Randy with the coral nursery behind

Apart from Dr Gerry Goeden who developed this fascinating nursery, Randy is an important person who maintains the nursery so that all the inhabitants are healthy and happy everyday. Thank you, Randy!

Randy takes his delicate tasks seriously. On this picture, Randy is explaining how to prepare the yummy blended shrimp and shares his experiences in looking after the nursery

Post By : Wendy (Nature Guide)

One exception to this rule are the Kingfisher, and here in our bay you can find 2 resident species. They are the Collared Kingfisher and The Brown-winged Kingfisher. In the case of Kingfishers the male and female are equally colorful. Why are kingfisher females colorful as well, surely she too has babies to hide?  Well she hide their young very well, usually by digging a burrow into a sandy bank or even a remnant termite nest. It is like living in a cave and a cave is always in total darkness. So her young are very well hidden and on the outside the female can be equally colorful for the same reasons like the males.

As in the case of the the birds of prey like the White-bellied Sea Eagle and Brahminy Kite found here, the male bird breaks the rule for he too like the female are not colorful. Well these are birds of prey and being a top predator and colorful would mean everyone will know that the circus is coming to town. A big disadvantage when it comes to catching prey therefore he too had to take the camouflage colors.

These are some examples or exceptions to the rule but there is one rule in nature where there is no exception to……………….

To know that answer join us on one of our nature walks and ask the guide.

Post By : Irshad Mobarak – Naturalist

Malaysia is home to probably the oldest rainforest in the world. 130 million years to be exact. The forests all over the country is facing a constant threat from logging and development. We but cannot look at it inwardly but in a global perspective.

In 2007, the 13th round of climate change talks were held in Bali. This involved the issue of reducing gas emissions from deforestation in developing countries.

Major efforts have been carried out by the international community, donor countries and rainforest countries. Nonetheless, significant challenges remain. The economic drivers of deforestation are strong. Global demand for timber, palm oil, sugar, soya and beef, increasing in the light of population growth and higher standards of living. This and higher standards of living will continue to yield pressure on the forests.

How do we help reduce global deforestation of forests? Significant incentives need to thought off. Leaving it business as usual will result in devastating consequences.

Firstly, the destruction of tropical forests could cause as much as one sixth of all global greenhouse gas emissions. The two degree target will be impossible to reach without significant reductions in tropical deforestations. Secondly, forests are the home of indigenous peoples, and constitute a safety net for some of the world’s poorest people. One billion people depend directly or indirectly on forests for their livelihoods.Thirdly, tropical forests contain half of the world’s terrestrial species on only seven percent of the world surface area. Biodiversity is the natural capital for sustainable development. Today, 17.000 plant and animal species are endangered globally. You could say that life’s library is in flames and extinction is forever.

The loss of biodiversity in our age can be compared to previous mass extinctions, but this time, human beings are the ones responsible. Degradation of ecosystems combined with climate change may lead to so called “tipping points” that could make negative developments spin out of human control altogether.

The prospects of saving the world’s remaining fainforests have looked positive. At a recent UN climate change negotiations in Durban, South Africa, the international community further discussed a framework to work collectively to slow, half and reverse emissions from forests in developing countries.

A broad spectrum of forest countries have emerged to get Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation on the ground. A variety of academic institutions and NGOs are creating a global community to support this action. We are learning and sharing valuable lessons everyday.

With more developing countries willing to step up their efforts to reduce deforestation and forest degradation, there is every reason to be optimistic.

Post By : Francis – Nature Guide

Love is a powerful emotion and choice. It creates strong affection and builds the bonds of relationship. It embodies the virtues of loyalty, kindness, charity, compassion, and affection. Among 220 species of birds that fly in Langkawi, the Great Hornbill is the most incredible and absolutely amazes me. The Great Hornbill (Buceros bicornis) is a large, principally frugivorous, and endangered species of south- and southeast Asian rainforests. Their flight is often noisy as air rushes through the bases of the flight feathers which are not covered with stiff coverts. The plumage is black with patches of white on the neck, abdomen, wings, and tail; the tail has a subterminal black bar. Great hornbills feed primarily on fruits, especially figs. They also hunt actively for small animals, snakes, lizards, bird nestlings, beetles, and insects. It is interesting to note that they have never been recorded drinking water.

