Ubin

Recently, Discovery Channel aired a program showing how extracts from its blood can be used to test for life in space.

We have these ’space crabs’ in Ubin too.

Unfortunately, these enigmatic oldest living creatures are seen by some as pests. The ones I saw are already dead. Fishermen says they tangled up nets and when caught, are left in the dry and die.

Ubin has its fragile inhabitants. A family of otters move like nomads searching for food despite the abundance of mangroves and inland wetlands in Ubin. Flying foxes are extinct in Ubin when fruit plantations in Malaysia leave poisons on the trees. Smaller fruit-bats are seen less often now.

Poaching is still going on. Several wild boar traps have been demolished by Nparks last year. Small birds were caught with fine nets and monitor lizards are trapped with large fish-hooks. Report to Nparks if you chance upon these traps.