Soca Warriors Online Discussion Forum
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: Sando on December 09, 2011, 09:20:59 AM
-
Just can't stand the way our locals treat our animals in T&T, they killing everything out and sooner or later we will have nothing.
(http://animalrescue.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451c1c569e201157190689f970b-320wi)
A shipment of 83 yellow-headed parrots, 9 black headed caiques, 10 conures, 16 orange-winged parrots, an agouti and a wild hog were seized on Thursday, June 25th by Customs and Excise Officers at Cedros, Trinidad and Tobago after being brought in illegally by boat from the Venezuelan mainland. The perpetrators were charged for illegally importing prohibited animals.
(http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0dRf0kU82rckx/610x.jpg)
Four smuggled Caique parrots sit in a cage at the Emperor Valley Zoo in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Four police officers in Trinidad intercepted a smuggling boat at gunpoint and stole 1,000 endangered birds and monkeys along with 400 pounds of wild animal meat, according to authorities. The boat had sailed from Venezuela and the illicit load was estimated to be worth about $500,000.
(http://www.trueknowledge.com/images/thumbs/180/250/Blue-headed_Pionus_(Pionus_menstruus)_-on_branch2.jpg)
The Blue-headed Parrot, also known as the Blue-headed Pionus, Pionus menstruus, is a medium large parrot. It is about 27 cm long and they are mainly green with a blue head and neck, and red under tail feathers. It is a resident bird in tropical and subtropical South America and southern Central America, from Costa Rica, Venezuela and Trinidad south to Bolivia and Brazil. It is named for its medium-blue head and neck.
(http://images2.sina.com/english/world/p/2009/0506/U99P200T1D239443F8DT20090506200206.jpg)
Three smuggled raccoons sit in a cage at the Emperor Valley Zoo in Port of Spain, Trinidad, Tuesday, May 5. Four police officers in Trinidad intercepted a smuggling boat at gunpoint and stole 1,000 endangered birds and monkeys along with 400 pounds of wild animal meat, according to authorities. (AP Photo/Shirley Bahadur).
(http://images2.sina.com/english/world/p/2009/0506/U99P200T1D239443F12DT20090506200206.jpg)
A smuggled monkey hangs in a cage at the Emperor Valley Zoo in Port of Spain, Trinidad, Tuesday, May 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Shirley Bahadur). Officers in Trinidad allegedly hijacked a smuggling boat. The boat had sailed from Venezuela carrying more than 500 bull finches, 300 picoplat songbirds and an assortment of monkeys — all crammed into tiny cages piled up on the craft, officials said.
(http://www.newsday.co.tt/galeria/2008-07-30-4-3A.jpg)
OCELOT RESCUED: This Ocelot was one of several endangered and protected animals rescued by game wardens yesterday following a raid at a house in upscale Haleland Park, Maraval
(http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/leica/uploaded_images/Redcapped-Cardinal-072808_01-708467.jpg)
Red-capped Cardinal digiscoped @ Caroni Swamp, Trinidad 28 July 08.
(http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/leica/uploaded_images/SavannahHawk-072908_01-714796.jpg)
Savanna Hawk (adult) perches in Moriche Palm, Wallerfield, Trinidad 29 July 08
(http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/leica/uploaded_images/Redbellied-Macaw-072908_03-775533.jpg)
Red-bellied Macaw
(http://www.birdseen.co.uk/images/video/trinidad/whitelinedtan2.jpg)
Male and female White-lined Tanagers
(http://www.albertandbrady.com/images/IMG_3121copy.jpg)
Blue-headed Parrots
(http://www.albertandbrady.com/images/IMG_4015copy.jpg)
A Southern Lapwing
(http://www.albertandbrady.com/images/IMG_4065copyb.jpg)
A Savannah Hawk
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/christopherbarran/3614547123/in/photostream/)
(http://www.greenantilles.com/admin/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/yellowbilledparrot.jpg)
(http://www.travelwithachallenge.com/Images/Travel_Article_Library/Trinidad/Trinidad-Birds/Violaceous-Trogon.jpg)
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3153/2832844607_59e4eedcfa_z.jpg)
Blue & Yellow Macaw (Ara ararauna)
(http://static.flickr.com/2409/2484437923_1763ded917_z.jpg)
Scarlet Macaw [Ara macao]; Aracang
(http://ny-attractions.com/img/2a/2ab/Wading_Birds.jpg)
(http://www.siamgardens.com/var/47/84533-tb-Dusky_Lory.jpg)
(http://www.globaltwitcher.com/photo/003704.JPG)
(http://www.eco.triniplanet.com/images/birds/channel-billed-toucan.jpg)
Channel-billed Toucan
(http://www.eco.triniplanet.com/images/birds/blue-crowned-motmot.jpg)
Blue-Crowned Motmot
(http://www.eco.triniplanet.com/images/birds/oil-bird.jpg)
Oil bird
(http://www.eco.triniplanet.com/images/birds/viiolaceous-trogon.jpg)
Violaceous Trogon
(http://www.eco.triniplanet.com/images/birds/scarlet-ibis.jpg)
Scarlet Ibis
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-hI2QcrC1nUc/TXF4BfY1a_I/AAAAAAAACNo/n8XK1Zkw79k/s400/TTpostcard+021.jpg)
The Leatherback Turtle (an endangered species)
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ao4Tf_nE-qU/TcbxH99dGDI/AAAAAAAACbk/9P5Uk2DFQNk/s400/TTpostcard+058.jpg)
The Toucan
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-N22bHD3swlY/TcbxMtFHFiI/AAAAAAAACbo/QWF8oCHrZX4/s400/TTpostcard+052.jpg)
The Cocrico - National Bird of Tobago
-
Rainbow Boa
(http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/24832_643030978615_1416308_37203275_3131733_n.jpg)
Tree Boa in de mangrove
(http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/24832_643030983605_1416308_37203276_1130177_n.jpg)
Columbian Red tail Boa aka de Macajuel
(http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/24832_643030988595_1416308_37203277_1178523_n.jpg)
Huile or Anaconda
(http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/24832_643030993585_1416308_37203278_1012193_n.jpg)
grass snake
(http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/24832_643030998575_1416308_37203279_1886283_n.jpg)
Horse whip
(http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/24832_643031003565_1416308_37203280_3108520_n.jpg)
Mapapire balsain
(http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/26054_644020206195_1416308_37239175_3007748_n.jpg)
Mapapire Balsain
(http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/17239_639944049845_1416308_37106562_3416027_n.jpg)
Water snake aka Water mocasin (semi poisonous)
(http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/17239_639944114715_1416308_37106574_3114905_n.jpg)
mapapire aka Bothrops atrox or bothrops viper de deadliest snake in the New World
(http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/10128_619641201915_1416308_36317957_7211742_n.jpg)
Bushmaster aka Mapapire Zanana
(http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/10128_619641206905_1416308_36317958_7988539_n.jpg)
-
dem snake could stay with Patrick and Keith....keep dem close tuh dey heart..as dey say..snake in d ballisier
-
Hahaha ah had a picture of a water mapapire but ah cayr find it... may be he hiding in the ballisier
-
Guys, put a caption if you can ?
And only animlas in T&T... :D
-
Guys, put a caption if you can ?
And only animlas in T&T... :D
all dem snake in tnt.
-
Guys, put a caption if you can ?
And only animlas in T&T... :D
all dem snake in tnt.
I wonderin dat too...especially dat rainbow boa
Me eh even know tnt have hawk and toucan in de bush.....moreso ah just read where they rescue that ocelot from,,evrybody in dis slackness oui
-
What about the world famous endangered T&T shitsnake?
(http://www.jayblessed.com/new/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Jack-Warner-JAY-BLESSED.jpg)
;D
-
What about the world famous endangered T&T shitsnake?
(http://www.jayblessed.com/new/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Jack-Warner-JAY-BLESSED.jpg)
;D
niiice
-
that Southern Lapwing..hate that bird..how yuh go put yuh nest where ppl does take dey mornin laps? an he more vex dan me..have men runnin den droppin like dey get sniper bullet
-
we most famous export shoulda head de list
(http://www.trinigourmet.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/buffalypso.jpg)
-
Quenk
(http://www.costaricaweb.cr/photos/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/saino-pecari-tayassu-tajacu-costa-rica.jpg)
Poor-me-one
(http://bushwarriors.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/silky-anteater-photo-credit-pete-oxford.jpg)
Matapel
(http://animalfarmguyana.com/images/large/Tamandua.jpg)
Tatu
(http://www.summagallicana.it/lessico/a/AR_Dasypus_novemcinctus_1.jpg)
Lappe
(http://www.zooinstitutes.com/zoosrating/images/2.jpg)
-
Matapel??!!
People does hunt dat?
-
Trinidad and Tobago's Enigmatic Emblem: Symbol of Struggle and Strength, will take crap from it's master.
(http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/10128_619424206775_1416308_36310238_6681028_n.jpg)
Blue Crab.
(http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/10128_619424281625_1416308_36310252_6795696_n.jpg)
Mountain crab
(http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/17239_639944079785_1416308_37106567_5780540_n.jpg)
morocoy
(http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/10128_619424296595_1416308_36310255_4337053_n.jpg)
ground dove
(http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/10128_619424121945_1416308_36310221_6663491_n.jpg)
Golden Eye Thrush.
(http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/10128_619424131925_1416308_36310223_1622181_n.jpg)
deer
(http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/17239_639845896545_1416308_37104637_293474_n.jpg)
cascadura
(http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/10128_619639121085_1416308_36317891_2049709_n.jpg)
manicou
(http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/10128_619639161005_1416308_36317899_6285033_n.jpg)
-
Nice thread. Know how long I ain't see a Big Eye Grieve. I did not know that there were 2 kinds of Mapapie. I had only heard of the Balsin, not the Zanana. :beermug:
-
we most famous export shoulda head de list
(http://www.trinigourmet.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/buffalypso.jpg)
A time one a dese try to held me in a dance.
-
Real nice thread. Funny too. the dog-Enigmatic!!!!. Must find something for Jack, eh!!! Wow, an ocelet. I have read so much about ocelets in TT since in primary school. Never seen one, except in pictures. Any pictures of brown dove, blue jean, pawi and kisskeedee!!! What about the sea cow or maneetee? Coral snake? Yuk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-
West Indian Manatee
(http://www.hedweb.com/animimag/manaflor.jpg)
Porcupine
(http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/resources/pablo_goncalves/Coendou2a.jpg/medium.jpg)
Agouti
(http://www.biolib.cz/IMG/GAL/10409.jpg)
Red-tailed squirrel
(http://fireflyforest.net/images/firefly/2009/February/Sciurus-granatensis-1.jpg)
Red Howler Monkey
(http://www.itsnature.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/monkey1.jpg)
White-fronted Capuchin
(http://photos1.hi5.com/0013/034/734/KpkCFN034734-02.jpg)
Water opossum
(http://cienciahoje.uol.com.br/banco-de-imagens/lg/web/images/ch/253/132270a.jpg)
-
Wha bout that snake that use to attack you like a dog? Black body, yellow belly. It used to stand up like a broom. Tigre?
-
Wha bout that snake that use to attack you like a dog? Black body, yellow belly. It used to stand up like a broom. Tigre?
yeah I know what yuh talking about. I have only seen it in a pet store in Sando on Cipero Street, never in de wild.
I think another name for it is "Machette"
-
Wha bout that snake that use to attack you like a dog? Black body, yellow belly. It used to stand up like a broom. Tigre?
yeah I know what yuh talking about. I have only seen it in a pet store in Sando on Cipero Street, never in de wild.
I think another name for it is "Machette"
Machete Savane
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3370/3410828252_04fffb6d52.jpg)
-
where the warbine, crapeau, batchak, guppy?
-
Tallman thanks for that Machete pic
Deeks ah have some pics of paw wee's but ah cayr find it for some reason.
Really amazing that the water manicou have webbed hind feet.
Warbine (not my photo) In south america it's called the TARARIRA
(http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/384950_886669989085_1416308_40526065_520742147_n.jpg)
only known photo of the reef in toco. Coral
(http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/20235_640822394635_1416308_37140378_5270070_n.jpg)
Paw wee.
(http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/17239_639944064815_1416308_37106565_2019688_n.jpg)
Corbeau
(http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/10128_619424306575_1416308_36310257_6970632_n.jpg)
Manicou and Young...
(http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/10128_619639170985_1416308_36317901_476910_n.jpg)
-
Wha bout that snake that use to attack you like a dog? Black body, yellow belly. It used to stand up like a broom. Tigre?
yeah I know what yuh talking about. I have only seen it in a pet store in Sando on Cipero Street, never in de wild.
I think another name for it is "Machette"
Machete Savane
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3370/3410828252_04fffb6d52.jpg)
This is ah real learnin thread for me....allyuh say it does stand up like a broom?? for real?
-
Nobody could tame a Warbine. ;D Them thing prefer to commit suicide than live in a bowl. I remember waiting for guppies to swim into the cup. Also called seven colors. But the best way to catch them was to splash the water up on the shore and grab them before they dead. :D
Dutty that's what I've been told about the Machete Savane.... From that pic it seems pretty high already. But tell you what I have never known that a Qwenk was real. ;D
-
matte or zandolee ? ;D
(http://www.almacollege.20m.com/images/lizard.jpg)
corn bird (weaver bird)
(http://ts1.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=1431937755852&id=7774411cd623f479f2f8239a424c4e18)
-
Yeah!!!! Boy!!! Cover up a concrete block under some Cow Sh*t to ketch them.....They does run into it and knock themselves out. :rotfl: Them thing real nasty.
-
the bad part is that hunting season open so half of them creatures in trouble
-
The mapapire zanana is really a bushmaster and it's not related to the balsain. Some real cool things ah learn about the balsain is that if you hold them by their tail, they can climb upwards and deliver a strike, their venom is both hemotoxic and neurotoxic and they can swim in water. The Zanana is one of the most feared snakes by herpetologist because they can strike really quickly, they can move swiftly, can deliver copious amounts of venom, 80% fatality even when anti venom is administered, and it is also the worlds longest viper.
-
some padnahs from down Fyzo tell when dey was younger they used to go hunting every Sunday. So one Sunday they walkin on the big pipeline and their dog was down below on the ground when they hear a yelp ...dog disappear and they keep walkin fast cause dey know is some big snake take it....
-
The mapapire zanana is really a bushmaster and it's not related to the balsain. Some real cool things ah learn about the balsain is that if you hold them by their tail, they can climb upwards and deliver a strike, their venom is both hemotoxic and neurotoxic and they can swim in water. The Zanana is one of the most feared snakes by herpetologist because they can strike really quickly, they can move swiftly, can deliver copious amounts of venom, 80% fatality even when anti venom is administered, and it is also the worlds longest viper.
Freakin Aye!!!!
-
(http://cdn4.wn.com/pd/20/e2/5cf60f814467aa6fa420290ce0c4_grande.jpg)
Game Cock
(http://www.ttnaturelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Scaled-Pigeon-Trinidad-Birds-wildlife-nature-birdwatching.jpg)
Scaled Pigeon (Columba speciosa)
(http://ibc.lynxeds.com/files/imagecache/photo_940/pictures/DSC018851.JPG)
Scaled Pigeon (Columba speciosa)
(http://www.ttnaturelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Common-Waxbill-Birds-of-Trinidad-Wildlife-Flora-Fauna-Nature.jpg)
Common Waxbill (Estrilda astrild)
(http://www.ttnaturelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Tri-coloured-Munia-Birds-of-Trinidad-Wildlife-Flora-Fauna-Nature.jpg)
Tri-coloured Munia (Lonchura malacca).
