March 17, 2011 12:00AM
A STUDENT who was being stalked for his sandwich wrestled an ibis to the ground and stomped on it until the bird was so badly injured it had to be put down, a court has been told.
Andrew Quay Wee Meng, 25, pleaded guilty in the Brisbane Magistrates Court yesterday to one count of animal cruelty on March 1.
The court was told Quay Wee Meng had been eating a sandwich in Brisbane's South Bank Parklands when the bird "snuck up from behind" and jumped onto his table.
Quay Wee Meng threw his food down, wrestled the bird to the ground and stomped on it five times.
The court was told the bird's wing was shattered and a blow to its neck caused it such difficulty in breathing that it had to be put down.
Quay Wee Meng's lawyer, Sue Ganasan, told the court the Singapore-born law student lashed out at the ibis because he was once attacked by a large crow and had been frightened of Australian birds ever since.
However, she said, he accepted his response was excessive and he was remorseful.
Magistrate John Costello said onlookers would have been "appalled" by the attack, but said Quay Wee Meng's youth, guilty plea and lack of criminal history meant he would not receive a jail sentence.
He also agreed not to record a conviction after being told it would adversely affect Quay Wee Meng's chances of employment.
Mr Costello ordered Quay Wee Meng to perform of 120 hours community service, and that he do so with the RSPCA wherever possible.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/man-stomped-on-sandwich-stalking-ibis/story-e6frf7l6-1226022782536
Showing posts with label ibis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ibis. Show all posts
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
Wednesday, 29 July 2009
Critically endangered white-shouldered ibis benefits from human intervention
Humans lend a hand to critically endangered waterbird
July 2009. Human impact on one of the world's most threatened bird species can be beneficial rather than destructive - and could even save it from extinction - according to counterintuitive new findings by the University of East Anglia (UEA).
The study by UEA conservation experts explores the exact reasons behind the decline of the critically endangered white-shouldered ibis. The new study was carried out in Western Siem Pang Important Bird Area (IBA), northern Cambodia, where 160-200 of the birds survive - around half of the global population. Working in partnership with BirdLife International, the researchers found that the ibis prefer to forage in open and accessible sites with low vegetation and bare soil. This is believed to be because it makes it easier to find prey, aids take-off and landing, and improves detection of approaching danger.
Traditional small-scale farming by local communities is therefore crucial to the ibis' survival because grazing livestock and burning of the forest understorey opens up these habitats making them suitable for the birds.
"Our findings show that this critically endangered species is largely dependent on the local farmers for their survival," said lead author Hugh Wright, of UEA's School of Environmental Sciences. "This is a fascinating outcome as we tend to assume that human activity always has a negative impact on the natural world."
Under imminent threat from development
Not all human influence is positive for the endangered ibis, however. Western Siem Pang - currently an unprotected site - is under imminent threat from large-scale development which would destroy the birds' habitats entirely, along with the local farming communities.
"The Forestry Administration in Cambodia is supportive of a proposal to make the area a protected forest and we believe that this - along with the continuation of local farming methods practiced for generation after generation - will be crucial in saving this once common species from extinction," added Hugh.
Most rapid decline
With fewer than 500 individuals remaining, mainly in Cambodia, the white-shouldered ibis has undergone the most rapid decline of all South-East Asia's large waterbirds and is now the most threatened. Once common in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia, the precise causes behind the bird's continuing decline have until now been poorly understood, which has hindered conservation efforts.
The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Animal Conservation, and funded by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC),
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/shouldered-ibis.html
July 2009. Human impact on one of the world's most threatened bird species can be beneficial rather than destructive - and could even save it from extinction - according to counterintuitive new findings by the University of East Anglia (UEA).
The study by UEA conservation experts explores the exact reasons behind the decline of the critically endangered white-shouldered ibis. The new study was carried out in Western Siem Pang Important Bird Area (IBA), northern Cambodia, where 160-200 of the birds survive - around half of the global population. Working in partnership with BirdLife International, the researchers found that the ibis prefer to forage in open and accessible sites with low vegetation and bare soil. This is believed to be because it makes it easier to find prey, aids take-off and landing, and improves detection of approaching danger.
Traditional small-scale farming by local communities is therefore crucial to the ibis' survival because grazing livestock and burning of the forest understorey opens up these habitats making them suitable for the birds.
"Our findings show that this critically endangered species is largely dependent on the local farmers for their survival," said lead author Hugh Wright, of UEA's School of Environmental Sciences. "This is a fascinating outcome as we tend to assume that human activity always has a negative impact on the natural world."
Under imminent threat from development
Not all human influence is positive for the endangered ibis, however. Western Siem Pang - currently an unprotected site - is under imminent threat from large-scale development which would destroy the birds' habitats entirely, along with the local farming communities.
"The Forestry Administration in Cambodia is supportive of a proposal to make the area a protected forest and we believe that this - along with the continuation of local farming methods practiced for generation after generation - will be crucial in saving this once common species from extinction," added Hugh.
Most rapid decline
With fewer than 500 individuals remaining, mainly in Cambodia, the white-shouldered ibis has undergone the most rapid decline of all South-East Asia's large waterbirds and is now the most threatened. Once common in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia, the precise causes behind the bird's continuing decline have until now been poorly understood, which has hindered conservation efforts.
The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Animal Conservation, and funded by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC),
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/shouldered-ibis.html
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