Publicity needed to protect birds

I VISITED Ipoh recently for some sight-seeing, food and bird watching. I am a keen birdwatcher.

A local bird researcher took me along with a group to some old mining pools in the outskirts of the city to do some bird watching. We saw a heartbreaking sight while we were there.

An Oriental darter (Anhinga melanogaster), a large waterbird, was frantically trying to flick and brush off a red cloth that had been tied on its beak.

It would seem that the fish farmers there somehow managed to catch this darter and tied up its beak to prevent it from eating their stock. The red cloth seemed to be used as a warning for the rest of the waterbirds there.

There was nothing we could do to help the bird. We went back over the next two days but could not find it again. The cruelty of the farmers has to be exposed to prevent this from happening again.

The Oriental darter is a rare vagrant to Malaysia with only a few recent sightings. I understand a veteran Ipoh birdwatcher, Dr Amar Singh, recorded one there last year.

According to David R. Wells, author of The Birds of the ThaiMalay Peninsular, this darter disappeared from Peninsular Malaysia for the best part of a century. Perhaps the farmers do not realise the rarity of this species and some education and publicity might help.