(http://www.ttnaturelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Indian-Mongoose-Mammals-of-Trinidad-Wildlife-Flora-Fauna-Nature.jpg)
Mongoose
(http://www.ttnaturelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Swallow-tailed-Kite-Trinidad-Birds-wildlife-nature-birdwatching.jpg)
Swallow-tailed Kite (Elanoides forficatus)
(http://www.ttnaturelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Plumbeous-Kite-Trinidad-birdwatching-wildlife-nature.jpg)
Plumbeous Kite (Ictinia plumbea)
(http://www.ttnaturelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Crimson-crested-Woodpecker-Trinidad-Birds-wildlife-nature-birdwatching.jpg)
Crimson-crested Woodpecker (Campephilus melanoleucos)
(http://www.ttnaturelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Trinidad-and-Tobago-birds-Collared-Trogon-male-a.jpg)
A male Collared Trogon (Trogon collaris)
(http://www.ttnaturelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Trinidad-and-Tobago-birds-Purple-Gallinule.jpg)
Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio martinica)
(http://www.ttnaturelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Red-bellied-Macaws-Birds-Trinidad-and-Tobago.jpg)
Red-bellied Macaws in Santa Flora
(http://www.ttnaturelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Helicops-angulatus-b-snake-Water-Hyacinth-Icacos-Cedros-Venezuela.jpg)
Helicops angulatus (on beach)
(http://www.ttnaturelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Mammals-Trinidad-Tobago-Capuchin-Monkey.jpg)
Capuchin Monkey (Cebus albifrons trinitatis)
(http://www.ttnaturelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Trinidad-and-Tobago-Caterpillar-.jpg)
Unidentified caterpillar
(http://ibc.lynxeds.com/files/imagecache/photo_940/pictures/pvp6.JPG)
Pale-vented Pigeon (Columba cayennensis)
(http://www.pakuser.com/addsimages/1294169464pagon%20for%20sale.jpg)
White Pigeon
(http://www.silvio-co.com/pigeons/Don%20Glionna_files/image015.jpg)
(http://cdn2.sulitstatic.com/images/2011/1025/045958732_041957185636d5f15963dfdb23acd994327ccd5a039f82bfd.jpg)
(http://cdn2.sulitstatic.com/images/2011/1025/04595844_041923600857425256606070f538ab3fb4c03da888c488088.jpg)
-
Kiskadee
(http://www.ttnaturelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Great-Kiskadee-Garden-Birds-Trinidad.jpg)
Blue Jean
(http://www.ttnaturelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Blue-grey-Tanager-Garden-Birds-Trinidad.jpg)
Sucrier (sik-ee-aye)
(http://www.ttnaturelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Bananaquit-Garden-Birds-Trinidad.jpg)
Picoplat
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3284/2693648770_f5dc75b42d.jpg)
Semp
(http://globaltwitcher.com/photo/028795.JPG)
Scissors tail
(http://www.ttnaturelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Fork-tailed-Flycatcher-F-Mohammed-Tyrannus-savana-Trinidad-Tobago-birds-birdwatching-nature-animals-wildlife-environment-flora-fauna.png)
Plantain bird
(http://www.ttnaturelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Yellow-Oriole-Garden-Birds-Trinidad.jpg)
Merle Corbeau
(http://www.ttnaturelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Smooth-billed-Ani-Garden-Birds-Trinidad.jpg)
Grassie
(http://www.ttnaturelink.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Blue-black-Grassquit-Volatinia-jacarina-Trinidad-Tobago-birds-birdwatching-nature-animals-wildlife-environment-flora-fauna.png)
Motmot
(http://gallery.ttnaturelink.com/var/resizes/Birds-of-Trinidad-and-Tobago/Common-birds/BT%20Motmot%20Trinidad.jpg)
-
deer
(http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/17239_639845896545_1416308_37104637_293474_n.jpg)
Manicou and Young...
(http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/10128_619639170985_1416308_36317901_476910_n.jpg)
Well boy, in all the years I lived in Trinidad I've never once seen a deer except at the zoo.
Manicou on the otherhand I saw from time to time, never ate it though. That's a cool pic with the young balancing on a line and all.
-
The Kiskadee is the loudest sounding bird. I was always fascinated by that bird because of the sound it made. "Kiss-kee-dee".
-
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5137/5535468509_5c97f40002.jpg)
Red-billed Tropicbirds from Little Tobago Island
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5137/5543404727_3956d8af4f.jpg)
Goodbye Ruby-Topaz (Birds of Tobago)
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5216/5535471683_316d0544c9.jpg)
Honeycreeper
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5258/5562743122_df782d3bf4_m.jpg)
The Linned Seedeater
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5300/5562742858_17380b20a8_m.jpg)
Bullfinch
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5305/5562742756_5414fe3fcd_m.jpg)
Black Headed Canary male
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5093/5562133825_de6205c3a5_m.jpg)
Rose Breasted Grosbeak
(http://216.158.40.136/Lesser30.jpg)
Bullfinch
(http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_li5u6oMVBq1qeeqk5o1_400.jpg)
ORNATE HAWK EAGLE (Spizaetus ornatus)
-
This real interesting. Been here on and off for 5 years and hardly see any wildlife. Had kiskadees a plenty in the yard and an occassional lizard 9maybe iguana?) Now I'm up by Arima i seeing some cormorant typr birds.
Ate manicou and was given Tatu for xmas dinner last year (urgh!!) Quite scary knowing all these snakes around outside of parliament lol
-
Bat
(http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/17239_639944179585_1416308_37106586_5003935_n.jpg)
Grasshopper
(http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/17239_639944174595_1416308_37106585_576526_n.jpg)
-
Deeks- I think the Cocrico could take the kiskidee for loudest bird. When I was a kid we had a house in Sangster Hill and there was a plum tree on it, when the plum tree was in bloom those birds use to occupy it at the break of dawn, you could forget sleeping in late.
-
Saw some of these in the Amazon, my parents have a huge silk cotton tree in our back yard and these birds have nest on it that probably measures a yard in length.
(http://thewebsiteofeverything.com/animals/birds/img/336-w/Crested-Oropendola.jpg)
the symbol of Nemwil, the sea duck aka pelican.
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mzukbGct3EQ/SwsAZrdsdhI/AAAAAAAAB-k/SqIiFw1tyys/s1600/brown+pelican.jpg)
Quenk
(http://repeatingislands.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/quenk-wild-hog1.jpg?w=500)
Black tip shark used in Bake and Shark, this fella from toco... near the fish market.
(http://www.caribbean-sun.com/img/berichte/bericht_49/bpic1.jpg)
horse in Columbus Bay
(http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/45153_10150238768445375_692520374_14252164_3799341_n.jpg)
Capybara (doh know how they end up in the icacos swamp)
(http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/24748_1204258321101_1667922477_497513_7245551_n.jpg)
-
Next year ah want to come to TnT to do ah dive of the coast of Toco to do ah lil photography of the reef there. Anyone interested could contact meh.
-
who here could post ah pic ah de illusive pussy cyat without teeth.
-
who here could post ah pic ah de illusive pussy cyat without teeth.
it have laws on dis site prohibiting the exhibition of photographs of dat in d wild...sorry :D
-
Daft I remember those birds with the big yellow tails. Yes they used to make some big hanging nests. I grew up in Maracas village. I have never seen those birds again till now. :beermug:
I also remember Trinidad had some big big Locusts, with torns.
And BTW allyuh that dear is Papa Bois eh, because deer doh drink sweet drink. :)
-
This real interesting. Been here on and off for 5 years and hardly see any wildlife. Had kiskadees a plenty in the yard and an occassional lizard 9maybe iguana?) Now I'm up by Arima i seeing some cormorant typr birds.
Ate manicou and was given Tatu for xmas dinner last year (urgh!!) Quite scary knowing all these snakes around outside of parliament lol
Tattoo (amadillo) good... but could see why you'd be queasy.
Manicou is Opossum... aka oversized rat. They could keep that.
-
Btw... cool thread. Wait til Cana reach wid all she bird pictures, lol
-
What about the world famous endangered T&T shitsnake?
(http://www.jayblessed.com/new/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Jack-Warner-JAY-BLESSED.jpg)
;D
Hahaha
Nice thread :beermug:
-
(http://safetyforbabynews.com/images/ribiqeni.jpg)
-
(http://safetyforbabynews.com/images/ribiqeni.jpg)
Some type of grouper.
-
(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/244/456956439_48ae66c1c8_z.jpg)
Does anyone know the local name for this tree.
-
(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/244/456956439_48ae66c1c8_z.jpg)
Does anyone know the local name for this tree.
Silk cotton or kapok. Also known as ceiba.
-
(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/244/456956439_48ae66c1c8_z.jpg)
Does anyone know the local name for this tree.
Silk cotton or kapok. Also known as ceiba.
Thanks, I just had a paradigm shift, because what I tort was a silk cotton tree all along, was really a samman tree, until a trini friend pointed out that one of the photos in my house of this tree was labeled wrong.... I have seen this tree also in Brazil....
-
(http://safetyforbabynews.com/images/ribiqeni.jpg)
I dunno what kinda fish dat is... but that is ah Grade A bird :beermug:
-
Does anyone know the local name for this tree.
Silk cotton or kapok. Also known as ceiba.
Thanks, I just had a paradigm shift, because what I tort was a silk cotton tree all along, was really a samman tree, until a trini friend pointed out that one of the photos in my house of this tree was labeled wrong.... I have seen this tree also in Brazil....
Dey also have dem down here in South Florida. Yuh could see dem along certain parts of de I-95.
-
if they is kill people like nothing in t&t, why u think they go treat animal different?
-
(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/244/456956439_48ae66c1c8_z.jpg)
Does anyone know the local name for this tree.
Silk cotton or kapok. Also known as ceiba.
Thanks, I just had a paradigm shift, because what I tort was a silk cotton tree all along, was really a samman tree, until a trini friend pointed out that one of the photos in my house of this tree was labeled wrong.... I have seen this tree also in Brazil....
I think some also call it a sandbox tree
-
what about ah deer drinking coke :laugh:
that is ah first for me!
-
Is the sandbox tree the same tree that had that pod that people use to make the dolphin out of?
-
I have a picture of a zangee somewhere..... I spoke to a biologist a few years ago and he told me that the zangee is not a real eel? It lacks an inner jaw, it's an elongated fish.
-
real memories coming back here with this one. As a kid on the weekends I was a papa bois in training. My great grand parents had an estate in Tabaquite so was real bush ting with me, pops and my little brother.
Draft, I know a couple fellas on here who dive.. i'll pass on the message about the Toco dive to them. I dive as well (haven't in 2yrs) and hoping to be in trini late March. Any idea when you plan on going down? As a kid we used to also go in the gulf (south) to spearfish around the rigs.. mostly groupers.
ah see tree images starting to show up.. where the jumbie calabash?
No Lie - I probably eat each of them animals posted one time or the other already. Didn't realize we had so much snake in Trinbago oui.
Where the cuscarub (cichlids), river sardine, sweet water shrimp, crayfish,mamatahta, river gold fish (one with the kinda shell),
-
Is the sandbox tree the same tree that had that pod that people use to make the dolphin out of?
correct is right, see
(http://www.spicenecklace.com/wp-content/gallery/blog-2011/sandbox-case-and-necklace.jpg)
-
where the galap, crapaud and there was one snake that they would call "whip snake". Supposedly that one would whip lash you if you trouble them.
-
real memories coming back here with this one. As a kid on the weekends I was a papa bois in training. My great grand parents had an estate in Tabaquite so was real bush ting with me, pops and my little brother.
Draft, I know a couple fellas on here who dive.. i'll pass on the message about the Toco dive to them. I dive as well (haven't in 2yrs) and hoping to be in trini late March. Any idea when you plan on going down? As a kid we used to also go in the gulf (south) to spearfish around the rigs.. mostly groupers.
ah see tree images starting to show up.. where the jumbie calabash?
No Lie - I probably eat each of them animals posted one time or the other already. Didn't realize we had so much snake in Trinbago oui.
Where the cuscarub (cichlids), river sardine, sweet water shrimp, crayfish,mamatahta, river gold fish (one with the kinda shell),
Tabaquite eh... nice, 09' ah buy a portion of land in Brasso (mainly abandoned cocoa land) meh uncle Boyo (from tortuga) married a girl Ann-Marie (red ting) from Tabaquite (she mom was a spiritual healer). Her familee use to hunt a lot in tabaquite....
I plan to come in August 2012, water clarity and tides should be favorable. I think I'm the only person with a picture of the under water reef. I see some flounder, snapper and permit when I was there in 09'.
Ah put up the tree because of ah dispute I was having with a friend. I have some more pics of animals but will have to find them.
One of my favorite memories (meh dad was ah limer) so we use to knock all over. We had a seine and we use to go to Guapo during full moon fuh shrimp or strimmss... Man we use to pull up mullet, sardine, crapoo fish etc. I wish I has a camera back then. One of the most amazing things I have seen is we flamboyant tree and this tree had a unique patterning of moss. Humming birds use to build their nest and match de darn pattern to conceal their nest yes....
Another instance of marvel: It use to have a path from the Wild Fowl Trust to the 18 green at PaP. One time ah find a nest from a bird that was a perfect cone, lined with feathers at the bottom.
tnt is really blessed.
-
I am sure today in T&T to cant find half of these animals, them men eating everything in T&T now.
-
Not very pleasant photos of animals in tnt
(http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/320809_285037898181926_162715583747492_1085065_847995019_n.jpg)
(http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/296130_267400269945689_162715583747492_1014951_6051025_n.jpg)
(http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/321505_267400259945690_162715583747492_1014950_2574307_n.jpg)
(http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/226430_217188171633566_162715583747492_804302_1737932_n.jpg)
(http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/215153_247667025252347_162715583747492_933745_6956909_n.jpg)
(http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/228711_216367218382328_162715583747492_796766_1495590_n.jpg)
(http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/248729_218853044800412_162715583747492_816355_2979136_n.jpg)
(http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/207512_207712119247838_162715583747492_728745_4514305_n.jpg)
(http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/40759_164216403597410_162715583747492_438845_4415829_n.jpg)
(http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/407180_341516735867375_162715583747492_1270670_1771894023_n.jpg)
-
Not very pleasant photos of animals in tnt
(http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/320809_285037898181926_162715583747492_1085065_847995019_n.jpg)
(http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/296130_267400269945689_162715583747492_1014951_6051025_n.jpg)
(http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/321505_267400259945690_162715583747492_1014950_2574307_n.jpg)
(http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/226430_217188171633566_162715583747492_804302_1737932_n.jpg)
(http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/215153_247667025252347_162715583747492_933745_6956909_n.jpg)
(http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/228711_216367218382328_162715583747492_796766_1495590_n.jpg)
(http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/248729_218853044800412_162715583747492_816355_2979136_n.jpg)
(http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/207512_207712119247838_162715583747492_728745_4514305_n.jpg)
(http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/40759_164216403597410_162715583747492_438845_4415829_n.jpg)
(http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/407180_341516735867375_162715583747492_1270670_1771894023_n.jpg)
If I ever come accross de men them who killing them animals, they f00cking dead.....
Daft Trini, yuh really hurt meh with them photos boy....