As we know, more than 90 percent of the world’s bird species are monogamous and same goes to Great hornbills. They will remain monogamously mated to the same partner for several years, possibly until death unless the pair is unable to produce chicks successfully. Mated pairs may return to the same nest-site year after year. Being monogamous means staying loyal to a mate during the breeding and nesting season from the time of courtship through laying the eggs, incubating the brood and caring for the young hatchlings until they leave the nest. Monogamous pairs of birds frequently share the duties necessary to raise their young. Building the nest, incubating the eggs and feeding the young birds will be done by both male and female parents, though not always in equal proportions. It is showed as the famous love quote “When you make a commitment to a relationship, you invest your attention and energy in it more profoundly because you now experience ownership of that relationship”.

In order to increase their population and avoiding from extinction, a lot of efforts and sacrifices had to be done. He was constructed the nests before she arrives is a way for him to claim territory and show the suitable nesting areas he can defend. He only choose the tree cavities high up in tall living trees that more than 20m high and  should be placed in a quiet corner with a visual barrier between the nest and the adjacent enclosure to prevent disturbance. The distance between the enclosure floor and nest bottom should preferably be more than 1.5 m, in order to give her and coming baby a safe feeling. A roof or screen above nests is recommended to protect the nest from direct sun, rain and may also encourage breeding. She may then choose the nest she prefers. I called it as ‘penthouse’ where he chooses the perfect location, comfortable and safety environment for her breeds their baby.

Offering food is another common part of the bird courtship behavior for many species. He will place a seed or insect directly in her mouth just as he might be expected to do when helping feed hungry nestlings. He regularly inserted regurgitated food in the female’s bill probably fruits, into the cavity. It is not easy as we think where he also facing the rejected proposal by her. A story from friend that stayed at Tanjung Sanctuary for several nights really make me shocked. A pair of Great hornbills was perched just in front of their balcony in between 5.00pm until 6.30pm everyday at the same spot. He try to propose her by offered the fruits (Ficus) but he been rejected where she does not accepted it. He tried really hard to get her attention in several days at the same spot and same times until my friend was leave. I do hope he already got her. I had seen a courtship behavior of a pair Wreath hornbill at Raya Mountain during bird watching trip. Its looked like watching romantic movie and be finished by happy ending where i saw he propose her by offered the Ficus and she accepted it and they shake the branch to show how happy they were.

Once she accepted the proposal, its mean she already choose him as mate for a whole life. Love is in the air. The female was sealed in a tree cavity and remains in confinement during incubation and for a period after hatching of the chick. He was plastered their penthouse with lumps of mud and also brought fruits that included fig (Ficus) that easily found abundantly in forest. These fruits were stored in his gullet, regurgitated and positioned at the tip of his bill before passing them to her. Depending on size, he would deliver 10–50 fruits at a time to make sure their penthouse was perfect. The room service was noticed when the first sign of the bird emerging was the tip of her bill poking out of the cavity. He was delivered figs where it was their favorites food due to rich in calcium. It is possible that during breeding, she needs more calcium than usual. Females are quite sensitive to disturbance during the pre-laying period and may abandon the nest if disturbed. The female and later her chicks defecate through the nest opening and toss remains of food brought by the male out of the cavity. These behaviors help to keep the nest free of infectious materials. A nest of Great hornbill with occupant inside can be seen at Raya Mountain nowadays, and probably can seen he come to his penthouse and feed her by passed the food from his bill to her bill through the small opening of their penthouse. He tried his best to search food for his family everyday to ensure they were safe and comfortable inside. Looks how responsible he is toward his family members.

