plants or animals, can have tremendous effects on the native species and the worse part is that it is really really hard to reverse that once the damage has been done. You cannot really get rid of some of those invasive foreign creepers you find in the Kent Ridge Park.
Yu Ming,
This issue is not just about abandoning animals, neither is it on illegal wildlife trade, although it is affected them.
It is more about the act of releasing animals into places that are not part of their natural habitats, resulting in their death or damage to our delicate and precious natural environment in Singapore (as mentioned by Lyon).
Many of the animals released are in fact animals that are being sold as food, such as quails and the American bullfrogs.
I think this issue is looked into by Nparks and environmentalists more than by Acres.
Thanks, Oxy. You're interested in this topic. And then what? What would be your general research question? What population would you survey regarding this?
There are some language problems here, too, especially in verb use:
1) This often happen when the young terrapin outgrown their ‘cuteness’ and starting biting their owners, became too big for their tanks or producing bad odour due to their waste.
2) Due to irresponsibility or ignorance, many animals were abandoned once they have outgrown their cuteness
Thank you Brad. I do not quite understand what you meant by verb use but I've edited my tenses. I have also added the research question and target population. =)
Dear Oxy,
I have some suggestions:
1) This happens when young terrapins outgrow their 'cuteness' and start biting their owners, become too big for their tanks or produce bad odour due to their wastes.
2) Due to irresponsibility or ignorance, many animals are abandoned once they outgrow their cuteness.
Haha.. I hope these are correct! :p
I think that sometimes it is the child who has 'outgrown' the excitement of keeping a pet as well. I live near Little Guilin and there are MANY terrapins in the water there. Coincidentally, there is a primary school (my alma mater) across Little Guilin, and I remember that the principal used to lecture us during morning assembly regarding the 'dumping' of those poor terrapins in the Little Guilin. In addition, it created another problem and that is the pollution of the water as it is congested with terrapins. People also throw bread and other food in there occasionally just to watch the swarm of terrapins fight for the food. It is apparent that there is a lack of food for the animals as well. :(
With regards to this topic, I feel that you can perhaps target a more specific group of people to survey? For instance, people with pets or without pets. I think the knowledge of the effects of releasing animals into the wild and their stand on this practice will differ.
Dear Oxy,
I did not know that animals died withink 24 hours after releasing them! Sorry, I have to admit I am one of the many people who released animals into the sea because of religious purpose.
To tell you the exact figures, I have released 1 fish and 1 crab. That's all. I will never ever release animals in my life again!
Actually, I learnt about how it is not good to release animals into the wild because they either get eaten or compete with the other animals for food. However, this information obviously is not taught to the devotees. To them, releasing the animals into the sea is saving them from being eaten by humans. In this way, we are sort of earning some merits in our lifetime. The truth is, the animals are not eaten by humans but by sea animals! Also, they might not be accustomed to the climate in Singapore because of their species difference. In addition, if the species managed to survive and thrive in Singapore, they would replace the local species and dominate Singapore! The humans will be indirectly killing many other species.
Oh my god, I know so much but still...!
That is why I think it is important to first communicate with the various religious groups to persuade and convince them that what they are doing is not right.
Also, I think Singaporeans may not know alot on the harmful effects of releasing animals. We are constantly bombarded with information on air pollution, greenhouse effect etc but seldom on wildlife.
Perhaps, by bringing attention to the relevant authorities on this issue, NUS can also create more SS modules like Natural Heritage of Singapore to educate people on the topic. Anyway that module rock!
Thank you very much for the revision. I really appreiate your effort. The question (implied) and rationale for the survey are quite clear.
There are still some language issues I will coorect here with an edit and then explain:
1) Due to irresponsibility or ignorance, many animals were(ARE) abandoned once they had outgrown(OUTGROW) their cuteness.
I would use simple present tense to demonstrate that these acts are general behaviors that have happened, are still happening and will probably continue to happen if not understood and addressed.
2) The few species that managed(MANAGE) to adapt and thrive in our environment feed on our native animals, then compete with them for food or introduce diseases to them.
The rationale here is the same.
3) For those that were found alive, many were found with skin diseases, were(no "were"/SUFFERED) malnutrition or had broken limbs.
4) This happened(HAPPENS) when the young terrapins outgrown(OUTGROW) their ‘cuteness’ and started(START) biting their owners, became(BECOME) too big for their tanks or produced(PRODUCE) bad odour due to their waste.
I hope this helps, Oxy. Please speak to me if you have other questions.
Hi Oxy,
I believe that we are able to understand this issue mainly because we are biology/science students. Students in other faculties or religions might have a different viewpoint on this. Perhaps in our survey, we might want to compare different religions or faculties to see how the opinions differ.
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