-
Sharks become a snack food in trinidad like ah pack of borbon or doubles .ah man here say he dont think trinidad consumption affect there population .Wildlife is a non sustainable food source i believe .
-
Shaking my head
(http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/318687_267400296612353_162715583747492_1014952_6588862_n.jpg)
(http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/296602_266530906699292_162715583747492_1012032_7907743_n.jpg)
(http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/205092_207845325901184_162715583747492_729778_2318066_n.jpg)
tagged leatherback
(http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/199339_200382746647442_162715583747492_678155_4755525_n.jpg)
(http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/162601_177716378914079_162715583747492_520214_4525291_n.jpg)
(http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/379811_318763341476048_162715583747492_1193833_1574619797_n.jpg)
(http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/379975_318148884870827_162715583747492_1192337_507329384_n.jpg)
(http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/377779_304384346247281_162715583747492_1156459_1670736255_n.jpg)
(http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/253281_250123628340020_162715583747492_943878_7294752_n.jpg)
the Jackass said he crush de head of satan...
(http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/392980_303989352945638_100000037282830_1228084_699606962_n.jpg)
-
Sharks become a snack food in trinidad like ah pack of borbon or doubles .ah man here say he dont think trinidad consumption affect there population .Wildlife is a non sustainable food source i believe .
Instead of talking shit out yuh ass... do you have any proof that local consumption affecting the shark population?
Don't worry, I'm not holding my breath.
-
Sharks become a snack food in trinidad like ah pack of borbon or doubles .ah man here say he dont think trinidad consumption affect there population .Wildlife is a non sustainable food source i believe .
Instead of talking shit out yuh ass... do you have any proof that local consumption affecting the shark population?
Don't worry, I'm not holding my breath.
good cause i got no beef :P
-
Sharks become a snack food in trinidad like ah pack of borbon or doubles .ah man here say he dont think trinidad consumption affect there population .Wildlife is a non sustainable food source i believe .
Instead of talking shit out yuh ass... do you have any proof that local consumption affecting the shark population?
Don't worry, I'm not holding my breath.
interesting article
Sharks' future in peril
By Kimberly Castillo
Jan 11, 2012.
SHARK fin soup is a common fixture on the menus of all, if not the majority of Chinese restaurants in Trinidad and Tobago, from the well established take-away or dine-in eateries, to the hole-in-the wall joints. Just one bowl of shark fin soup seems pretty harmless but marine conservationists the world over argue that it represents the collapse of shark populations. A bowl of shark fin soup will cost you between $30 - $55 , but the price which our oceans and marine ecosystems pay is incalculable. To satisfy the demand for this exotic Chinese appetiser an average of 75 million sharks a year are mutilated in a process known as "finning".
Shark fins are far more commercially valuable than shark meat. Fins can rake in as much as $US300 a pound, shark fins also take up less space on board a vessel when compared to heavy shark carcasses which weigh hundreds of pounds. For this reason, when sharks are caught by one of the many thousands of hooks on longlines and hauled up on deck, their fins are sliced off while the shark is still alive, then the rest of the shark is thrown back into the ocean. Without its fins to help navigate, steer and lift, the shark dies a slow and agonising death from starvation or drowning. It can take up to a week for a shark to die. Finning is so inhumane and wasteful that the practice should be banned immediately, said Gary Aboud of the non-governmental organisation Fishermen and Friends of the Sea.
For those among us who associate finning solely with Asian countries, think again. Trinidad and Tobago ranks 19th among 87 countries for largest exports of shark fins to Hong Kong, according to a March 2010 report by marine conservation organisation Oceana, titled 'The International Trade of Shark Fins: endangering shark populations worldwide.' Back in 2008, this country exported 103,104 kgs of shark fins to Hong Kong - the world's largest single market for this product. Ironically, four years earlier in November 2004, at the annual meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), T&T was one of the co-sponsors of a shark proposal to ban the practice of shark finning, yet to this day, Trinidad and Tobago has no policy on shark finning. Up to 50 Asian longline vessels operate in our waters said Aboud. Among their spoils? Shark fins, which are then hung out to dry.
This country's links with finning goes back many years. In 1999, a report by the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Marine Resources titled Sharks: overview of the fisheries in T&T stated that the sharks which were caught in our waters were primarily incidental catch or 'by-catch' of the artisinal fishery and industrial longline fishery. But the report also suggested that finning was done at sea. It stated that shark fins represented 19 per cent of landings in 1993, while 23 tonnes of shark fins were recorded in 1992. The document went on to conclude that there had been unsubstantiated reports of large quantities of shark fins landed with very few carcasses. The report noted there was no management regime for shark in T&T and warned that the shark stocks were vulnerable to unrestrained exploitation.
That grim assessment was
made more than a decade ago, today, unregulated shark fishing has led to a decline in the number of sharks in the waters off T&T. In March of this year, visting New Zealand marine conservationist and head of the Earthrace Conservation Organisation Pete Bethune said there was no longer a stable supply of shark in our waters and blamed the scores of Taiwanese fishing vessels operating in local waters for this country's depleted fisheries. With no scientific data collection mechanisms in place, it is difficult to estimate how many sharks still roam our waters. When famed ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau visited these islands in the 1950's, he estimated that our waters teemed with 35 species of shark, today, just a small fraction of species remain in our waters, said Aboud.
"If a man catches a shark in Maracas Bay today, he is a hero, but 25 years ago fishermen caught up to 5 - 6 sharks a day," he said. These ancient species are especially vulnerable to exploitation- they take many years to grow to maturity and have very low reproductive rates. For this reason, their populations are slow to recover once overfished, he explained.
Our marine ecosystem is a delicate web of life which is dependent upon apex predators such as sharks to maintain its careful balance. With less and less sharks in our oceans, they will be a proliferation of other species that will do more harm than good.
In the race to save the world's sharks, some countries have banned the practice of shark finning, these include Chile, Palau, the Maldives, Honduras and the Bahamas. Restaurants in Hawaii have been banned from serving shark fins. And as recently as October, Toronto councillors voted overwhelmingly to ban the possesion, sale and consumption of shark fin soups and other products within the city limits, effective September 1, 2012.
It's going to take more than rhetoric to protect the hammerhead, mako and migratory blacktip shark that roam our tropical waters, what is needed is immediate action, said Aboud. Unless major advances are made to stamp out the practice of finning in our waters and deal with issues such as overharvesting and unsustainable fishing methods, then, said Aboud, the survival of our waters' top predators - the shark, will continue to be at risk.
-
2 sweetest meat is turtle and iguana
-
Sharks become a snack food in trinidad like ah pack of borbon or doubles .ah man here say he dont think trinidad consumption affect there population .Wildlife is a non sustainable food source i believe .
Instead of talking shit out yuh ass... do you have any proof that local consumption affecting the shark population?
Don't worry, I'm not holding my breath.
interesting article http://www.trinidadexpress.com/featured-news/Sharks__future_in_peril-137152358.html
Thanks, but we talking about local consumption... not finning by foreign vessels offshore, or finning for export. It may seem in insignificant point but Quags' comment relates back to a thread where local consumption of bake and shark was being discussed-- and criticized by some.
-
Sorry if it's a repost.
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/576927_304603422967955_444743191_n.jpg)
-
Check out dis snake found in Trinidad
http://www.youtube.com/v/fgKnt8RGqGo&feature=related
-
Check out dis snake found in Trinidad
http://www.youtube.com/v/fgKnt8RGqGo&feature=related
:cursing: :thumbsup:
-
f**k man Stueps
-
f**k man Stueps
hahahahaha hopefully no forum members got a heart attack
-
Wha bout that snake that use to attack you like a dog? Black body, yellow belly. It used to stand up like a broom. Tigre?
yeah I know what yuh talking about. I have only seen it in a pet store in Sando on Cipero Street, never in de wild.
I think another name for it is "Machette"
Machete Savane
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3370/3410828252_04fffb6d52.jpg)
This is ah real learnin thread for me....allyuh say it does stand up like a broom?? for real?
Dem old man use to corner Machete and use their hat to make it strike. Real man kicks yes
-
Wild TnT (Wildlife Trinidad & Tobago) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRtbGvjFp6Y&feature=related)
-
Wild TnT (Wildlife Trinidad & Tobago) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRtbGvjFp6Y&feature=related)
nice :beermug:
-
(http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a352/ksuglennj/NWAR19May07/BigRatSnake.jpg)
Jack Warner
(http://chadzilla.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341e1a8753ef0133f505db4d970b-500wi)
Kamla Persad Bissessar
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_6RZyLnuV5xo/TG2Ur47xw7I/AAAAAAAAAz8/6vz9U8ODVew/s1600/giant-rat.jpg)
Anand Ramlogan
(http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Everyone%20Else/images-8/donkey.jpg)
Anil Roberts
-
Smuggled monkeys finally arrive at Zoo
Monday, November 26 2012
TT Newsday
After a wait of some ten days since Newsday reported that two capuchin monkeys and some seed finches were ordered by the court to be taken to the zoo, only the two monkeys were finally brought in two days ago by game wardens.
Zoo officials stated that on reading about the court decision which had been given front page coverage in the newspaper, they had gone ahead to prepare suitable accommodation for the animals to be quarantined.
However, the wait was in vain as neither was there sight of the animals nor was any communication received from the Wildlife Division as to what was causing the delay in complying with the court order.
An official from the zoo confirmed that several enquiries were made to officials in the Wildlife Division but the animals were not housed there and no one was able to confirm their whereabouts.
The official stated that it took several calls to officials from the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources and an intervention from the Ag Chief Game Warden himself, for the monkeys to be eventually brought in to the zoo.
Confirming that the zoo is able to offer proper care and treatment for animals which may be in need of rehabilitation, Richard Wallace, Assistant Curator stated, “We have the services of a veterinarian at our disposal full-time, and to complement this, a member of our Board, Dr Annmarie Hosein, a Government veterinarian with many years of experience is available at all times on a voluntary basis.”
When contacted, Hosein who was on site when the monkeys arrived, confirmed that she had examined the monkeys, stating, “I found that the larger monkey is in fairly good condition but the other one looks a bit undernourished. I do believe though that the zoo is the best place for them right now as I have confidence in the zookeepers’ ability to provide the proper care for these animals.”
As to the fate of the birds, much prized as cage birds, it is reported that they were released by the game wardens. When asked his opinion on this action of the game wardens, President of the Zoological Society, Gupte Lutchmedial commented, “The release of these birds without a proper quarantine period should be of concern as there are ecological consequences to this reckless action.
Our local populations of birds are at potential risk from introduced diseases and from an economical viewpoint, the poultry industry could have been placed at risk too.” He lamented, “The Forestry Division is quite aware that with the help of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), we have established a facility to support their efforts in wildlife enforcement.
“It is therefore irresponsible that they would release the birds before a suitable quarantine period has elapsed.”
The Zoological Society’s Conservation Adviser, Nadra Nathai-Gyan has called for good sense to prevail and affirmed that in combating illegal wildlife crime, strong partnerships between the state and non-governmental organisations must be fostered.
(http://www.newsday.co.tt/galeria/2012-11-26-7-1a_girls_and_monkey.jpg)
CUTE MONKEY: The monkeys are given a thorough look-over by Zoo Volunteers, Veterinary student, Siew Leng Achong (left) and Environmental Management trainee, Leah De La Rosa.
-
Anaconda caught
By SASHA HARRINANAN (NEWSDAY).
Monday December 31 2012
A BEAUTIFUL 200-pound, 16-foot-long anaconda snake was spotted by two private security guards, employed by Executive Bodyguard Services Limited, sunning itself along a private road opposite the Caroni cremation site yesterday.
Rather than killing the animal or raising an alarm which may have caused other persons to visit the area and harm the snake, the security guards contacted the Emperor Valley Zoo, an act which drew much praise from the Zoo’s curator, well-known conservationist Gupte Lutchmedial.
“Instead of attempting to kill the snake, they called the zoo. That was a very good thing they did. I wish more people would call us rather than attempt to kill a wild animal. The guards were on patrol at 4 pm when they saw the snake on the road, so they used a rope to lasso it in place and kept watch over it until we arrived in the evening,” Lutchmedial said.
He said it took a couple hours to arrange for three qualified zookeepers to report for duty at the Zoo before heading to Caroni to collect the animal. “It’s a beautiful specimen, the largest I’ve seen in 12 years,” Lutchmedial remarked when asked about how rare such a find was in TT.
“These are water-based snakes, so you find them more in the Nariva Swamp and places like that, but hardly on dry land, especially one this size.” By the time the zookeepers arrived on site after 6 pm yesterday, three more security guards had joined their colleagues, as well as a couple of police officers stationed at the Caroni Police Station.
En route to the zoo yesterday evening, Lutchmedial and crew were flagged down by Newsday who were told the zookeepers were carrying a special passenger to the zoo. As the zookeepers struggled to display the creature, several persons gawked at the 16-footer.
“I have to play big snake tomorrow (today). I going and put down a hundred dollars now that I see that huge snake,” a man muttered as he took photos of the snake with his cellular phone. Upon arrival at the zoo last night, the female snake was placed in an enclosure which contained a pool to, “allow her to relax in as close to her natural environment as possible,” Lutchmedial stated.
A veterinarian is due to examine the anaconda sometime today to determine if she has any infection or if she sustained any injuries while being restrained. “My goal is to return her to the wild, once we have determined she has no debilitating injuries or infections. How long that will take depends on what the vet says,” Lutchmedial declared.
(http://www.newsday.co.tt/galeria/2012-12-31-8-1_A_Anaconda_caught_(8).jpg)
SHE'S SO ROYAL: This majestic 16-foot anaconda, found on a private road in Caroni yesterday afternoon by two security guards, is seen last night. The snake is held up for display by (left to right) President of the Zoological Society Gupte Lutchmedial, Zookeeper I Christian Blake, Zookeeper II Walter Bonyun and Zookeeper II Delbert Charleau.
-
The release back into the wild throw meh fuh a loop
-
The release back into the wild throw meh fuh a loop
I read in the express on Monday that it was pregnant and they will keep it at the zoo as it would be historic to have anacondas born there.
-
Monkeys, morocoys seized
By AZARD ALI Monday, February 18 2013
A PET shop owner will appear in the Chaguanas Magistrates’ Court today to answer a charge of having protected animals, namely six monkeys and four morocoys.
The animals were seized by game wardens on Saturday in a crackdown on persons allegedly poaching animals in the forest that are protected under the Conservation of Wildlife Act.
According to a report, Game Warden 11 Andrew George, led a party of game wardens from the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, to a pet shop in Chaguanas at about 4.30 on Saturday. They seized four Capuchin monkeys and four red-legged morocoys.
One person was arrested and taken to the Chaguanas Police Station, where Game Warden Andrew Boyce charged him with having in his possession protected animals. The charge was laid contrary to Section 5 (2) (b) of the Conservation of Wildlife Act.
The man was allowed to leave the police station after he was granted his own bail. The maximum penalty for the offence is $1,000.
The monkeys and morocoys have since been kept and fed at a facility, and would be transported into the magistrates’ courthouse, where they would be presented as evidence for the trial today.
Other game wardens in the exercise were Ravi Rampersad, Darrell Ramnarine and Andrew Boyce.
(http://www.newsday.co.tt/galeria/4-1a__animals_seized_1-17.jpg)
MONKEY BUSINESS: TWO monkeys cuddle in a cage after they were seized on Saturday from a pet shop in Chaguanas, by game wardens from the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources.