Maybe some of us not realized that Hornbills are significant interest to field conservationists, as they can be used to indicate the health of a community and because they are seed dispersers, important for forest regeneration but nowadays it been threats to survival where it have been hunted traditionally in India, Indonesia and some part of Malaysia for both food and medicine. And deforestation is the main threat to their survival as it eliminates sites for nesting as well as territory for foraging.

Post By : Daia (Hidayah Husein) – Nature Guide

The colorful and beautiful creature that I found at Datai Bay in Langkawi measured around 7-10cm. But they can be bigger than this, with sizes that can reach up to more than 30cm depend on the species. Over the world there have about 450 species of mantis shrimp and approximately 30 species of fossil that are known, ranging between carboniferous to Holocene strata or period.  In Langkawi, those who are joining the trip to mangrove cruise can see these creatures at the fish farm cum restaurant and yes they are on the menu.

They were called as mantis shrimp because of the physical characteristic that resemble both the terrestrial praying mantis and the shrimp. That is why they do not seem like the normal shrimps even though they belong to the same phylum and class- crustacean and malacostraca.

Mantis shrimps are predatory creatures that posses a pair of modified forelimbs that have evolved into lethal weapons which are used in the capture of their prey. These large limbs are known as raptorial appendages. What is interesting about these appendages is that they can move to capture the prey by striking at them at incredible speeds. Some species, the striking movement takes between 4 to 8 millisecond, with their appendages moving at velocity of 390 inches per second. Can you imagine how fast that is? This is the fastest movement recorded by science in animal world.

Most species of the mantis shrimps have two mechanisms of how to attack and catch their prey.  First, they like to use a spearing technique in which the last joint of the appendages are modified to be spear- like with between 3 to 17 spines. Hiding in it burrow with only its eyes exposed the mantis shrimp waits in ambush for prey. This technique is used to capture the soft-bodied prey organism like fish.

The second technique that they can use to hunt their prey is smashing. This technique is applied when they try to hunt prey covered with a hard shell for example crabs, mollusks, hermit crabs and others. This high speed smashing technique can stun their prey and then crush its shell. The speed that they used to smashing and spearing their prey is equivalent to the speed of a small-caliber bullet.

Actually these fantastic creatures not only have incredible speed but they also possess an incredibly complex visual system. I will discuss this in the next article.

Post by Shahrizan (Shah) – Nature Guide

I am a city girl and have lived in one for almost 23 years. There are many differences one can notice between a city and a village.

Firstly there are not many trees and virgin forest in a city except for a few green spaces and recreational parks some of which charge a fee for its use.

Concrete buildings and glass towers radiate heat into the surrounding atmosphere increasing the temperature locally and in part contributing to the effects of global warming and the thinning of the ozone layer.

Pollution caused by the release of toxic gasses from motor vehicles especially during peak hours has resulted in an increase in respiratory illnesses among the city folks.

The overcrowded conditions found in cities have resulted in an increase in criminal activities and human to human conflicts.

As the city grows it required more space or infrastructure like roads, buildings, shopping malls, apartment blocks and others.

These expansion have let to the loss of natural habitats like Rainforest, wetland, riparian (river), mangrove which in turn have resulted in the isolation of species, increase  competition for food and lack of shelter among wildlife. This situation has lead to the weakening of gene pool and ultimately in the loss of biodiversity.

Since coming to Langkawi, I have learned to appreciate the island life and its natural beauty. It is totally different compared to city life.

Langkawi is surrounded by the emerald green waters of the Andaman sea. It is covered with mountain and hills some of which more than 500 million years old. From sandstone to limestone, from slate to granite, Langkawi rich geological history has been recognized by Unesco to be of national and global importance and recently conferred as a Unesco Geopark.

