Wildlife And Conservation Forum?

[Deeral]

I was about to post a query on fruit-bats and realised there isn't really an appropriate forum (is there?) so I was wondering if it might not be a good idea to start one - all things to do with Thai flora and fauna and there conservation, observation and preservation etc etc??

[canuckamuck]

This might be better in the Thai food forum considering most of the conservation issues are intimately connected to Thai cuisine.

[Somtamnication]

The locals do not give a darn, so it will be like you banging your head against the wall trying to convince them to not farm, stop orangutan boxing, monkey bikes, etc etc etc.

[Goshawk]

post your query in the 'pets, vets..' whatever its called section.

i've tried to get this sort of thing started, or at least to change its name to include Wildlife of Thailand, many times over the years.. But Bina who 'moderates' that area/section, well.. might as well talk to a brick wall.

[IanForbes]

This might be better in the Thai food forum considering most of the conservation issues are intimately connected to Thai cuisine.

:lol:

I've said pretty much the same thing for years. Anything that slithers, slides, hops, jumps, walks, crawls, runs, flies, swims, or even lies there inert gets eaten.. providing it was alive in the first place... and I'm not sure that even counts.

This guy was taking eels from the river and catching them on shrimp he also caught in the river.

The klong outside my apartment in Chiang Mai has everyone's swerage dumped straight into it, and yet the locals are fishing for tiny fish to eat, and taken right out from the sewer outlet.

[tomahawk]

I would support such a forum if there were one. I am confused by the wildlife conservation program here. They do practice this as hunting is illegal, however I cannot find the responsible organization. In US, although I am an American Indian and therefore hunted my whole life, I also volunteered with the wildlife conservation program. I was willing to do that here but cannot find such an organization. I heard there was in Nakhon Sawan, but though I go there often cannot find that either. However to the point of OP, I would also add my support to creat the forum for conservation of wildlife.

[isanbirder]

I too would like to see a Wildlife and Conservation forum, though most issues which can be covered locally turn up in the regional forums (or even in this General forum).

One problem is that people sometimes have weird ideas of what conservation is. Once I was doing a radio phone-in programme on conservation in Hong Kong when an Indian voice came on the line, "And what do you think, sir, about pollution of the heart?"

[Goshawk]

its not so much the 'conservation' angle that Thaivisa need to cover, there's plenty of other far superior sites doing that already that they need not bother, but seeing as though huge numbers of visitors to Thailand do come for precisely that reason - to view, trek through & photograph the wildife / nature of the country, i'm constantly surprised as to why Thaivisa.com does not offer a dedicated area/section for them to browse, pose questions & get good solid information all in one logical place under a definative heading before they arrive or whilst they're here..

inquisitive expats would also benefit too with the typical 'whats this ????? where can i see a ??? etc.. etc...'

what ya think George ? ( think of the potentially huge google adsense revenue from expensive optical/camera equipment placed in this new section... hmmm.. PM me ) i & a couple of others could easily 'Mod' it

[Deeral]

I would hope it would cover all aspects of wildlife that Thaivisa subscribers encounter - I couldn't see how this could be without conservation issues.

BTW - I believe hunting is LEGAL in Thailand as near where I live there is a "no hunting zone" marked out in the local woodland.

[canuckamuck]

I think it is irrelevant whether or not hunting is illegal in Thailand. There many things that are illegal here and they continue with out any enforcement. Yesterday in the outback I slowed down because I though I saw a deer in the river valley. My wife, who is from that area said don't be dumb, if there was a deer down there, or even if there were only tracks, they would not rest until they hunted it down.

She also said, their fear is not that the animals will disappear, but rather that if they don't eat it someone else will, and that is not acceptable.

[Goshawk]

BTW - I believe hunting is LEGAL in Thailand as near where I live there is a "no hunting zone" marked out in the local woodland.

correct.. Thailand has just 50+ official 'Non-hunting Areas' but don't be mislead into thinking that Thailand is devoid of natural abundant wildlife.. Its positively teeming ! you just have to know where to look...

[zzaa09]

Not a bad idea for a sub-forum. Might yield more traffic than expected....go for it!

[Deeral]

I just lost a post there due to TOT losing my connection.