(http://www.newsday.co.tt/galeria/4-4a__animals_seized_4-17.jpg)
ALSO SEIZED: Four red-legged morocoys were also seized.
Author: ANIL RAMPERSAD
-
(http://www.newsday.co.tt/galeria/5-3A_scorpiondeath.jpg)
The sting of a scorpion is less venomous than from the bites of poisonous snakes, only three of which are habitat in Trinidad.
-
Fishing for big Markets
By Kimberly Castillo (Express).
You don’t necessarily need a fishing boat to take you to see what the future of fishing looks like.
At the invitation of tilapia farmer Christian Penco, the Business Express hitched a ride in his muddied Hilux van and travelled along a bumpy road off the beaten track in Longdenville to his tilapia farm.
From the outside, Penco’s farm looks pretty ordinary, but it’s what is happening on the inside that is amazing - a clean, efficient, smooth running tilapia facility.
In rows of three, there are 600 gallon tanks and 2,000 gallon tanks.
For this tilapia producer, this is not child’s play.
Penco engages in what he calls intensive tilapia farming.
It’s no wonder therefore that he runs a tight operation.
To make the most profit from this business, Penco makes sure that his farm is well maintained.
Water flows into the oxygenated tanks. To prevent the water from overflowing the excess water flows into skimmers which syphon off all floating material. The water is also pumped into a mechanical filter which extracts the fish waste before the water flows into the biological filter, where bacteria breaks down the nitrates into nitrites.
Then the filtered water is pumped back into the tanks, ensuring that the water supply is fairly clean.
Each day, Penco measures out the feed and has different feeds for various sizes of fish, from fingerlings (baby tilapia) to adult fish.
Charts which keep a track of feed hang at the side of each tank.
At the moment, Penco has 3,000 pounds of tilapia (available for sale) swimming in his tanks.
He knows this time of year - Christmas- where pork and ham reign as king, is the off season, but from January straight into Lent that’s when sales pick up and things at the farm get hectic.
By then Penco’s farm will be fully stocked with around 10,000-15,000 pounds of tilapia.
Tilapia farming is not rocket science, he repeats over and over again, the information on how one can set up a fish farm is readily available for anyone willing to give it a try.
Penco has been farming tilapia for a shorter period of time than other farmers and a lot of what he has learnt in three years has come from trial and error and experimentation.
When he began his own farm, he at first lost 2,000 pounds of fish because of an electricity blackout.
He also experimented with different tanks and found that for his pilot project, the 600 gallon tanks were too deep and narrow whereas the 2,000 gallon tanks had more lateral area and less depth, allowing for a better exchange of oxygen.
He has also received a lot of technical support and assistance from several people including the Fisheries Division.
Penco says the government does have certain agencies with extension officers to facilitate tilapia farmers.
But to take tilapia farming from a mere project to a thriving business, one has to remember four things, said Penco: oxygenation, filtration, quality of fingerlings and quality of feed.
Fish farming has been practised for hundreds of years but now more than ever it is has become increasingly popular.
Fish stocks are declining yet there needs to be a way of satisfying the global demand for fish protein.
Fishing today is now more efficient that ever before.
Fishing vessels are outfitted with tracking technology like fish finders, depth sounders, marine radios and GPS systems.
It’s inevitable, says Penco - overfishing which is enabled by state of the art technology will result in a decrease in fish stocks and an increase in the cost of fish. And so this is why fish farming has been considered the future of fishing. Fish farming cannot replace fish stocks but it does two things- it satisfies the appetite and demand for fish while allowing fish populations to rebound.
At home local groceries and restaurants are supplied with Chinese tilapia by foreign markets- this is a challenge to farmers hoping to supply the local market. Penco says the red and silver tilapia fish he breeds, farms and sells are of a superior quality.
“People buy tilapia elsewhere and then they come to my farm and they say it’s like chalk and cheese. There is no comparison. When people come to my farm, they get a chill-kill fish,” he said.
Penco ‘purges’ his fish days before the actual sale.
This refers to the process in which the fish are placed in fresh water with no feed to allow the fish to flush out all waste and toxins.
Then on the morning of the sale, he takes the fish out and puts them on ice. That is what you call a ‘chill kill’ fish.
“You can’t get any fresher than that. The nutrients in the fish do not diminish through freezing or anything like that so what you get is an extraordinary product,” he said.
Can local tilapia farmers supply the market?
The desire is there, says Penco but farmers need incentives to get to that point.
“I wish the Minister of (Food Production) in his capacity would consider subsidising the cost of feed,” he said.
Feed accounts for 60 per cent of the cost of his tilapia.
If tilapia farmers get a subsidy on feed, Penco says he and the other tilapia farmers can give foreign suppliers a run for their money and provide a better, tastier quality of fish at competitive prices.
“Give farmers a quantitative subsidy and leave them to do the rest. Your major costing outside of feed is aeration, your recirculation pump and your tanks and the cost of these things will vary according to the size of your farm. There are expensive mechanisms available but they are not necessary in a tropical environment,” he said.
But getting a good return investment on his fish will depend to a large extent on what they are being fed and so this is why a subsidy on a good quality, consistent feed is so important, he said.
Fish farming has its share of critics who say the diet of farmed fish make them less healthier than their wild counterparts. Critics also contend that farming fish in a restricted area increases stress levels among the fish and make them more susceptible to parasites and diseases.
But Penco says farmed fish are as good if not superior to ocean fish which are subjected to high levels of mercury and toxins. He also keeps a well maintained farm with tanks which are filtered regularly, thereby limiting the occurrence of parasites and diseases.
The farm in Longdenville is what he considers his ‘pilot project’. He is on the brink of building a larger farm and eventually wants to export.
Deputy chairman of the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) Christopher Charran says the ADB is committed to helping farmers like Penco financially.
“The government believes it is not just a matter of giving people like Mr Penco the opportunity to have the tilapia, but also a processing plant - this is important to make sure it reaches the customer. We could produce, we know that, but what is the next step? Processing and getting the fish into the customers’ hands,” he said.
In an effort to eliminate the ‘middleman’, Charran said through various initiatives the ADB is creating customers for the farmers.
“Most of the farmers do all the hard work, there is always a middle person who gets the profit from the work that they do so what we’re trying to do is give the farmers the opportunity to actually get that additional revenue for all their hard work,” said Charran.
(http://media.trinidadexpress.com/images/bm--63.jpg)
Christian Penco feeds fish at his farm. The fish are fed one to two times a day. —Photo: James Wallace
-
Hunters vow to overturn hunting ban
T&T Guardian Reports.
For decades, the baying of hounds and a cacophony of shotgun blasts echoed across the hinterlands of northern Trinidad, where hunters chased deer, armadillo and agouti, a cat-sized rodent.
But since October, the lands have largely fallen silent, leaving the country's 13,000 licensed hunters fuming and their 26,000 trained hounds idle. Trinidad and Tobago's government, at least on paper, has temporarily transformed the Caribbean nation into a no-trapping, no-hunting zone to give overexploited game animals some breathing room and to conduct wildlife surveys.
Conservationists have long argued that the wide-ranging freedoms enjoyed by hunters have depleted the population of wildlife in the twin-island republic, which is home to more than 100 mammals and is internationally famed as a bird-watcher's paradise.
Licensed hunters never had bag limits, except for birds, and a flourishing market for "wild meat" for parties meant that almost anything that ran or flew wild was targeted. Even the protected national bird, the scarlet ibis, could end up in a curry sauce.
"Hunting here really serves no useful purpose and is really quite ridiculous. I mean, you have six Trinidadians and 15 dogs to hunt down a small animal like agouti! It's not exactly big game hunting in East Africa," said Christopher Starr, a life sciences faculty member at Trinidad's University of the West Indies.
But close-to-the-land hunters are fighting to overturn the two-year ban that took effect Oct. 1, and a high court ruling could be handed down in February. They also vow to make the government pay during national elections due next year, passing out bumper stickers that read: "No hunting, no vote."
They say the practice of hunting with dogs is a key form of wildlife culling that binds together rural society. They insist it's also a source of income that creates thousands of jobs.
Hunting with dogs here is a far earthier pursuit than in Britain, where scarlet-and-black jacketed riders chased foxes with packs of dogs until the sport was banned in 2004. Most hunters in Trinidad transport their packs of hounds and mongrels in scarred pickups and rattling vans. Subsistence hunters often never bothered with getting a state game license, even though it costs just over $3.
Hunters insist the ban benefits poachers, timber thieves and marijuana growers who they say are taking over remote hillsides and brazenly setting up "trap guns," crude devices fashioned from steel pipe that can fire shotgun cartridges to kill animals or frighten intruders.
"I tell you, the poachers can hunt day and night now and the marijuana farmers are setting up trap guns wherever they want. But the sports hunters, we're the ones made into outlaws," said Shackeer Mohammed, an 86-year-old deer hunter who leads a hunting association in central Trinidad.
Buddie Miller, Trinidad's most vocal hunting advocate, argues there is no credible evidence that any of the country's game species are in a state of decline. He insists wild animals such as deer and agouti are flourishing despite habitat loss.
But data from forms submitted by licensed hunters show a high number of bagged animals for a Delaware-sized country of just 1.4 million people. More than 65,000 agoutis were caught over the last three hunting seasons, along with 6,385 deer, 13,092 armadillos and 10,161 lappes, raccoon-sized rodents whose meat goes for $19 a pound.
Environment and Water Resources Minister Ganga Singh, the architect of the ban, said the moratorium is allowing a much-needed survey of existing wildlife and natural resources, and he believes there is a cultural shift toward wildlife conservation.
Singh told The Associated Press that moratorium enforcement officers have been "vigorously patrolling the forests" and said callers have been using a hotline to report suspicious activity.
However, there are just over a dozen official game wardens in Trinidad, along with about 180 honorary wardens, who are basically volunteers. Hunters allege that police are often the biggest poachers, with some stations regularly hosting end-of-the-week cookouts with freshly caught howler monkey or wild hog. (AP)
-
Hunters vow to overturn hunting ban
T&T Guardian Reports.
For decades, the baying of hounds and a cacophony of shotgun blasts echoed across the hinterlands of northern Trinidad, where hunters chased deer, armadillo and agouti, a cat-sized rodent.
But since October, the lands have largely fallen silent, leaving the country's 13,000 licensed hunters fuming and their 26,000 trained hounds idle. Trinidad and Tobago's government, at least on paper, has temporarily transformed the Caribbean nation into a no-trapping, no-hunting zone to give overexploited game animals some breathing room and to conduct wildlife surveys.
Conservationists have long argued that the wide-ranging freedoms enjoyed by hunters have depleted the population of wildlife in the twin-island republic, which is home to more than 100 mammals and is internationally famed as a bird-watcher's paradise.
Licensed hunters never had bag limits, except for birds, and a flourishing market for "wild meat" for parties meant that almost anything that ran or flew wild was targeted. Even the protected national bird, the scarlet ibis, could end up in a curry sauce.
"Hunting here really serves no useful purpose and is really quite ridiculous. I mean, you have six Trinidadians and 15 dogs to hunt down a small animal like agouti! It's not exactly big game hunting in East Africa," said Christopher Starr, a life sciences faculty member at Trinidad's University of the West Indies.
But close-to-the-land hunters are fighting to overturn the two-year ban that took effect Oct. 1, and a high court ruling could be handed down in February. They also vow to make the government pay during national elections due next year, passing out bumper stickers that read: "No hunting, no vote."
They say the practice of hunting with dogs is a key form of wildlife culling that binds together rural society. They insist it's also a source of income that creates thousands of jobs.
Hunting with dogs here is a far earthier pursuit than in Britain, where scarlet-and-black jacketed riders chased foxes with packs of dogs until the sport was banned in 2004. Most hunters in Trinidad transport their packs of hounds and mongrels in scarred pickups and rattling vans. Subsistence hunters often never bothered with getting a state game license, even though it costs just over $3.
Hunters insist the ban benefits poachers, timber thieves and marijuana growers who they say are taking over remote hillsides and brazenly setting up "trap guns," crude devices fashioned from steel pipe that can fire shotgun cartridges to kill animals or frighten intruders.
"I tell you, the poachers can hunt day and night now and the marijuana farmers are setting up trap guns wherever they want. But the sports hunters, we're the ones made into outlaws," said Shackeer Mohammed, an 86-year-old deer hunter who leads a hunting association in central Trinidad.
Buddie Miller, Trinidad's most vocal hunting advocate, argues there is no credible evidence that any of the country's game species are in a state of decline. He insists wild animals such as deer and agouti are flourishing despite habitat loss.
But data from forms submitted by licensed hunters show a high number of bagged animals for a Delaware-sized country of just 1.4 million people. More than 65,000 agoutis were caught over the last three hunting seasons, along with 6,385 deer, 13,092 armadillos and 10,161 lappes, raccoon-sized rodents whose meat goes for $19 a pound.
Environment and Water Resources Minister Ganga Singh, the architect of the ban, said the moratorium is allowing a much-needed survey of existing wildlife and natural resources, and he believes there is a cultural shift toward wildlife conservation.
Singh told The Associated Press that moratorium enforcement officers have been "vigorously patrolling the forests" and said callers have been using a hotline to report suspicious activity.
However, there are just over a dozen official game wardens in Trinidad, along with about 180 honorary wardens, who are basically volunteers. Hunters allege that police are often the biggest poachers, with some stations regularly hosting end-of-the-week cookouts with freshly caught howler monkey or wild hog. (AP)
Very good move by Environment and Water Resources Minister Ganga Singh.
:applause:
I hope its a long ban and I hope they stick with it. They need to also look out for smugglers from Guyana too.
-
But data from forms submitted by licensed hunters show a high number of bagged animals for a Delaware-sized country of just 1.4 million people. More than 65,000 agoutis were caught over the last three hunting seasons, along with 6,385 deer, 13,092 armadillos and 10,161 lappes, raccoon-sized rodents whose meat goes for $19 a pound.
Having never seen a deer locally, I am surprised by this number.
-
But data from forms submitted by licensed hunters show a high number of bagged animals for a Delaware-sized country of just 1.4 million people. More than 65,000 agoutis were caught over the last three hunting seasons, along with 6,385 deer, 13,092 armadillos and 10,161 lappes, raccoon-sized rodents whose meat goes for $19 a pound.
Having never seen a deer locally, I am surprised by this number.
Good call.
I agree.
-
They eating everything in Trinidad now.
I hear GEICO fraid to open a office they, them fellas might eat they mascott de GEICO lizard too.
-
They eating everything in Trinidad now.
I hear GEICO fraid to open a office they, them fellas might eat they mascott de GEICO lizard too.
:rotfl: u is kix oui
-
They eating everything in Trinidad now.
I hear GEICO fraid to open a office they, them fellas might eat they mascott de GEICO lizard too.
Classic.
:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
-
$7,500 fine for having protected birds
By AZARD ALI (Newsday).
MARK MITCHELL, charged for the unlawful possession of 50 protected birds, yesterday told a magistrate that he did not sell these birds but keeps the animals after being given the birds by customers in exchange for exotic fishes he sells at his pet shop in Blitz Village, Pleasantville.
Mitchell’s attorney gave this explanation to a San Fernando magistrate after his client pleaded guilty to having the birds which are protected under the Wild Life Act.
Magistrate Natalie Diop fined the 37-year-old businessman $150 for each bird — a total of $7,500 and was given until today to pay.