There are plenty of wildlife to be found here including 220 species of birds such as Great Hornbill, Brown Winged Kingfisher, Chestnut-headed Bee-eater, mammals such as Dusky Leaf Langur, Slow Lorris, Black Giant Squirrel and our fabulous flying five- Flying Lemur, Flying Lizard, Flying Frog, Flying Squirrel and Flying Snake.

Join the Junglewalla team and let us unravel the natural wonders of this island archipelago. We are a team of conservationist made up of marine biologist, wildlife photographers, naturalist, wildlife and birding guides. Our tours are educational journeys with a conservation message, we hope to preserve the island’s natural heritage for the many generations to come.

By : Hidayah Hussein (Daia) – Nature Guide

At first sight it looks like a night market on the water, the surface of the ocean aglow with a hundred green lanterns – it looks so cool. It is the squid blooming season here on the island and the local fishermen are out in full force for this annual fishing tradition.

With individual catch size of sometimes more than 40kg per night it is a very lucrative time for the fisherman. Increasingly squid jigging are gaining interest among tourist from the sport fishing community.

But that is not all that the squids are attracting for they are also attracting the Irrawaddy Dolphin that feeds on it to our waters. Most of the local sightings have been recorded between Datai Bay and Tanjung Rhu, along the northern coast of Langkawi.  Their range extends between the Bay of Bengal to New Guinea and the Philippines. In Malaysia it is often seen off the coast, in estuaries and bays around Langkawi and the states of Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysian Borneo. In Sabah numerous sightings been recorded off the coastal waters of Sandakan.

Our Mangrove Cruise Tour usually frequents the open waters around Tanjung Rhu where we have had a few opportunities to observe these beautiful creatures. On one such occasion we chanced upon a pod of over 60 individuals, their muscular bodies sparkling from the reflection of the midday sun. We noticed that the dolphins circling back and forth within a small area. On close inspection we also noticed the color of black ink in the water. The dolphins were feeding on squids, the ink are ejected by the squids as a defensive strategy in its struggle to escape the frenzy of hungry dolphins. Squids are quite fast in the water due in part to its ability to utilize jet propulsion and easily escape most marine predators and the ink to hide its escape. It is quite rare to see Irrawaddy dolphins but are chances are much better during the squid season.

I do worry about these dolphins for they are threatened by indiscriminate fishing practices. Local and foreign fishermen using fishing trawlers and with their deep trawler nets can sometimes trap these dolphins causing them to drown. The IUCN have presently listed five of the seven subpopulations as critically endangered, primarily due to drowning in fishing nets.

I would like to end this blog on a positive note of a special mutually beneficial relationship that was recorded in India between a fishing community and the Irrawaddy Dolphins.  Today Fishermen recall of a time once when fishermen old used call out to the dolphins, to drive fish into their nets. With acoustic signals the dolphins would coral the fish towards the awaiting fishermen with their cast net. In return the dolphins were rewarded with some of the by-catch.

By: Nurhidayah Hussien – Daia (Nature Guide)

The story of the formation of Langkawi will begin some 550 mill years ago when the earth was divided into two super continents, one located in the northern hemisphere called Lauasia, while the other located in the southern hemisphere was called Gondwanaland. It was here at Gondwanaland that the oldest part of Langkawi and Malaysia were to be formed.
Gondwanaland was then a lifeless continent of deserts, lakes and rivers. Here at mouth of one of its many rivers that Langkawi was first born. Sand, silt and mud are transported downstream and as the river met the primeval seas these fine sediments are sedimentary laid and eventually formed a delta. Testament of that fact are the ripple marks fossilized in stone that now can be found at the summit of Matcincang formation indicating that this was once part of a very shallow marine environment.

