Wish to support conservation efforts around Southeast Asia? Wildlife Reserves Singapore will take your pledge, convert it to money and then channel it to boost animal advocacy and field conservation groups at the local and regional level. Changes on the ground, or better still, progress (we hope) is measured and reported.
Zoological institution Wildlife Reserves Singapore claims to have provided “in-kind and financial support to over 50 wildlife conservation projects across the Southeast Asian region.”
And they want you to join them in turning things around.
Campaign #TogetherForWildlife
Wildlife Reserves Singapore campaigns for conservation funds using Instagram #togetherforwildlife in March 2018
Only in March 2018, everyone can join in the pledge by posting an upside-down picture of yourself on Instagram and #TogetherForWildlife. To make the pledge count, the Instagram account has to be made public.
With each post, Wildlife Reserves Singapore will pledge $1 towards wildlife conservation.
Here’s how it works. Take a snapshot of yourself or an animal or nature, turn it upside down, post it on Instagram, hashtag #TogetherForWildlife too.
Also alert the friends who’d care about this cool fundraiser by tagging them.
And the caption? “I’m helping to turn things around for wildlife cos with every upside down photo I post, @wrs.ig will pledge $1 towards wildlife conservation. @, @, and @, I want to see you upside down too! #TogetherforWildlife ”
You can visit the #TogetherforWildlife webpage for more information on their activities at the Singapore Zoo, Jurong Bird Park, Night Safari and River Safari (collectively known as Wildlife Reserves Singapore). And to learn, by watching some animals there, of the threats they experience and what is being done to help them.
Here are a few snippets of such conservation activities being supported by Wildlife Reserves Singapore:
Saving Sunda Pangolins
Pangolins are the world’s most heavily trafficked mammal, making it particularly challenging for conservationists across the world to prevent their eventual extinction. In Singapore, local pangolins are threatened by urbanisation as many pangolins frequently end up as roadkill on busy roads.
Through its conservation fund, Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) supports the ongoing pangolin tracking project. WRS is also working on another project to train conservation sniffer dogs to help locate wild pangolins in Singapore and across Southeast Asia.
In addition, the Night Safari is home to the world’s first conservation breeding programme for the Sunda pangolin, with seven Sunda pangolins currently in its protection, two of which were born under human care.
Elephants
Educating the community, conducting regular patrols and monitoring activities in and around Way Kambas National Park, have helped preserved the integrity of the park. In total, an average of 150 patrols were conducted over a three-month period.
The Sumatran elephant is losing its numbers due to habitat clearance and human conflict. Image courtesy of Wildlife Reserves Singapore
These efforts have helped to ensure a home for the elephants while assuring humans of a peaceful co-existence with these gentle giants.
Beyond our direct involvement in Sumatra, WRS is actively involved in numerous other efforts to ensure a holistic approach to conservation of Asian elephants. Examples of these are:
- Taking the lead in creating the Asian Elephant endotheliotropic herpesviruses (EEHV) Working Group. EEHV is a type of herpesvirus, which can cause a highly fatal hemorrhagic disease when transmitted to young Asian elephants. WRS has taken the lead for effective collaboration and is working on a strategy to best understand and prevent the disease in elephant calves in Asia.
Conserving Javan Gibbon Habitats and Promoting Shade Coffee
Between 4,000 and 4,500 in the wild, Javan gibbons face severe habitat loss caused by increasing land use for human development. The primates end up in fragmented pockets of forests which are too small to support them.
Saving Southern River Terrapins
They were poached for their eggs and meat until they were thought to be extinct. A precious small group was rediscovered in 2001.
Find out more about each animal being helped by going to this Wildlife Reserve Conservation page.
Want to turn things around for wildlife? Support conservation wherever you are by turning in a photo – upside down please – for #TogetherforWildlife.