Yesterday, the birds — 41 brown-throated parakeets, five rose-headed parakeets, two green- winged macaws, one scarlet Ibis and one yellow-feathered parrot — were taken in cages and placed in the Holding Bay area of the courthouse where prisoners are kept.
The birds appeared to be dehydrated as many were packed into the cages, with almost no wing- room. After Mitchell pleaded guilty, Diop heard that at about 8.30 am on Saturday, Game Warden II Stanley Maraj, led other Wardens from the Forestry Division, together with police officers, to the pet shop. They seized the birds which were in cages.
Mitchell was brought to court in handcuffs and placed in a cell inside the courtroom for most of the hearing yesterday.
At 2.30 pm, Diop read all 50 charges and Mitchell answered that he was guilty on each charge. So tedious was the exercise of reading and answering the charges in the hot courtroom, that the magistrate propped her head with one hand as she read the charges. Mitchell nodded at times in the affirmative instead of answering when asked if he was guilty. Each charge alleged that he had the birds in his possession without a permit.
Mitchell was then handcuffed and magistrate, police officers and Mitchell’s attorney Shastri Christopher Parsad, left the courtroom and went downstairs to view the birds. Parsad pleaded on Mitchell’s behalf, saying that when confronted, his client readily acknowledged he had the birds, but that he was not aware that some were protected species. Parsad said Mitchell was not in the business of selling the birds nor did he go about the country looking for birds.
However, the attorney submitted that his instructions were that Mitchell operates a fish pet shop and customers who could not pay, would give him “a bird or two” as a form of barter for the fishes.
(http://www.newsday.co.tt/galeria/birds_in_court_(2)_02.06.2014_7-1A_CC.jpg)
SEIZED: Some of the 50 protected birds brought to the San Fernando Magistrates Court yesterday for the case of Mark Mitchell (INSET) who pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of the birds and for which he was fined $7,500.
Author: ANSEL JEBODH
-
Stranded whale taken out to sea
Wednesday, June 11 2014
Newsday
A melon-headed whale was found stranded yesterday on the shores between the Mayaro and Manzanilla beach.
The Zoological Society, in a release, said this was the fifth whale of its species to be found stranded in the area in the last four years, despite it being a deep sea mammal. The whale was an average of seven feet long and weighed around 250 pounds.
First responders included members of the Manatee Conservation Trust led by Michael ‘Yankee’ James and Sham “Shortman” Ramsubhag. Speaking with Newsday yesterday, James said he got the call about the whale at about 8 am and when he arrived at the beach, he saw the whale was in shallow water and the waves were hitting it.
He said he hired a boat and with the help of the Ortoire fishermen, they took the whale about five miles into the water out from Rabbits Point, and it swam out. He said the whale was not injured and he was not sure why it got stranded.
-
3 fined $17,280 for protected birds
By AZARD ALI (NEWSDAY).
Saturday, June 14 2014
RECENT oil spills and seismic activity in the Gulf of Paria have dwindled fish catch, so catching birds from across the mainland seems more enterprising for some fishermen.
Two fishermen told this to a magistrate yesterday when they appeared charged along with a construction worker, for unlawfully having protected birds.
The fishermen, Nigel Persad and Shane Deokienanan, and construction worker Kevon Ragoobar, were caught on Thursday with the protected birds at Embacadere near the coast of the Gulf of Paria.
Yesterday, Persad, 37, of Cipero Street; Deokienanan, 40, of Leotaud Street, San Fernando, and Ragoobar, 19, of Embacadere, pleaded guilty before Magistrate Natalie Diop to clipping the wings of 11 Coniors (small species of a parrot); Three yellow- headed parrots; One Toucan, and one red belly Macaw. Game Warden II, Steve Seepersad and Ag Game Warden 11 Stanley Maraj, and Game Warden Rennie Looknath, responded.
It is an offence to clip the wing of a protected species of bird, contrary to Regulation 14 (1) of the Conservation of Wildlife Act chap 67:01.
The three were also charged with having a protected bird in captivity contrary to regulation 9. There were 16 birds and two charges representing the two offences, were slapped for each of the 16 birds. A total of 32 charges were proffered against each of the three.
Diop read the 32 charges and it became a tedious task for the accused men as they announced their respective guilty pleas. Deokienanan interrupted, “My Honour, we pleading guilty to everything.” But the magistrate responded, “It is part of the court’s process that each charge must be read separately, and, the court has a duty to record your plea.”
Court police prosecutor Sgt Chanardath Jhillmit, related to Diop that at about 10.45 pm on Thursday, police officers from the San Fernando CID were on patrol when they spotted a car emerging from Circular Drive. The road leads to the waterfront and the accused men were in a Black 323 Mazda car. In the car police found a plastic bin and a cage, containing the birds.
The magistrate left the bench, and the accused, their hands in handcuffs, were also escorted in the Holding Bay downstairs, to view the birds. When asked to speak on their own behalf, Ragoobar said that handling such exotic birds help to supplement his earnings. Both Deokienanan and Persad told the magistrate they are fishermen, but recent oil spills had taken a toll on their trade in the gulf. “You Honour, we barely getting much in the Gulf with the oil spill,” Deokienanan said.
Diop fined each accused $180 on each of the 32 counts, which amounts to a total of $5,760 per person. In total, the men will pay $17,280.
The birds have been taken to the El Socorro Wildlife Centre for examination and release into the wild.
(http://www.newsday.co.tt/galeria/Court_1.__13-6-14_A7_CC.jpg)
FINED FOR BIRDS: Nigel Persad who were fined for having protected birds. ...Author: VASHTI SINGH
-
Hunting ban may be extended
Sharlene Rampersad (Guardian)
Hunters who continue to ignore the two-year ban imposed by the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources may fuel another ban on hunting. This according to Game Warden Steve Seepersad, who spoke to the Guardian from his office at the Forestry Division’s South office, yesterday. “Based on the data done by the University of the West Indies (UWI) and the Environmental Management Authority (EMA), we don’t know if another ban may be put in place,” said Seepersad.
“If you talk to hunters who have been hunting for years, they will tell you there is not much wildlife left to hunt.” Seepersad spoke following the seizure of three iguanas from hunters in Siparia on Tuesday by officers of the Siparia Police Station. “One of them (iguanas) is pregnant, she has eggs in her stomach. When hunters continue to hunt the mothers, eventually there will be no young left,” said Seepersad.
“There are some areas where these animals no longer exist, the number of hunters have increased while the animals keep decreasing.” He added that once there continues to be a demand for “wildmeat” there will continue to be a supply. Minister of Environment and Water Resources, Ganga Singh, who spoke to the Guardian briefly yesterday, echoed Seepersad’s statement that the number of animals have decreased significantly.
“The density count on animals per capita has been completed in Trinidad and while I don’t want to speculate on the final decision, the preliminary data is not good,” said Singh. Singh said a final decision would be made when all the data is complied. “UWI is currently doing a density count in Tobago, when the data is complied and presented to the Ministry, then we will decide whether to lift the ban or to renew it.”
Latest case
Three men were spotted on the side of the road in Syne Village Siparia with the reptiles and when they were questioned by the officers, they admitted to have hunted the reptiles. They were arrested and the reptiles seized and handed over to Seepersad. The men will reappear before a Siparia magistrate on Tuesday for sentencing. They can face fines of $1,000 for each of the reptiles.
About the ban
On October 1, 2013, Minister of the Environment and Water Resources, Ganga Singh announced a two-year ban on hunting. Singh said at the time over 140,000 wild animals were hunted and killed in T&T in the three-year period preceding the announcement and the measure was to keep them from going extinct. Increased fines and jail time were also implemented in an attempt to ensure that wildlife was not hunted during the ban.
(http://www.guardian.co.tt/sites/default/files/field/image/IGUANAS%20ARRESTED.png)
-
Rajasi has 2 cubs
By COREY CONNELLY (Newsday).
After months of anticipation, Rajasi, the white Bengal tiger, yesterday gave birth to two cubs at Emperor Valley Zoo in St Ann’s.
The tiger and her cubs, all of whom are doing well, are currently in isolation, away from the glare of the public as the first-time mother bonds with her young ones.
“They are already nursing and she has been playing around with them,” an enthusiastic president of the Zoological Society of Trinidad and Tobago Gupte Lutchmedial said of the cubs, the newest additions to the zoo’s family.
Lutchmedial and his staff had been monitoring Rajasi’s condition for some time having observed she and her companion, Shere Khan, mating at the zoo.
The female Bengal tiger, which originated in Pretoria, South Africa, arrived at the Emperor Valley Zoo in March 2014 and has been housed at a specially-prepared enclosure built to international standards in accordance with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
Lutchmedial said the first of the cubs came at about 7.15 am yesterday, while the other came 15 minutes later.
At this stage, they could not identify the sex of the cubs nor have they given them names.
He said a monitor has been set up at the zoo so that visitors can view Rajasi nursing and playing with her cubs.
“It may be another two to three weeks before the public might be able to see her,” he told Sunday Newsday.
Zoological officer Charlene Khan, who monitored Rajasi’s pregnancy around the clock, said the births had created much excitement at the zoo.
She said the tiny cubs will be monitored over a three-month period.
“The most important thing is to keep them here and ensure that they are feeding,” she said. Khan said the cubs have created history at the zoo.
“They are the first white tigers to be born in this part of the world,” she said, adding that there were about 200 white Bengal tigers in captivity throughout the world.
Khan said the zoo usually hosts a competition for visitors interested in naming animals at the facility.
Lutchmedial could not say if the cubs will assume permanent residence at the zoo.
“Chances are they will stay or, if not, for at least a year,” he said.
-
World zoos want TT cubs
By MIRANDA LA ROSE
T&T Newsday
THE TWO white Bengal tiger cubs, born five days ago at the Emperor Valley Zoo — the first such births in this part of the world — continue to draw international attention with at least two zoos in South American countries expressing major interest in adopting the cubs.
This was revealed yesterday by president of the Zoological Society (ZSTT) Gupte Lutchmedial who added that the local zoo is on an international breeding programme of the rare Bengal tigers, and the same way TT is on a waiting list to acquire three of these animals, zoos in South America are waiting to see if they could acquire the two local cubs.
“We have had requests from zoos in Argentina and one from Colombia asking to adopt our two cubs,” Lutchmedial said. Tourism Minister Gerald Hadeed disclosed that the arrival of the tigers contributed to a record breaking number of over 300,000 visitors to the zoo in 2014. In 2013, the zoo attracted 225,000 persons.
Speaking yesterday after Hadeed viewed the cubs and their mother Rajasi at the zoo, Lutchmedial said, “just as we were waiting for Bengal tigers, there are other zoos waiting for Bengal tigers.” A citizen has also expressed interest in rearing one of the cubs, he added.
The sale or exchange of the giant cats, he said, will depend on the animal’s gender. In addition, he said, the zoo has to monitor its cat population.
At present, the giant cats consume 1,200 pounds of meat a week. The cat population includes three lions and two lionesses, a cougar, several ocelots and the three Bengal tigers acquired nine months ago from South Africa.
Although the zoo rears its own cattle and acquires meat from the horse-racing industry, Lutchmedial said with two more mouths to feed, it would be challenging. However, if Minister Hadeed had his way, he would like to see the cubs remain with their mother at the Emperor Valley Zoo. Lutchmedial said the public was not likely to see the cubs who were born last Saturday, for the next two or three months. Asked about their gender, Lutchmedial said the cubs have not been examined as yet. “We want to leave them alone with their mother for now.”
However, Lutchmedial hazarded an educated guess that the cubs may be a male and female.
Rajasi, he said, “is a fantastic mother.”
The tigers breeding within nine months of their arrival tells a story of easy adaptation to their new environment, ZSTT vice president Ben de la Rosa said. The eyes of the cubs are still closed and it would take another ten to eleven days to open.
The birth of the two cubs brings the white Bengal tiger population now in captivity to 202. The zoo has two white Bengal tigers - a male and a female and a yellow female Bengal tigress. It is expected that the male tiger will also breed with the yellow tigress.
Speaking about further upgrading at the zoo, Hadeed disclosed that $15 million has been allocated for phase three of the zoo’s development which will include an animal hospital. Phase two of the project, which includes accommodation for the African exhibits, is due for completion in March. It was also funded to the tune of $15 million. The zoo has plans to import during the summer months a black rhinoceros from the United States. Other animals expected are chimpanzees and merekats to add to the African savannah exhibits. They are expected to co-exist with the giraffes.
(http://www.newsday.co.tt/galeria/TIGER_AND_CUBS_(8)_CC.jpg)
SLEEPY CUB: This white Bengal tiger cub along with another, born five days ago to Bengal tiger Rajasi at the Emperor Valley Zoo, continues to draw international attention as zoos in Colombia and Argentina have expressed major interest in adopting it.
Author: RATTAN JADOO
-
They’re Trinis
By NALINEE SEELAL (Newsday).
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is of the firm view that the two rare Bengal white tigers born at the Emperor Valley Zoo on January 10, should remain in this country and not be given to any other zoo which may have made requests for the cubs.
The two cubs a male and female were born to their mother Rajasi and father Shere Khan after careful mating took place at the Zoo.
The cubs which are yet to be named now remain one of the major attractions at the Emperor Valley Zoo and when news of their birth was made known to zoos around the world interest was expressed by two South American countries in acquiring the cubs.
However, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar who is especially fond of animals and children told Newsday yesterday “I think that since the animals were born in this country they should remain here and be enjoyed by persons in this country, but at the same time I am asking the Zoological Society and the persons in charge of the Emperor Valley Zoo to have some consultation on the matter before making a final decision.”
She said if she had her way she will be very happy to have the cubs remain in this country because after all they were born in this country.
She said based on information the Zoo has facilities to take care of the two cubs and this country has demonstrated that it is adhering to international practice of ensuring the safety and well-being of endangered species.
According to the Prime Minister it is a blessing and a sign of good luck that the cubs were actually born in this country and therefore that good luck should remain in Trinidad and she is hopeful that the Zoo will also have other significant births involving rare animals so that this country can showcase to the world that the Zoological Society can come up to scratch like other Zoological bodies in First World countries.
Newsday contacted curator of the Emperor Valley Zoo, Nirmal Biptah and informed him of the Prime Minister’s request to have the cubs remain at the Emperor Valley Zoo and he said, “if it is the wish of the Prime Minister then we will have to accede to her request.” On Friday the cubs were 40 days old and the male weighed 12 pounds and the female weighed 11 pounds. He said the public will be given the opportunity to see the two cubs and they are being taken out for public viewing every day but at specific times. Persons wishing to see the cubs can see them at 10. 30, am, 12,30, 1.30 and 4.30 every day.
He said they are still nursing rom their mother and they are playful. The mother and the cubs show no aggression towards their attendants.
Rajasi, the mother is an excellent mother and feeds them every two hours.
They will be separated when they become mature to avoid inter-breeding.
However, President of the Zoological Society of Trinidad and Tobago, Gupte Lutchmedial had a different take on the matter. Lutchmedial said that “ personally I would like to keep the cubs here because they were born here, we are spending a lot of time with them, bonding with them, but one needs to know that the welfare of the animals comes first and because of the conservation programme that are taken by zoos worldwide we were lucky to get a viable breeding pair after four years of waiting.” Lutchmedial said that there are other zoos waiting for young Bengal white tigers and to fulfill that obligation to other zoos will make good biological sense. He said that to keep the animals would mean bringing in two additional white Bengal tigers from different bloodlines to mate with the existing two.