Today one can reach the peak of this formation by cable car from The Oriental Village. It is a most exhilarating journey to peak and one will be rewarded by some of the most breathtaking views of Langkawi.  The Gondola sits six comfortably and it silently glides over the tops of magnificent rainforest trees that quickly change to the unique heath forest that you find higher up. From lowland rainforest trees that punctures the skies at more than 40 meters to miniature (relatively speaking) stunted trees of a heath forest at its summit. It is home to a diverse range of specialized plants including orchids, herbs, moss, lichens and begonias – a botanist haven. Be warned that removing them is an offence. Once at the top there are two viewing platforms, shame though there seems to be a communication tower of sorts on one side but if you can disregard that one small glitch the vistas are worth every ringgit you spent. Then there is the sky bridge that gently takes you out over a sheer cliff – confident in the knowledge that this is Swiss engineering at its best – which definitely the wow factor of the whole experience.
Gunung Matcincang has the total package – the geological history, stunning formations, beautiful vistas and amazing flora and what an exhilarating ride. Not surprisingly this has become one of the top attractions for Langkawi and it is good advice to buy the express ticket during the school holidays so as to avoid the queue.

Posted By Irshad Mobarak

Imagine there is such a thing as Avian Immigration  Department, the followings have checked in since August 2011:

1. Common Sandpiper  Actitis hypoleucos
2. Common Kingfisher  Alcedo atthis
3. Brown Shrike  Lanius cristatus
4. Tiger Shrike  Lanius tigrinus
5. Asian Brown Flycatcher  Muscicapa dauurica
6. Oriental Honey Buzzard  Pernis ptilorhynchus
7. Blue-Tailed Bee-Eater  Merops philippinus
8. Little Egret  Egretta garzetta
9. Cattle Egret  Bubulcus coromandus
10. Yellow Bittern  Ixobrychus eurhythmus
11. Black Baza  Aviceda leuphotes
12. Chinese Pond Heron  Ardeola bacchus
13. Common Redshank  Tringa stagnatilis
14. Grey Wagtail  Motacila cinerea
15. Crested Goshawk  Accipiter trivirgatus
16. Purple Heron  Ardea purpurea

There are a lot more migrants not listed here and there are more to come. It is time to get out there more often to bird watch. Go get your binoculars dusted and your notebook for the bird watching season has started!

Post By : Wendy – Nature Guide

You’d probably be asking the similar question that went through my mind; A coral is meant to be left where it is, isn’t it? Exceptional to this case, the coral clearing involved the rehabilitation of a damaged coral reef near the Datai Bay beach that was closes to the Andaman. A marine biologist and consultant for this project, Dr Gerry Goeden, had mentioned that most of the coral reef in the Datai Bay was swept, scattered and destroyed by the 2004 Tsunami.

The rehabilitation exercise involved the clearing of dead coral at certain times of the month during the lowest tides to encourage live coral to grow. The rehabilitation exercise goes further by grafting new coral onto dead coral which are then nurtured in sea water tanks before being returned to the coral reef. This activity involved not only the efforts of the resort but also the co operation of the resort’s guests and Junglewalla as well.

I am neither a marine biologist nor a diver and having spent most of the time on land rather than under the sea, I am definitely a newbie to the world of corals. The only thing I know of a coral reef is that it is a very important ecological system that keeps the biodiversity in our oceans in balance. Eventually, the balanced and healthy biodiversity in the ocean will provide economic values to the Homo sapiens.

After the laborious work of clearing the dead corals, the participants of the exercise are then rewarded with a ‘coral walk’ next day. A coral walk is all about getting to know what is going on and what we can find in a coral reef. Dr Gerry opened my eyes on my first walk to various species of corals and sea life such as mushroom coral, slipper coral, chitons and sea cucumbers that breathe through their anus.

A coral reef is a ‘rainforest’ in the sea for us to learn, to discover and so much more. Whether it’s a rainforest on the land or in the sea, much must be done to save them from exploitation and threats.

I do ponder over the last statement above as Langkawi’s natural environment slowly dwindles against the rising tide development to which even the Datai Bay isn’t immune to. Any development will definitely create an impact but how much of an impact? I do not have the answer right now but can only hope for the best and continue to help the corals flourish.