Fauna & Flora

“The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for men.”

Alice Walker

List of Contents

“The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for men.”

Conservation Efforts

Conservation Projects

The Utania nervosa

Fauna

Finding signs of animals

Flora

“Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”

Conservation Efforts

Conservation Projects

Pulau Ubin continues to be a living laboratory for conservation with many projects ongoing. These includes the rehabilitation of mangrove in former fish farms, mangrove arboretum at the Ubin Living Lab, species recovery projects (constructions of artificial bat houses, nest boxes, otter holts etc), creating floating wetlands at former quarries, biodiversity surveys at Chek Jawa and more.

The Utania nervosa

Pulau Ubin's value for biodiversity conservation is highlighted by the recognition of a new plant species, named Utania nervosa. The Utania nervosa was discovered at Chek Jawa in 1997 and was previously called "Fagraea racemosa", having been confused with a much more common tree species that is native from Indo-China (Cambodia, South Vietnam) to Thailand, Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula. This new species was published in the international journal Plant Ecology and Evolution in July 2014, in effect becoming Singapore's newest species!

Fauna

Mammals

Link to NParks' Ubin Mammal Checklist

Long Tailed Macaques

Greater Mouse deer

Wild Boar

Ashy Roundleaf Bat

Lesser False Vampire Bat

Palm Civet

Oriental Small Clawed Otters

Smooth Otters

Treeshrew

Plantain Squirrel

Sunda Pangolin

Wild Dogs

Reptiles and Amphibians

Link to NParks Reptile and Amphibian Checklists

Malayan Water Monitor

Clouded Monitor

Changeable Lizard

Common Skink

Oriental Whip Snake

Brown Whip Snake

Painted Bronzeback

Paradise Flying Snake

Banded Krait

Beaked Sea Snake

Black Spitting Cobra

Red Earred Slider

Asian Common Toad

Common SE Asian Tree Frog

Tree Eating Frog

Birds

Link to NParks Birds Checklist

Oriental Pied Horn-bill

Common Sandpiper

Oriental Magpie Robin

Olive-winged Bulbul

Jungle Fowl

Common Iora

Brown Throated Sunbird

Swiftlet

Collared Kingfisher

White Rumped Shama

Javan Mynah

Greater Crest Tern

Great Billed Heron

Chinese Egret

Hodgeson Hawk-Cuckoo

Buffy Fish Owl

White-bellied Sea Eagle

Grey faced Buzzard

Fishes

Tripod Fish

Mudskipper

Barramundi

Stingray

Catfish

Blue Panchax

Leatherjacket

Scorpionfish

Sand Whiting

Toadfish

Other Invertebrae

Cuttlefish

Mangrove Jelly Fish

Seagrass Octopus

Sea Slug

Nudibranch

Knobby Sea Star

Sea Star

Sand Dollars

Pencil Sea Urchin

Carpet Anemone

Nerita Shells

Moon Snails

Mud Whelk

Apple Snail

Acorn Barnacles

Green Mussels

Rock Oysters

Forked Venus

Coastal Horseshoe Crab

Mangrove Horseshoe Crab

Mantis Prawn

Fiddler Crab

Soldier Crab

Hermit Crabs

Tree Climbing Crab

Mud Crab

Mud Lobster

Insects

Sandfly (Left) and Mosquito (Right)

Damselflies

Dragonfly

Praying Mantis

Asian Honey Bee

Digger Wasp

Weaver Ant

Giant Shield Bug

Cotton Stainer Bug

Cicadas

Long Horned Beetle

Malayan Birdwing

Cycad Blue

Blue Glassy Tiger

Dwarf Crow

Arachnids, Centipedes and Millipedes

Golden Orb Spider

Pseudo Weaver Spider

Twig Spider

Giant Crab Spider

Lawn Wolf Spider

Huntsman Spider

Singapore Tarantula

Spotted House Scorpion

Whipped Scorpion

Giant Centipede

Millipedes

Finding signs of animals

Finding animals can sometimes be difficult as most animals will tend to stay away for humans (except for wild boars, wild dogs and macaque which has been habituated by human presence). Besides visual identification, it is also possible to identify animals such as cicadas, jungle fowl and birds like horn bills which have unique calls.

Otherwise, it is also interesting to look out for other signs of animals such as their homes and tracks.

Some of the homes created by animals on Pulau Ubin includes mounds such as termites, mud lobsters and hornets.

Termite Mound, usually near dead trees

Mud Lobster Mound in mangrove

Bird's Nest

Beside man made homes to promote bird population, natural birds' nest can be found both on trees (either in hollows, wedged between branches or hanging) and on the forest floor.

Bulbul's nests are wedged between branches

Nest of pittas on forest floor

Sunbird hanging nest

Hornbill nest in tree cavity

Animal Tracks

Sometimes tracks of animal can be found on the ground. Those of wild boars are very obvious due to their size, tendency to forage and lack of natural predators hence their disregard. The trails and mud bathing holes are abundant on Pulau Ubin .