“Keeping them in captivity is already bad enough and by further isolating them to live alone, to live a singular life without a mate is not in the best interest of the animal, nevertheless we have to look at the popular opinion of the stakeholders including the government which has given us a sizeable subvention. A decision will be made in the best interest of the animals.”
“I have heard that the PM would like to have the cubs remain here and that will be given the best consideration, but that means that we will have to extend our tiger collection by bringing in different mates for the two cubs.”
Newsday understands that two South American countries had first expressed interest in acquiring the cubs. The two South American countries Argentina and Colombia have been placed on a waiting list like the other countries which have expressed interest in acquiring the cubs.
Newsday understands that the birth of the cubs resulted in a record breaking number of over 300,000 visitors to the zoo in 2014. In 2013, the zoo attracted 225,000 persons.
Newsday also understands that the sale or exchange of the giant cats, will depend on the animal’s gender. In addition, he said, the zoo has to monitor its cat population.
At present, the giant cats consume 1,200 pounds of meat a week. The cat population includes three lions and two lionesses, several ocelots and the three Bengal tigers acquired nine months ago from South Africa.
President of the Zoological Society Gupte Lutchmedial said that although the zoo rears its own cattle and acquires meat from the horse-racing industry, with two more mouths to feed, it would be challenging.
Even Minister of Tourism Gerald Hadeed agrees with the Prime Minister the cubs should remain here. He has already visited the cubs at the Zoo and expressed interest in using the cubs to attract more visitors, even foreigners.
The birth of the two cubs brings the white Bengal tiger population now in captivity to 202. The zoo has two white Bengal tigers — a male and a female and a yellow female Bengal tigress. It is expected that the male tiger will also breed with the yellow tigress.
Newsday also understands that government has already pledged an allocation of $15 million for phase three of the zoo’s development which will include an animal hospital.
Phase two of the project, which includes accommodation for the African exhibits, is due for completion in March. It was also funded to the tune of $15 million. The zoo has plans to import during the “summer months” a black rhinoceros from the United States. Other animals expected are chimpanzees and meerekats to add to the African savannah exhibits. They are expected to co-exist with the giraffes.
(http://www.newsday.co.tt/galeria/Defensive_tiger_cubs_CC.jpg)
POPULAR CUBS: The adorable white Bengal tiger cubs relax at the Emperor Valley Zoo yesterday.
-
Home of the threatened Scarlet Ibis
T&T Guardian Reports.
If you are driving along the Uriah Butler Highway near Caroni, you may be fortunate to spot a vivid orange-red bird flying in your midst. It’s the luminous Scarlet Ibis, one of our two national birds which reside in the Caroni Swamp.
Located on the Gulf of Paria, 3.5 km from Port-of-Spain, the Caroni Swamp is the largest mangrove swamp in the country, accounting for over 60 per cent of the country’s mangrove. The Caroni swamp drains the catchment area of a significant portion of northwest and central Trinidad (an area of 675sq km), in which a significant portion of the population lives and where the majority of the non-petroleum manufacturing and agricultural sectors are located.
The Swamp is protected as a Prohibited Area under the Forests Act (Legal Notice No 141 of 1987), and was proclaimed a Forest Reserve in 1936, with three wildlife sanctuaries (200 hectares) declared within the Reserve in 1953 and 1966. A National Wetlands Policy was also passed by Cabinet in 2001 to guide the management of this valuable ecosystem.
This Ramsar Site is approximately 8,398 hectares in total, of which 2405.8 hectares are coastal water and mudflats. It is mainly state owned: 3,197 hectares within a Forest Reserve, 1,854.3 state lands, and 941 hectares are privately owned.
The natural water courses of the swamp are the Caroni River, the Blue River, Catfish River, Phagg River, Guayamare River and Madame Espagnol River. Several rivers and man-made drainage channels form an interesting hydrological network, which is influenced by tides from the Gulf of Paria and by drainage from the catchment area. The most notable of these were cut during the 1930s to control flooding and develop agricultural lands from the lagoon.
The ecological diversity is pronounced due to the existence of marshes and mangrove swamp in close proximity. The wetland provides a variety of habitats for flora and fauna species and supports a rich biodiversity. It is a highly productive system that provides food (organic production) and protection and is a nursery for marine and freshwater species. This wetland also functions as a receiving and absorbing body of land-based runoff and pollutants and is the natural infrastructure for tourism.
More than 90 per cent of the lagoon is inundated for most of the year and water depths range from one to 11 metres. Here, the lagoons and open mud flats are exposed only at low tides.
Mangrove vegetation dominates this wetland, with freshwater marshes including water grasses, sedges and lilies (the reeds). This type of vegetation is important in shoreline stability and flood control.
There is a wealth of fauna species including over 190 species of birds, 24 species of fin fish including several commercially important species such as tarpon (Megalops atlanticus), grey snapper (Lutjanus griseus), and species of shrimp (Penaeus spp) which use the swamp as a nursery.
Other important fauna species include the silky anteater (Cyclopes didactylus), the crab eating racoon (Procyon cancrivorous), oysters (Crassostrea rhizophorae), mangrove crab (Aratus pisonii), hairy crab (Ucides cordatus) and the Scarlet Ibis (Eudocimus ruber).
Owing to the rich biodiversity, the swamp is utilised extensively particularly with respect to fishing, harvesting of crabs, oysters and eco-tourism. There is a Caroni Swamp Visitor Centre for dissemination of information on the site, as well as boat tours for the avid eco-tourist. A section is also used for agriculture and industrial development. However, these activities have contributed to the degradation of the swamp as over-harvesting of shell fish and fin fish, and poaching of animal and bird species including the threatened Scarlet Ibis harms the ecosystem.
The habitat is also disturbed by the use of boats for recreation and fishing, drainage issues, pollution from industrial, agricultural and domestic sources, reclamation for road, housing and industrial development, salt water intrusion, and the loss of the freshwater marshes.
To mitigate further destruction of this site, the Forestry Division, National Wetlands Committee, and the Caroni Lagoon National Park and Bird Sanctuary Management Committee have been working towards the management of this protected area.
Additional stakeholder organisations include the Caribbean Forest Conservation Association (CFCA), Caroni Wetlands Scientific Trust, Greenplains Foundation, Pointe-a-Pierre Wildfowl Trust, and the T&T Field Naturalists Club.
Some of the management issues to be examined include the establishment of a study and monitoring programme for the area, the restoration of freshwater marsh habitat, development of an oyster and fisheries management programme, tourism and visitor use planning, strengthening local capacity to manage the site, and the development of educational and awareness programmes.
The Caroni Swamp is of prime ecological value to our nation and should be protected for future generations to come. We must each do our part to protect this site by reducing the negative human impact.
Help protect our local wetlands
• Experience and learn more about this local Ramsar Wetland site
• Educate others—Share what you’ve learned with your family and friends
• Volunteer or form a community group to help conserve or clean up our natural resources
• Report any illegal practices like poaching, squatting, or dumping of garbage.
-
Most popular names for tiger cubs: Kamla and Rowley
By COREY CONNELLY (Newsday)
These are the most popular choices in names for the two white Bengal tiger cubs that have won the hearts of staff and patrons alike at the Emperor Valley Zoo in St Ann’s.
President of the Zoological Society of Trinidad and Tobago Gupte Lutchmedial yesterday said that of the hundreds of names which have been submitted for the competition to name the lovable cubs, Kamla and Rowley were the most popular thus far.
Lutchmedial said, however, there was a strong possibility that the names will not be ascribed to the tigers even though they may top the competition.
“It may very well be that the names might be withdrawn because that is the Prime Minister (Kamla Persad-Bissessar) and Opposition Leader (Dr Keith Rowley) and it may be seen as disrespectful,” he told Sunday Newsday.
Other popular names for the cubs included Fay-Ann (Lyons-Alvarez) and Bunji (Garlin), J’ouvert and Soca, Trini Boy and Trini Girl and Rajah and Rani, Lutchmedial said.
“These are names that have appeared more than 20 times,” he said.
The competition began last Sunday and is expected to run until March 31 after which a winner will be declared.
Lutchmedial said the winner of the contest will also receive a free pass to the zoo for one year.
“This is an exciting competition. Every day we are receiving hundreds of entries. The cubs are quite popular at the zoo,” he said.
The two cubs were born to Rajasi and Shere Khan on January 10, 2015, and can be viewed thrice daily at the zoo.
Lutchmedial said the tigers, whose health are being closely monitored, were growing rapidly and have begun feeding on meat. The cubs are the first white Bengal tigers to be born in this part of the world.
(http://www.newsday.co.tt/galeria/tiger_clubs_CC.jpg)
The Bengal tiger cubs at the Emperor Valley zoo.
-
Tiger cubs to the rescue of Manzanilla’s turtles
Monday, April 6 2015
T&T Newsday
More than $100,000 in funds collected from the picture opportunity with the white tiger cubs at the Emperor Valley Zoo, Port-of-Spain have been directed by the Zoological Society of Trinidad and Tobago (ZSTT) to the Manatee Conservation Trust (MCT), the community-based non-governmental organisation which has been protecting the nesting leatherback turtles on site for the last 20 years.
This intervention was made to counter a reported 90 percent cut in the funds provided for beach patrols by the Forestry Division this year, although discussions are ongoing with the Conservator of Forests, Couternay Park on the matter. ZSTT, President Gupte Lutchmedial spoke of the close links between both organisations and the opportunity that this situation provided to use donations from the public for a worthwhile cause.
Lutchmedial said, “The great interest generated by the birth of the white tiger cubs at the Zoo and the over-subscription for picture opportunities could not have come at a better time. When the Board met recently it was agreed that in light of the dire situation facing the nesting leatherback turtles at Manzanilla, the best value for the monies collected would be to pay for the beach patrols.” Lutchmedial also indicated that this would take effect retroactively from March until August this year and is estimated at close to $120,000.
The partnership did not cease with this one move and on Saturday April 4 the MCT was joined by the ZSTT in a clean up of the most-frequented nesting areas along the 12-kilometre stretch of the Manzanilla beach. David Boodoo, the MCT’s Vice-President and coordinator of the beach clean up was very appreciative of the support of the ZSTT to work alongside its members and other persons from the community. “We have had patrollers out here since the start of the season in March and realised that a greater effort was needed to clear the beach area as turtles were being obstructed by the debris on the beach,” declared Boodoo.
Nirmal Biptah, Curator at the Zoo and lead member for the ZSTT speaking on its behalf, endorsed the view of Boodoo and said that just in one strip frequented by the turtles, truck loads of debris were carted away.
“The situation at Manzanilla is a sad reflection of how we regard our environment,” Biptah said, ane he added: “This fragile strip of beach, which is so important for the survival of an endangered species is being bombarded from onshore and offshore pollution as we collected plastic bottles, plates and cups discarded by beachgoers and rope and other paraphernalia which would have had to come from ships.” An added problem for the turtles has arisen as well in the form of large strands of Sargassum seaweed washed up onshore in which turtles and hatchlings can get entangled. The stepping in of the ZSTT for a local conservation cause should come as no surprise to those familiar with its role in the rescue and rehabilitation of wild animals across the country. The records reveal that calls come in on a daily basis to the Zoo Hotline for the rescue and collection of a range of animals including snakes, birds and various species of mammals. In the majority of cases, these animals are relocated to safe areas once they are deemed fit for release into the wild.
From viewing the iconic white tiger cubs at the Emperor Valley Zoo to saving endangered leatherback turtles at Manzanilla, the link in the conservation chain has certainly been strengthened, conservationists said.
-
3-year wildlife survey for Tobago
T&T Newsday
THE TOBAGO House of Assembly’s (THA) Division of Agriculture, Marine Affairs, Marketing and the Environment will undertake a three-year wildlife survey at an estimated cost of $5 million.
Secretary of the Division, Assemblyman Godwin Adams, disclosed this last week at the post Executive Council media briefing at the Administrative Complex, Calder Hall.
He said the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) was originally mandated to carry out the survey throughout Trinidad and Tobago. The venture was expected to be financed using the Green Fund, which was established by Central Government to support environmental projects.
Adams stated that the survey was never conducted in Tobago. It will now be done in collaboration with the University of the West Indies and other partners, who will be invited to come on board.
According to Adams, the survey is important as it can give Tobago accurate statistics on the game species and their populations. It will inform how Tobago treats with its wildlife ecology and the economic well-being of some citizens as well.
“I feel that a wildlife survey is important to Tobago. A national survey is all right, but what happens in Tobago will be slightly different to what occurs in Trinidad because at the last count in Trinidad, there were some 450 bunkers where hunters hang out.
“You don’t have those things in Tobago. As a matter of fact, the Tobago hunters do it more on game and a sporting activity.” Adams also said the Division welcomed Government’s decision to lift the two-year ban on hunting, beginning in October (2015). “Lifting of the hunting ban will allow us to manage certain species like the agouti, which brings a lot of challenges and frustration to our farmers,” he stated.
-
Ape hotel
TT Newsday
The Zoological Society of Trinidad and Tobago (ZSTT) is soon expecting the arrival of five chimpanzees from a breeding facility based in Washington, DC and is completing the new enclosure to keep them.
President of the Zoological Society of Trinidad and Tobago, Gupte Lutchmedial said the activities taking place ensures an appropriate space for these animals. “What we are doing is taking a bare structure that was completed by a contractor under the phase 2 operations of the Zoo Upgrade project and converting it to a green space.” Explaining what this meant, Lutchmedial continued, “This is going to be a self-contained area that will be energy-efficient as it will allow for natural lighting and ventilation and rain-water collection. Also the design caters for recycling of the waste water for use in cleaning of the enclosures.” The elaborate roof design of the structure at this moment, although covered for protection from the elements has a section with transparent sheeting and is being prepared for some solar panels as well.
Another aspect to the improvements being done is the outfitting of the enclosure with appropriate fittings and furnishings. It is scientifically accepted that there is a 98 percent genetic similarity between humans and chimpanzees and these animals are thus considered as highly intelligent beings. “The environment we are aiming for is a naturalistic setting outfitted with furniture that is stimulating to keep them from becoming bored,” said Lutchmedial. To this end, webbings made from rope and tiered platforms were observed to be under active preparation during the visit.
Judging from the size of the enclosure which carries a 6,400 sq feet footprint and is well outfitted, it comes as no surprise, sources said, that the cost which is being covered by the members of the ZSTT comes close to four million dollars to bring what was a bare cage to an enclosure fit for these endangered animals.
In light of the recent reclassification of all captive chimpanzees as endangered made by the US Fish and Wildlife Service bringing them to the same status as their wild counterparts, the ZSTT was conscious that nothing but a world class facility will do for these animals.
Lutchmedial explained, “The reclassification is an excellent move that will benefit captive chimpanzees as it will regulate medical research and importantly make them part of the global breeding programmes. To this end, we are onboard with this conservation initiative and not just displaying chimpanzees to the public.”
A rhinoceros is also expected to join the Zoo’s diverse collection and with all these developments, Zoo guests can look forward to the opening of the African Exhibit area in the near future, Lutchmedial said.
-
Wildlife workers appear in court with protected animals
By Nikita Braxton (Express)
FOUR men hired to collect data on the wildlife population during the hunting moratorium were found in possession of three tortoises in bags in their trunks.
Sherland Finch, Dillon Roopan, Shiva Ramlal and Bhagwandeen Samaroo told the court they were trying to save the animals.
