Natural heritage under threat of extinction saved by hobbyists 
By Rosli Zakaria MY Source: Straits Times 3/22/2022
Rosli Zakaria
Credit: NSTP/ courtesy of Dr Zahar Azuar Zakaria
MUAR: Six friends could have easily earned more than RM30,000 each, but their love of nature saw them forgo monetary profit and return their homebred endangered Betta Persephone specimens to the wild.

Betta Persephone is listed under the IUCN red list and is endemic to a small pocket of peat swamp in east Johor.

Under the tutelage of citizen scientist Mohd Ilham Norhakim Lokman, the six friends managed to save a few specimens in its natural habitat, which is an oil palm plantation.

The friends come from different backgrounds – a practising doctor, an engineer, a fishmonger, a matriculation student and an aquarium fish trader.
 

Together with Ilham Norhakim, they ventured into a project funded using their savings with no guarantee that the tank raised fry of the Betta Persephone would survive.
"It was a trial with nNatural heritage under threat of extinction saved by hobbyistso high hopes on the fish surviving outside its habitat. The water perimeter needs to be precise at ph3.6," Ilham Norhakim told the New Straits Times.

"We need to save this critically endangered species which can only be found in one location in the world and it is in Johor. Sadly, its habitat is now gone.

 
Continue...

News Id SourceStampcountry
3426Hungry tropical fish, sea urchins marching south as kelp forests disappearABC Weather2021-08-21AU
3427Britain’s ageing fishing fleet a key contributor to climate crisis: reportthe guardian2021-08-18UK
3428thousands of casts for Virginia pair on epic fishing questwashington post2021-08-18US
3429UC Davis Study: White males chose 'racist' names for fishcbs2021-08-19US
3430Grouper, goes scuba diving and fries up some freshly caught conch on Bahamas vacation with wife Vanessa and their kidsdailymail2017-06-26UK
3431Why lionfish are being hunted by robots in Bermudabbc2017-06-26US
3432Invasive Carp Caught 9 Miles From Great LakesThe Two-Way2017-06-23US
3433Photographer Captures Seahorses, Stingers and 'Grumpy' Fish In Vanishing Ocean HabitatsZenger News2021-08-17SP
3434This Robot Mimics a Primitive Eel-Like Fish, Swims Like a Proautoevolution2021-08-13US
3435Are Canadian fish being poisoned by radiation?cosmosmagazine2017-06-11CA
3436Fish falls from the sky in Lake TappsTHE NEWS TRIBUNE2017-06-02US
3437Oklahoma man’s invention makes fish hook removal saferswtimes2017-05-29CA
3438Pet fish dumping potential problem for Michigan waterswwmt2017-05-27US
3439Trio of women catch over 900 lionfish in two daysfoxnews2017-05-26US
3440This adorable underwater drone swims like a fishbgr2017-11-22US
3441Alaska captain hit with $1 million fine, six-month sentence for misreportingnationalfisherman2021-08-10US
3442COVID-19 threatened Alaska’s fishermen. Here's how they perseverednationalgeographic2021-08-10US
3443Warmer seas turn fish poop into a problem for coral reefsHarrison Tasoff-UC Santa Barbara2021-08-11US
3444Are underwater farms the future of food production?timeslive2017-07-27ZA
3445Washington may have to pay $2B to save salmonkiro72015-06-22US
3446Illegal release of 6000 salmon costs farming company $150,000stuff2017-05-22NZ
3447Conservation celebrations: Why this tiny fish fingerling has scientists high-fivingABC Central West2017-05-22AU
3448Extreme angler and Jeremy Wade’s Mighty Rivers presenter on ITVthesun2019-02-08UK
3449Marine patrol on Grand River results in charges and warningsbrantfordexpositor2021-08-31CA
3450Three fishermen reel in 70 KILOGRAM bass groper fishdailymail2017-05-16US

215 216 217 137 of [218 - pages.]