I came across this interesting article from the Philippines alleging that Jurong was close to striking a deal with the Philippine Government to display and conduct joint research on the Philippines Eagle. But the deal was scrapped due to a supposed $50,000 payment demand from the Philippine Environment Secretary. If this were all true, what a great pity! Ledesma: How to conserve the Philippine eagle | Sun.Star
interesting commentary but some parts are ill-informed and wrong: 'Singapore is a veritable show window of ecological balance', 'they have more wild animals in the woods than we do' and his big praise of the many acacias in Singapore. For people that don't know, most in Singapore are the non-native Acacia auriculiformis that now has proven to be an invasive species that can cause much damage to native plants because of its fast growth. Acacia auriculiformis (PIER species info). Most native plants in Singapore fortunately appear more resilient to competition from introduced species than plant communities many other places: Turner and Tan 1992 in Pacific Science #46. I really like Singapore (have visited many times and plan on visiting again) but in conservation they copied us in Europe. Remove most native habitat first, then afterwards try to restore it in the few places where there is space left. If Singapore won´t pay that kind of money for Philippine eagle I wonder if Jacksonville zoo will? I guess not? Monsoon Asia in Jacksonville Without Philippine eagle for Jurong they should try Harpy. I'm sure it would be much cheaper than Philippine eagle because many zoos (even small ones) in South and Central America have Harpys. The small population in zoos outside its native range could also use new blood. I don't think any Asian zoos have Harpys today?
@condor: Agreed on the conservation part. Convenience and comfort of humans will ultimately take precedence over nature. On the Philippines eagle part, I think it was not so much about Jurong not willing to part with the money, but a matter of principle. The article alluded to the $50,000 as bribery. I'm sure the original deal would already have included some amount of donation to the Eagle Foundation. And I don't think it was just a case of Jurong looking for a large eagle species for display. Jurong, along with sister parks Singapore Zoo and Night Safari have committed to the conservation of SE Asian species. The Philippines eagle would have been a good candidate for Jurong along with its current in/ex-situ conservation efforts for Bali myna and Oriental pied hornbills.
@Zooish, well said. I wish that SEAZA would be led by the likes of Singapore Zoo management. A leading light they still are among SE Asia's zoos ...
I don't want to reduce the praise of Singapore Zoo management too much, but it is much easier to be a leading light when you have money... (unlike many other SE Asia's Zoos).
You are absolutely right jwer. Singapore's animal parks can do what they do because they are financially sound. The parks are now self-sustaining businesses that no longer receive government funding.
The problem with most SE Asian zoos is that they are running on very little money as jwer rightly pointed out. And whatever money they have is needed to fund the zoos' operations, leaving none for conservation work. These domestic issues are unfortunately beyond SEAZA's sphere of influence.
I think that is pure speculation. I don't see anything in the article that clearly support that it was bribery and not the money in support of local conservation that could be expected. Just like the money the Chinese require for giant panda. But if the $50,000 really was bribery then of course Jurong should not go along. Unfortunately I guess bribery is much more common in zoos than we know. Especially in countries where bribery in general is common. The Philippine Eagle Foundation are already successful in keeping and breeding Philippine eagle and they have a large facility with plenty of space. There is not really anything major Jurong could add in captive management of the species. Unlike if they started a project with for example Javan hawk eagle where we still know very little about captive management (I think it still hasn't been bred in captivity despite an attempt of starting a breeding program but I believe few if any pairs have been kept under the high quality conditions now possible in Jurong). What Jurong do have is money but they can provide economical support to in-situ projects no matter if they keep Philippine eagle in their bird park or not. All in-situ projects that I know they currently support are in Singapore via their WRSCF foundation and most of the species they support are only seriously threatened when you look at it strictly in Singapore (rhinoceros hornbill, Oriental pied hornbills and banded leaf monkey have large populations elsewhere). I'm certainly not saying that the great breeding records for many threatened species in the bird park or their in-situ projects in Singapore are irrelevant because that would be very wrong. Just that they easily could expand to also support in-situ projects in other countries for species they don't keep in the bird just park like Fort Worth Zoo have for the Philippine eagle. That is especially relevant when large and successful facilities already exist for a species within its native range.
I know there is a money issue there. If you read some of the posts in the SE Asian zoos section you would know my arguement being here is not so much the way zoos are dependent on finance, but how they are run. And I do not do the usual cop out of complaining about zoo conditions which are intricately linked to money issues. However, in the transparency and accountability stakes there is a real issue within SEAZA (to which at least Singapore is exempt) and money is still changing hands for the good of acquiring species be they endangered or not. And even without a lot of cash, it is possible to improve general zoo conditions ... meaning the way they are run and managed. I would agree that a Javan hawk eagle breeding project might be more of a challenge worth taking (something which might already be in the works given their close association with the Javan warty pig project). But perhaps Singapore Zoo also wishes to venture into Philippine territory conservation projects and captive breeding ex situ?
Perhaps bribery is too strong a word. Coming from SE Asia, I tend to view such a situation with bias. But the article does say that the payment demand of $50,000 was a late inject. For a government-level deal (the President was going to sign the agreement), such behaviour is not acceptable. The amount and when it was to be paid should have been negotiated and agreed as part of the deal. Jurong was looking for an iconic species for a conservation project, and Philippines eagle fits the bill. The park's in-situ conservation efforts seem to target species that it displays only. So while the Javan hawk eagle deserves as much attention, unfortunately it is probably not "iconic" enough for Jurong to support. When you have business people run a zoo, that's how they think I'm afraid. WRSCF is registered as a charity in Singapore, allowing it to legally solicit public donations through various channels. To qualify as a local charity, the charitable acts must be carried out in Singapore. That's why WRSCF projects are based in Singapore. For projects with regional impact, the WRSCF can fund workshops or symposiums held in Singapore, such as the recent Asian Turtle Conservation Workshop (in collaboration with WCS, San Diego Global, Turtle Survival Alliance, IUCN, etc). Beyond WRSCF, the WRS organisation uses its operating surplus to fund in-situ field work on an ad-hoc basis, for example in Sumatra (elephant), Borneo (sun bear, proboscis monkey, orang utan), Malaysia (tiger), Vietnam (tonkin snub-nosed monkey) and China (Yunnan snub-nosed monkey). The latter two are probably the only species not displayed in Singapore that have received conservation funding.
I hate to say it, but corruption is just too deep rooted in some SE Asian countries. It might take several generations to improve the situation. Perhaps Jurong might take on Javan hawk eagle breeding (it has other species of hawk eagle), but as I've explained above, it is unlikely to receive as much fanfare nor funding as the Philippines eagle was to have.