Princes Town Magistrate Avason Quinlan, who said the maximum penalty for possession of protected animals and also hunting a protected animal was $1,000 or three months’ hard labour, asked whether such fines could have the necessary effect.
"I want to ask the question whether that sentence is appropriate in the circumstances and time in which we live in now," she said.
At around 12.20 a.m. on Labour Day last Friday, police Constable Steve Seepersad, who is also a game warden, was with other police officers on mobile patrol duty along Rochard Douglas Road, Barrackpore, where they stopped and conducted a routine search of the men's B14 car.
Sergeant Shazim Mohammed told the court: "The complainant searched the vehicle and found in the trunk in a black knapsack two gallop turtles...and one yellow-footed tortoise, also called a morocoy."
When asked the reason for having the animals, two of the defendants said: "We caught it in Edward Trace, Moruga."
The four were taken to Barrackpore Police Station.
The three animals were shown to the court during the matter yesterday.
Defence attorney Petronilla Basdeo said while her clients admitted they had the animals, they disputed the time of their arrest and the utterances noted.
She said her clients were employed to work by the University of The West Indies and the Environmental Management Authority to survey the forest before the hunting ban is removed.
"They had a duty to traverse the area using GPS and satellites and record their findings and observations."
Basdeo said while doing this, her clients came across carcasses of animals killed by heavy equipment that had been clearing the area. She said they picked up the turtles "in an effort, not to cause harm but to save the animals".
She also said that the men tried contacting their boss via their cellular phones but were unsuccessful.
Basdeo asked for leniency for Finch, 34, Roopan, 22, Ramlal, 29, and Samaroo, 33, who are all from Barrackpore.
Quinlan warned them that when they see a protected animal they believe is in danger, they should make a report to the relevant authorities.
She fined each $900 for each of the animals. In default of paying they will serve three months’ hard labour.
They were given two weeks to pay the fines.
The tortoises were ordered released back into the wild under Seepersad's supervision.
Seepersad said all turtles in this country are protected animals.
Following the matter, the men asked Seepersad and honorary game warden Rennie Loknath to visit the area and try to save the turtles which were in danger of being hurt.
Earlier, before Magistrate Debra Quintyne in the Princes Town First Court, Roopan and Samaroo appeared charged separately with possession of marijuana.
They both pleaded guilty and Roopan, who admitted that he had 0.6 grammes of the drug, was ordered to serve community service. He is to visit a probation officer and return to court on July 17.
Samaroo, who was having difficulty following the proceedings, was advised to contract the services of an attorney and return to court on July 7.
-
Wildlife species management —Part 2 Enforcement, socio-economic and cultural aspects of hunting.
T&T Guardian Reports.
Socio-economic and cultural aspects of hunting
We frequently encounter stories in the newspapers about citizens being arrested and charged for hunting offences. One such story is an account of two farmers and a labourer being arrested for the possession of a monkey carcass in Biche, April 2014. Another incident was reported in October 2013 whereby game wardens caught a Chaguanas man with 18 carcasses of the Scarlet Ibis, the national bird, and he was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
A third account revealed that during the Christmas season of 2014 (as reported by the Trinidad Guardian) conservationists, environmentalists and game wardens were taken aback over the festive season after photos of a woman kissing the decapitated head of an iguana and a man with the reptile’s head partially in his open mouth surfaced on Facebook.
It appears that game wardens are constantly challenged to prevent poachers and out-of-season hunting. Hunting is both a livelihood and sport activity in T&T, thus the infamous term “wild meat” has almost become a household name. However, this activity requires adequate regulation to ensure the survival of wildlife populations whilst facilitating the economic and social importance of this “ritual.”
Furthermore, social media has undoubtedly fuelled a national call for strong enforcement of wildlife protection legislation. Many users share pictures of indiscriminate citizens posing with deceased wild animals as a means of expressing outrage over the act of hunting, or as a means of calling on enforcement officials to apprehend said people.
The EMA, in understanding the delicate balance between socio-economic activities and wildlife resource management, included stakeholder components in its Species Research and Data Capture Programme to better understand and engage the hunting community. Key stakeholders such as hunters and community members will be engaged through consultations in an attempt to collect data on their knowledge, attitudes and perceptions (KAP) regarding hunting.
Based on this information, an analysis into the socio-economic and cultural aspects will be conducted which will include an examination of alternative livelihoods. This aspect of the project aims to ensure that these people have alternative opportunities for gaining income which would also minimise illegal hunting during the proposed moratorium and reduce the likelihood of a black market for wild meat.
Enforcement
To provide additional support to the game wardens tasked with protecting wildlife species, the EMA is establishing an Environmental Police Post at the Valencia Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre. This post will allow for effective patrols of this area, which borders an important ecosystem—the Matura National Park, an Environmentally Sensitive Area.
This centre will facilitate a 24-hour presence of environmental police, with people in the community being trained and made environmental officers to assist in monitoring and enforcement. This will allow for further community capacity building and livelihood development.
The EMA’s increased police surveillance is accompanied by an increase in penalties and fines for hunting offences intended to deter citizens from contravening wildlife regulations.
The fines have been increased as per the following:
• Hunting any animal in a game sanctuary: from $1,000 and three months’ imprisonment to $100,000 and one year in jail
• Taking a dog into a game sanctuary for hunting: from $1,000 and three months’ imprisonment to $100,000 and one year imprisonment
• Hunting a protected animal without a special licence from the chief game warden: from $1,000 and three months’ imprisonment to $50,000 for each animal
• Hunting in the closed season, without a special game licence and not under the special conditions to exercise dogs in lands other than the forest reserve and game sanctuaries: from $2,000 and six months’ imprisonment to $100,000 and two years’ imprisonment
Whilst the initiatives outlined in both articles intend to transform the attitudes and practices of wildlife management in T&T, education and awareness remain key tools to conserving our vulnerable species. The EMA’s public education mandate has and continues to serve as a critical role in addressing this issue with increased partnerships with community members and non-governmental based organisations over the years, resulting in greater mutual understanding and more efficient channels for addressing wildlife and other environmental matters.
-
VIDEO Report; https://www.facebook.com/cnewslive/videos/10153629263080610/ (https://www.facebook.com/cnewslive/videos/10153629263080610/)
Young tigers Rani and Raja are growing quickly
Well they aren't cubs anymore! Young tigers Rani and Raja are growing by leaps and bounds since their birth at the Emperor Valley Zoo in January. They are now nine months old, weigh over 100 pounds and are over five feet in length.
-
On Monday, the Emperor Valley Zoo welcomed its latest addition! Gloria, a Red Howler Monkey at the Zoo gave birth to her young but the sex of the baby Howler is still not certain, as it's quite early to tell. Mahalia Joseph visited the Zoo and brought back this report.
https://www.youtube.com/v/dn6nwuJpgX4
-
https://www.facebook.com/cnewslive/videos/10153640409495610/
-
Raja and Rani, King and Queen of the Zoo, turned one year old on Sunday and the Zoo held a special birthday party in their honour.
The White Bengal Tigers, the first born here in Trinidad, had a special cake made of horse meat and were the attention to dozens who took the time to say Happy Birthday.
WATCH: https://www.facebook.com/cnewslive/videos/10153804308715610/
.
-
Zoo’s giraffes take cautious steps into new African exhibit
T&T Newsday Reports.
The African Exhibit at the Emperor Valley Zoo which was recently opened had as one of its early guests, Clarence Rambharat, Minister of Agriculture, Land and Marine Resources who paid a visit on Friday last.
Accompanied on the tour by the President of the Zoological Society of Trinidad and Tobago (ZSTT), Gupte Lutchmedial and other staff members, Minister Rambharat indicated his pleasure at seeing the giraffes and mandrills in their new accommodation.
“I am especially heartened to see that ample space is available for these iconic animals and I look forward to the Zoo continuing apace with its upgrade works,” said Minister Rambharat. He added, “I join with the ZSTT in its achievable vision for the Zoo as a premier conservation and education centre in Trinidad and Tobago.” For Lutchmedial and the entire ZSTT, February 2016 will be recorded as a watershed month in the annals of the Emperor Valley Zoo with the opening of this African Exhibit to the public. Guests to the Zoo now have access to this area which adds to their overall experience. Although the physical infrastructure was ready since January, the pace was set by the iconic giraffes that chose to venture into their new “accommodation” at their own time. “We had no choice but to exercise restraint in the giraffe relocation process and after a patient one–month period, we were rewarded on no lesser day than Valentine’s Day,” said Lutchmedial.
Continuing with further details, Lutchmedial explained, “Mandela was the first to cautiously back into the enclosure having been coaxed with a corridor lined with branches, and shortly after, Melman followed suit.” This milestone was followed three days after with the well-executed relocation of the Zoo’s four mandrills. When asked how the mandrills are settling in, Lutchmedial stated “Monitoring of the mandrills’ acclimatization to their new accommodation was an integral part of the relocation process, and we observed that after a day of cautious exploration, the mandrills began to use their larger space.” Their keepers have observed that they are quite adventurous, climbing onto the several platforms provided and making use of the furniture provided for their enrichment and welfare.
The Zoo’s management has indicated that its guests are pleased with these new developments, with many of them describing the new enclosures as spacious and up to standards seen at other zoos abroad. For Lutchmedial, this is an accomplishment long overdue, since he recalled that this portion of the Zoo was closed to the public for over eight years. “This new giraffe enclosure was modified from an exhibit that was built some years ago to house an Asian elephant expected from India. Since this did not materialise, it was an ideal space to convert into suitable accommodation for our two giraffes, “explained Lutchmedial.
So what’s next on the card for the Emperor Valley Zoo? In what can only be described as good news, Sudi, the lone chimpanzee at the Zoo is scheduled to be relocated into her new enclosure by next month. Guests visiting the Zoo would observe work being done apace to finish up this new structure which is situated adjacent to that of the giraffes.
The Zoo’s management is assuring that the upgrade work continues beyond this as its ultimate goal is to have all its animals kept in exhibits that meet the standard of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums which is the standard bearer for the Americas.
-
(http://www.cnc3.co.tt/sites/default/files/grouper_0.png)
A Facebook post of a group of men trying to pull a large grouper into the back of a pick-up truck, has attracted tens of thousands of viewers.
The video was uploaded by ENT! BREAKING NEWS with the title: "Huge Grouper like fish caught at Mayaro, Trinidad"
The video appears to have been shot by Pooran Ramlakhan.
The fish is still alive as the men struggle to load the new catch into the truck.
Read More: http://www.cnc3.co.tt/press-release/huge-grouper-caught-mayaro
.
-
Liar the lion say that is them small fish he father does use for bait.
-
The dolphins were beaten, hacked to death
...humans, not disease were the perpetrators
By Susan Mohammed Multimedia Desk
It turns out that humans, not disease, killed the dolphins found on the beach in La Brea on Thursday. Necropsies done on the carcasses of the animals found that the juvenile had been beaten and the adult had been cut in half.
The two Spinner dolphins were found on the Carat Shed Beach, La Brea.
According to the Trinidad and Tobago Marine Mammal Stranding Network, the adult animal had been cut in half and only the cranial (front) half was found on the site.
The juvenile and the remaining half of the adult animal were retrieved by the TTMMSN's veterinary team, Dr. Carla Phillips (Clinician, Marine Mammal Medicine and Aquatic Animal Health), Dr. Rod Suepaul (Veterinary Pathologist) (both Lecturers at the University of the West Indies, School of Veterinary Medicine (UWI-SVM)), and Dr. Wade Seukeran (Private Veterinary Practitioner).
The carcasses were transported to the UWI-SVM where examinations were performed on Friday.
“Both animals were found to be in very good body condition and were both actively feeding at the time that they became distressed, as evidenced by the presence of feed in the oesophagus and stomach. Markings and indentations on the body of the adult animal were consistent with that of fishing nets” said the organisation.
“The juvenile male dolphin had lesions consistent with severe blunt force trauma along the entire right side of the body. Both animals had haemorrhaged into the thoracic (chest) cavity. The juvenile animal had extensive pulmonary haemorrhage, especially in the right lung, again consistent with blunt force trauma to the right side of the body.
The adult animal had been cut in half just behind the dorsal fin. Abdominal organs were found to be crudely severed and removed. The sex of the animal therefore could not be determined”.
Necropsy findings strongly suggest that both animals perished as a result of human interaction, stated the TTMSN, which strongly encouraged to avoid interaction with marine mammals that may wash ashore.
“Desist from the practice of mutilating the animals and avoid consumption of the carcass as these animal often harbour harmful micro-organisms that can be transmitted to humans and can be detrimental to human health”.
The public was also reminded that marine mammals are protected and it is illegal to handle or be in possession of these animals (or parts thereof) without a permit.
Reports of strandings should be immediately made to the Wildlife Division (Trinidad: 662-5114, 645-4288; Tobago: 639-2570; 735-4369) and the TTMMSN (466-2709, 735-3530). It is best that the public await the assistance of trained personnel before trying to intervene.
(http://www.trinidadexpress.com/storyimage/TT/20170331/LOCAL/170339947/AR/0/AR-170339947.jpg)
A member of the T&T Marine mammal Stranding Network examines the juvenile dolphin that, it was later determined, was beaten.
(http://www.trinidadexpress.com/assets/gif/TT866331.JPG)
Veterinarians examine the dead dolphin washed ashore in La Brea on Thursday.
(http://www.trinidadexpress.com/assets/gif/TT867331.JPG)
A village take a photograph of the dead dolphin washed ashore in La Brea on Thursday.
-
Two zebras arrive at Emperor Valley Zoo
T&T Newsday Reports.
THE EMPEROR Valley Zoo welcomed two new animals on Friday night - a pair of zebras.
The Zoological Society of Trinidad and Tobago (ZSTT), in a release yesterday, announced the safe arrival of the zebras. The animals landed at 8pm on Friday night and on hand to receive them were Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat and ZSTT president Gupte Lutchmedial.
Accompanying the animals on their journey was John Seyjagat, the ZSTT’s international director, the release said.
Lutchmedial in a statement yesterday morning said: “The zebras have adjusted nicely in its enclosure and our thanks to John for looking after their well being on the journey overland from Texas and by air from Miami.” “The ZSTT is committed to enhancing our guest experiences and this newest arrival to our African Exhibit is in keeping with our strategic thrust.”
-
$24,500 for bird lover held with illegal cargo
by Sascha Wilson (Guardian)
A market vendor who was held with 81 birds in Cedros has been slapped with $24,500 in fines.
Akash Rampersad, 23, of Petit Bourg has to pay the fines within three months otherwise he could go to prison.
Rampersad pleaded guilty to 80 offences of keeping bullfinch and picoplat birds in an undersized cage and possession of a protected bird, a yellow-headed parrot, without a licence when he appeared in the Point Fortin Magistrates Court.
He was jointly charged with Zaman Husain, 20, and Curtis Hart, 20, both of Aranguez, but they pleaded not guilty. Second Court Magistrate Taramatie Ramdass granted them each $10,000 own bail and adjourned their matter to May 2. The men were represented by attorney James Philbert. The court heard that around 10.30 am police stopped a white car at Bonasse Village, Cedros, after receiving information.
The police found three occupants in the car, including Rampersad who was the driver. The officers also observed 20 bullfinches in a cage, 60 picoplats in another cage and a box with a yellow-headed parrot.
