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Wildlife of Singapore

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A crab-eating macaque, a primate native to Singapore

The wildlife of Singapore is surprisingly diverse despite its rapid urbanisation. The majority of fauna that still remains on the island exists in various nature reserves such as the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve.[1]

In 1819, when a British trading post was first established on the island, Singapore was still nearly entirely covered in rainforests. During that time it still contained flora shared with the Malay Peninsula, but the biodiversity of the fauna was even then relatively low. Following the establishment of the trading post, rapid deforestation began due to crop cultivation. Deforestation of Singapore was largely completed by the 20th century. By some estimates, there has been a loss of 95% of the natural habitats of Singapore over the course of the past 183 years.[2] Due to the deforestation of Singapore, over twenty species of freshwater fish and 100 species of bird as well as a number of mammals have gone locally extinct.[1][3] A 2003 estimate has put the amount of extinct species as over 28%.[4]

In modern times, over half of the naturally occurring fauna and flora in Singapore is present only in nature reserves, which comprise only 0.25% of Singapore's land area.[2] Estimates made in 2003 have said that the rapid habitat destruction will culminate in a loss of 13-42% of populations in all of Southeast Asia. [5] To combat these problems, the Singaporean government has made the Singapore Green Plan in 1992 and the new Singapore Green Plan in 2012 to continue it. The plan aims to keep tabs on the unstable populations of fauna and flora, to place new nature parks, and to connect existing parks. In addition, there were plans to set up a "National Biodiversity Reference Centre" (now known as the National Biodiversity Centre).[6] The last goal was reached in 2006 when the centre was founded (it also accomplished the establishment of two new nature reserves in 2002[7]). Since its foundation it has been formulating various specific initiatives including attempts to conserve the hornbill and the rare dragonfly Indothemis limbata.[8]

Fauna

Main article: Fauna of Singapore

Mammals

See also: List of mammals of Singapore

Singapore has roughly 80 species of mammals (out of 11 different orders) including 45 species of bat and three species of non-human primates.[9] Currently the only introduced species in Singapore is the variable squirrel.[10] The abundance of bats however has been decreasing rapidly due to a habitat loss of over 95%.[11]

Birds

See also: List of birds of Singapore

Singapore is the occasional home of 395 species of birds (out of which roughly 180 species are resident birds).[12]

Reptiles

See also: List of reptiles of Singapore

Singapore contains a relatively large number of reptiles, a total of about 110 species (4 of which are introduced).[13] Most of the species, roughly 75 are snakes (mainly Colubrid snakes).[14]

Amphibians

See also: List of amphibians of Singapore

Singapore has 30 species of amphibians (out of which two species, the painted bull frog and the American bullfrog, are introduced species).[15]

Flora

Main article: Flora of Singapore

Singapore currently contains 1358 species of native vascular plants, of which approximately 759 are critically endangered.[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ "National Parks Singapore".
  2. ^ a b Brook, Barry W.; Navjot S. Sodhi; Peter K. L. Ng (2003-07-24). "Catastrophic extinctions follow deforestation in Singapore". Nature. 424 (6947): 420–426. doi:10.1038/nature01795. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 12879068.
  3. ^ Corlett, Robert T. (July 1992). "The Ecological Transformation of Singapore, 1819-1990". Journal of Biogeography. 19 (4). Blackwell Publishing: 411–420. doi:10.2307/2845569. JSTOR 2845569.
  4. ^ "Extinctions in Singapore". Animal Planet News. 14 August 2003. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
  5. ^ "Singapore is more wild than you think". The Straits Times.
  6. ^ "National Initiatives". National Biodiversity Reference Center. Archived from the original on 2010-03-02. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
  7. ^ "History of Biodiversity Conservation in Singapore". National Biodiversity Reference Centre. Archived from the original on 2007-10-05. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
  8. ^ "Initiatives". National Parks Singapore. Archived from the original on 2010-01-31. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
  9. ^ "National Biodiversity Centre Mammal List". Archived from the original on 2014-03-12.
  10. ^ "List of mammal species present in Singapore" (PDF). Global Biodiversity Information Facility. June 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-27. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
  11. ^ Lane, David J. W.; Kingston, Tigga; Lee, Benjamin P. Y.-H. (2006). "Dramatic decline in bat species richness in Singapore, with implications for Southeast Asia". Biological Conservation. 131 (4): 584–593. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2006.03.005. ISSN 0006-3207.
  12. ^ "National Biodiversity Centre Bird List". Archived from the original on 2014-03-12.
  13. ^ "National Biodiversity Centre Reptile List". Archived from the original on 2014-03-12.
  14. ^ "List of reptile species present in Singapore" (PDF). Global Biodiversity Information Facility. March 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-27. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
  15. ^ "National Biodiversity Centre Amphibian List". Archived from the original on 2014-03-12.
  16. ^ "Singapore Red Data Book" (PDF). p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-15.
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