I was going to ask wouldn't the conversations re hunting and where to find wildlife be best suited to such a forum as I suggested

Edited August 1, 2010 by Deeral

[isanbirder]

I agree with most of what other posters have written, but wouldn't it also be a good idea if Pollution was mentioned in the title? This is so often the reverse side of the coin... and is perhaps less obviously covered by the other sub-forums.

[Deeral]

I agree with most of what other posters have written, but wouldn't it also be a good idea if Pollution was mentioned in the title? This is so often the reverse side of the coin... and is perhaps less obviously covered by the other sub-forums.

I think that pollution is a sub topic of conservation.

If it was left in the title you might end up with socio=economic debates about the industrial sites around Maptahphut etc -

THese things which certainly impact on wildlife - as did the construction of Suvarnabhumi Airport - and the effects were never discussed on this forum - but might not a pollution site be seen as largely concentrating on the polluters rather than wildlife?

[isanbirder]

I agree with most of what other posters have written, but wouldn't it also be a good idea if Pollution was mentioned in the title? This is so often the reverse side of the coin... and is perhaps less obviously covered by the other sub-forums.

I think that pollution is a sub topic of conservation.

If it was left in the title you might end up with socio=economic debates about the industrial sites around Maptahphut etc -

THese things which certainly impact on wildlife - as did the construction of Suvarnabhumi Airport - and the effects were never discussed on this forum - but might not a pollution site be seen as largely concentrating on the polluters rather than wildlife?

Six of one and half a dozen of the other, Deeral! I'm not sure it mightn't be a very inactive forum if it was restricted to wildlife.

Edited August 1, 2010 by isanbirder

[IanForbes]

BTW - I believe hunting is LEGAL in Thailand as near where I live there is a "no hunting zone" marked out in the local woodland.

correct.. Thailand has just 50+ official 'Non-hunting Areas' but don't be mislead into thinking that Thailand is devoid of natural abundant wildlife.. Its positively teeming ! you just have to know where to look...

It IS a good idea, Goshawk, and one I know is dear to your heart. It's obvious by your knowledge in answering many posts I've read in the past. I'm an amateur birder and photographer and sometimes like discussing those subjects. We are always searching around the country looking for fishing locations and part of the enjoyment for me is the wildlife I see along the way. .

Although we didn't catch a lot of fish on the lower Ping River reservoir, I saw lots of wildlife and took lots of amateur snapshots.

[bina]

beautiful pics...

moving to pets/vets as that is where most like minded people tend to look for these threads.

as far as wildlife conservation.... i can only say that most uneducated thais havent a clue, it doesnt seem to be discussed very much in the issaan school system for instance; in israel we have signs in thai with pics of traps, wild animals etc especially for educating thais about the no hunting/trapping /wildlife conservation policies here, but in actuality they continue with it. even my husband spent a greater part of our vacation in eilat among the coral reefs trying to grab fish and pick up corals; even after we did a whole boat ride and tour of the undersea observatory and conservation aquarium there.

as u all must notice, the wildlife conservation problem is tied hand in hand with heavy use of fertilizers/pesticides/insecticides with the idea that if some works, more is better; that , and littering. those that work here get some of the proper chemical usage and littering messages through their heads as the employers pound it into the workers' heads and hoepefully the guys go home with some new ideas, but not sure how much.

as far as a forum is concerned, if enough people are interested and want to create a sub forum, bring up the idea with t he admns, u can personal message them... perhaps by going back over the past year or so to find threads about wildlife etc that would work in the sub forum; if not, then in the pets/vets forum it stays... doesnt mean that people cant bring up discussions about wildlife. most of those discussions however do happen in the issan forum for 'culinary' obvious reasons...

now moving to pets/vets to hae u all continue the discussion...

bina

israel

two signs that were made up especially for thai workers here about illegal hunting trapping etc. ; one thai worker was sent back to thailand when he was caught digging up corals in the red sea....

sign in thai illegal hunting 2.pdf

sign in thai against illegal hunting in israel.pdf

[Goshawk]

@IanForbes.. if you were wondering, the hawk you photographed is an Oriental Honey Buzzard (also known as 'Crested Honey Buzzard')

quite a few of this highly variable (in terms of general colouration, but the 2 black bars on the tail and black tipped primary feathers never change) bird of prey species around Chiangmai and the north.