They were charged by senior game warden Steve Seepersad. The birds were produced in the court. Rampersad claimed that he and his friends went to the beach where they saw a drunk man with the birds. Rampersad, a bird lover, claimed he felt sorry for the birds and bought the birds from him.
Rampersad released some and decided to take the rest home to care for them. Prosecutor Sgt Manoolal conformed he had no convictions or pending matters. The magistrate fined him $500 for having the protected bird and $300 each on the 80 charges of having birds in an undersized cage. The offences carry a maximum fine of $10,000.
The birds were handed over to the Emperor Valley Zoo.
-
Fishermen charged with wildlife trafficking.
T&T Guardian Reports.
Two Cedros fishermen are expected to appear in court today jointly charged with 47 wildlife trafficking offences.
The men, ages 35 and 46, of Icacos Village, were arrested along with four Venezuelans on Saturday morning after the police, acting on a tip-off, found 13 Capuchin monkeys and 17 bullfinches at a house. It is believed that the animals were brought by boat from Venezuela to be sold on the black market.
Involved in the joint exercise were game wardens Richard Sorrillo, Steve Seepersad, Bisham Madhu, Glenford Doyle and Vanessa Ghilcris-Lopez. Sgt Ramsaran was in charge of the exercise which was spearheaded by the Conservator of Forests and chief game warden Denny Dipchansingh.
At around 12.30 am on Saturday, the officers and game wardens went to a house at Lover’s Lane and found the monkeys in three wicker baskets and the birds in a cage. The four Venezuelans were handed over to the Immigration Division, while the Trinidadians were jointly charged with 13 counts of possession of a protected animal, 17 counts of keeping birds in an undersized cage and 17 counts of keeping caged birds without a permit.
The offence of being in possession of a protected animal carries a $5,000 fine, while the penalty for the other offences is a $2,000 fine.
Law enforcement officers appealed to the public to desist from participating in or encouraging the illegal wildlife trade. The animals are expected to be shown to the magistrate when the matter is called today in the Point Fortin Magistrates Court.
(https://www.guardian.co.tt/image-3.2663128.fded33d7ff?size=1024)
Photo of some of the monkeys that were found by Cedros Police and Game Warden on Saturday.
-
500lb Tapir found in Penal
BY STACY MOORE (NEWSDAY).
Police and game wardens are now questioning several people in the Penal area after a 500-pound female tapir was spotted wandering in the village of Ramjattan Trace, Penal on Monday morning.
According to reports, on Monday morning, residents awoke to see the animal roaming the village.
The frightened residents contacted the Agriculture and Forestry Division. Game wardens including Andy Singh and Jeremy Dindial and Penal police led by Cpl Ramdial and staff from the Emperor Valley Zoo visited the village and started searching for the tapir.
She was found in nearby bush and was put to sleep with a tranquilliser. The tapir was then taken to the zoo, in whose care it remains.
Police believe it was smuggled into T&T from South America and are hoping to find those responsible. They believe the tapir may have been part of an illegal shipment but escaped.
The fine for having a protected animal without a permit is $5,000.
(https://newsday.co.tt/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/7124675-768x1024.jpg)
-
Man fined $73,000 for protected animals without permit
NARISSA FRASER (NEWSDAY).
A man who was charged with 46 counts of keeping protected animals without a permit has been fined $73,600 by a Siparia magistrate, a government minister has said.
Two men were charged with these offences on April 4 at Beach Road, Santa Flora, after being stopped by police who had been given a tipoff. Their vehicles contained a number of protected animals.
In a Facebook post on Friday, Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries Clarence Rambharat said, "The man pleaded guilty on all 46 counts and was convicted and fined $73,600 or in default, four months hard labour. He was given until February 5, 2021 to pay.
"The other man who was charged with 25 counts pleaded guilty on July 30 and decided to change his plea to not guilty. These matters were adjourned to February 24, 2021."
(https://newsday.co.tt/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/10310030.jpg)
Some of the animals found on April 4 at Beach Road, Santa Flora in the vehicles of two men. The men have been charged for keeping protected animals without a permit. Photo via Facebook. -
-
Those mischievous monkeys.
T&T Express Reports.
Guaico residents protect Red Howlers
As the thunder sounded its first roll in the distance, the troop of Red Howler monkeys continued to partake of the fruits of a large mango tree. One adult male, balancing precariously on the tip of a branch, stretched his length to retrieve the half ripe fruit.
Still at the tip, his strong tail securely wrapped around the thicker body of the branch, he took one bite of the fruit, then discarded it.
He stretched to reach another at the tip, plucked it, then retreated along the branch to where it formed a sturdy fork along the trunk and sat, took a munch of the fruit, then promptly dropped it. He reclined along the branch and crossed his legs, seemingly satisfied with his meal.
Another large ‘Red’ was doing the same. He reached for the fruit, took one bite, then dropped it. This he did one after the other.
Children jumped around excitedly, pointing at the primates and mimicking their movements while the adults of the community sat and smiled, this being a familiar scenario each day.
Monkey territory
Most members of the community of Guaico Tamana (Sangre Grande region / Trinidad and Tobago) were born into what they call this ‘monkey territory’ just as their resident band of Howlers have been born into this part of village life. According to elder Ramsingh, the primates were always with them.
“These monkeys born and grow here. The older ones came out of the forest decades ago when estates were working. Those eventually died out, leaving these generations that were born out here and who continue to multiply being accustomed to people and who know everything about this place.”
“When I take up my power saw and start to sharpen and clean it to go to work on the estate, they sit right there eating. I throw it over my shoulder and start out to work and they talk monkey talk to me ‘gup gup gup gup’. They accustomed to everybody and everything.”
“All the villagers put out their chairs every afternoon and sit and watch them. Everybody is amused by them and they have become part of our community life. You could just stop in the road and watch them in the trees.”
As the rain descended heavily, the monkeys retreated into the arching shelter of a bamboo stool. This was the perfect place to protect themselves from the cold and wet. The canopy of the bamboo drooped lower and lower to form a perfect umbrella over the area, vines adding to its strength.
When the rain stopped, everyone anticipated their re-emergence into the open, but this was not to be as dusk was setting in earlier than usual with the rainy weather.
Like naughty children
From his experience, Ramsingh shared that they would have been each curled into a ball, head between and tail wrapped around as they are accustomed sleeping in the shelter of the bamboo.
“When you pass you know that they’re sleeping there because of the heaps of droppings you meet on the ground underneath. Though we all consider them to be part of our village family, they could be pests sometimes. They shorten our crops by eating or half-eating everything.”
“When usually our crops would last and everybody could share, in one month’s time when they pass, green, baby, flower, everything done. They eat out the mango, pomerac, cocoa, coffee, young leaves, everything. You see them sucking the orange like we plant it for them. But we look at them as naughty children and still love them.”
The main reason why these groups of primates thrive here is that hunters in the community have grown up with them and know them. They have accepted them as part of the village family and as such do not shoot them as is done in other areas. They go all out to protect them from harm from outsiders.
In their own way, members of the community of Guaico Tamana have contributed to the necessary protection of this species. They have indeed found sanctuary here.
-
Ministry halts all hunting, all wild meat trade
KEN CHEE HING (NEWSDAY).
THE hunting season is now completely dead in the water, shot down by the covid19 pandemic.
A release from the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries on September 14, indicated that the sale of State Game Licenses – needed to lawfully hunt game on state land during the prescribed hunting season – had been postponed, but this did not cover hunting on private land.
This technicality afforded hunters a loophole whereby they could have possibly still hunted on private land and also possessed and traded in wildmeat sourced from said hunting.
But according to a press release issued on Wednesday by the ministry, amendments have been made to the Conservation of Wildlife Act which bans all forms of hunting be it on state or private land and also bans the possession of wildmeat even on or after October 1, when the hunting season starts.
The cancellation of the hunting season and ban on possession and sale of wildmeat was done on advice from the Ministry of Health that wildlife hunting encourages congregation in contravention of the covid19 public health ordinance, which limits public gatherings to no more than five people.
The Agriculture Ministry release on Wednesday stated that the Conservator of Forests was still considering aspects of hunting and in light of the postponement of the sale of State Game Licences, the Conservator was aware of the fact that without changes to the Conservation of Wild Life Regulations, it was still possible to hunt on private land and possess/sell wildmeat.
The ministry said that without controls there is need to ensure that the market for wildmeat is not flooded by illegally imported meat – which could very well harbour disease-causing microbes – creating another public health risk.
Accordingly, the Conservator has advised Minister of Agriculture Clarence Rambharat of the need to amend the Conservation of Wild Life Regulations.
As such, effective October 1, and until further notice, the Second Schedule to the Conservation of Wild Life Act is amended by deleting the list of animals and birds listed in Parts I and II and most of the cage birds listed in Part III.
Further, the release said, the Regulations relating to possession and sale of wild meat from October 1, are also amended. This means that from Thursday, no one shall have in his/her possession the whole or any part of an animal, serve, purchase, sell, offer, advertise for sale or expose for sale of the carcass or meat, frozen, fresh, cooked or otherwise any animal referred to in the Third Schedule of the Conservation of Wild Life Act Regulations. This includes Agouti, Tattoo, Lappe, Deer and Quenk (wild hog).
-
Monkeys and Macaws under threat as Illicit Wildlife Trade thrives in T&T
Media Release, Daily Express.
(https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/trinidadexpress.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/f/06/f06437e6-0cbb-11eb-8050-a39799419154/5f84a5d9839f9.image.jpg?resize=881%2C747)
Photo credits here (https://trinidadexpress.com/press-releases/monkeys-and-macaws-under-threat-as-illicit-wildlife-trade-thrives-in-t-t/article_ce2023ca-0cbb-11eb-9405-53e98e9dc263.html).
The wildlife trafficking problem is a major issue in Trinidad and Tobago and is considered one of the most lucrative forms of illicit international trade. The illegal wildlife trade is typically transcontinental, and, as highlighted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), “virtually every country in the world plays a role” as a source, transit, or destination of illicitly traded wildlife.”
Ricardo Meade, Founder of the El Socorro Centre for Wildlife Conservation said one of the most widely traded animal is the monkey which is not native to Trinidad and Tobago and is smuggled into the country from Guyana or Venezuela. He noted, “Hunters will kill the mother and snatch the baby monkey, and that baby is looking into your face, the person who receives the monkey as a pet, and is literally seeing the blood of its mother pouring from your eyes because you are human just like the person who killed its mother.” He said this is the major reason why monkeys begin to display aggressive behaviour as it reacts to this traumatic experience. Monkeys, he said, do not make good pets because they carry a lot of diseases, and, as they have largest canine per body size of any animal, it could be detrimental if it becomes aggressive and attack its owner or those who interact with it on a daily basis.
He cautioned persons about letting monkeys roam free in areas like Chaguaramas as they could possibly carry diseases like tuberculosis and malaria, “We have had enough of this literal monkey business. We have no more space or place or physical or financial capabilities to deal with abandoned monkeys at the Centre. Many of them have already been released into this county’s depleted sensitive ecosystem and now there is a massive problem.”
Birds also form a big part of the illegal wildlife trade, and according to Mr. Meade, the authorities have turned a blind eye which could lead to a decimation of the bird population (including poultry) especially if a viral infection occurs. He also raised the alarm on the livelihood of the blue and gold macaw which was once native to this country but was no longer found because of overhunting, “Under a reintroduction project, 19 blue and gold macaws were brought in from Guyana, and some of those which were purchased illegally from Venezuela, Guyana or Colombia escaped and joined the 19 pairs, and this is how we now have blue and old macaws once again. It took quite an effort to reintroduce the bird and we are fortunate it existed somewhere else. Imagine if this did not happen, we would have lost this bird entirely, which happened with ocelots in Tobago.”
He strongly criticized the lackadaisical approach from the protective arms who do not enforce the laws and called on the Ministry of National Security to focus on the illegal wildlife trade before an animal or bird is smuggled into the country with a contagious disease and there is contamination, “There are incidents where a whole herd of cattle arrived in this country, and not on a pirogue but a barge – a massive floating structure that left Venezuela and arrived here undetected. We have extremely porous borders, and the Police and Coast Guard are not focusing on this problem.”
Mr. Meade believes in order to prevent instances of illegal wildlife trade, education from the infant level is needed to drastically change entrenched bad behaviour and terrible cultural norms. In order to do so, he suggested using marketing techniques to involve young people and a call to action.
-
Monkeys and Macaws under threat as Illicit Wildlife Trade thrives in T&T
Media Release, Daily Express.
...
He strongly criticized the lackadaisical approach from the protective arms who do not enforce the laws and called on the Ministry of National Security to focus on the illegal wildlife trade before an animal or bird is smuggled into the country with a contagious disease and there is contamination, “There are incidents where a whole herd of cattle arrived in this country, and not on a pirogue but a barge – a massive floating structure that left Venezuela and arrived here undetected. We have extremely porous borders, and the Police and Coast Guard are not focusing on this problem.”
Well, why not ship cars next?
-
TTMA: Illegal wildlife trade serious threat to ecosystem
CARLA BRIDGLAL (NEWSDAY).
The TT Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA) has called the illicit wildlife trade “a serious threat to local ecosystems and the survival of endangered and vulnerable species.”
In a release Monday, the TTMA said wildlife trafficking is a major issue and is considered one of the most lucrative forms of illicit international trade. The illegal wildlife trade is typically transcontinental: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime noted that virtually every country in the world plays a role as a source, transit or destination of illicitly traded wildlife. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) reports that during the past 40 years there has been a 58 per cent decline in vertebrate population and an 81 per cent decline in populations living in freshwater systems, exacerbated by the illicit trade in wildlife.
Ricardo Meade, founder of the El Socorro Centre for Wildlife Conservation said in the release, that non-native species of monkeys were one of the most widely traded animals, entering the country via Venezuela or Guyana. He said one reason monkeys sold to captivity start displaying aggression to their owners is because when hunters kill their mother they forever associate humans as harmful. The monkeys then react to this traumatic experience. Monkeys, he added, do not make good pets because they carry several diseases, and, as they have the largest canine teeth relative to body size of any animal, it could be dangerous if they were to attack their owners or handlers.
He cautioned that monkeys could carry diseases like tuberculosis and malaria. He also criticised abandoning them. He said his centre was at capacity when it came to rescuing and rehabilitating abandoned monkeys. He claimed several have already been released into the wild and were a massive problem, negatively affecting the country’s depleted and sensitive ecosystem.
Birds are also a big part of the illegal wildlife trade, Meade said, and this could leave to the decimation of the bird population is a viral infection were to occur.
He criticised what he said was a lackadaisical approach from the protective services and other authorities, which did not enforce laws. He called on the Ministry of National Security to focus on the illicit trade before an infectious animal contaminated the local ecosystem.
Meade said to prevent the trade, education is needed, starting from a young age, to change entrenched bad behaviour and cultural norms.
In an e-mailed response to Newsday on the issue, Agriculture, Land and Fisheries minister Clarence Rambharat said since his appointment he has been speaking out against the illegal trade in wildlife, particularly from Venezuela.
"The mnistry has had several amendments made to the laws and regulations to increase the fines for illicit activities and our game wardens have prosecuted numerous offences. The key issue is border security and surveillance. It also points to the complicit behavior of some pet shop owners.
"Game wardens have increased their patrols and support to the other arms of law enforcement. The filling of critical vacancies in the Forestry Division including game warden vacancies would assist in extending coverage." (With reporting by Paula Lindo)