Archive for September, 2009

What do you mean, adopt a terrapin?

September 14, 2009
by pelf in

When I was talking about adopting a terrapin in my previous post, Jack asked if the terrapins were small enough to be kept inside the house, or whether they’d require more room outdoors.

Perhaps I should have explained that in a little more detail.

Now, when you adopt a terrapin, you don’t get to bring it home because it is a critically-endangered animal. No doubt, it is not a protected species at the moment, but be assured that certain parties are working very hard to get it included in the National Wildlife Act.

Transferring the terrapins

So, when you adopt a terrapin, essentially you will be adopting one of the 99 river terrapins that we have released into the Setiu River on 09/09/09. Each river terrapin is equipped with a microchip that enables us to identify each of them individually. Each adoption costs RM 99, and you will be given a Certificate of Adoption which contains your name, the microchip number, weight and shell length and width of your adopted terrapin. If the fishermen in the Setiu River happened to recapture your adopted terrapin, we will update you of its status (weight gain as well as increase in shell length and width) at the end of one year.

Fong and me

After a year, you will be given the option to re-adopt the same terrapin, or you may choose to adopt another terrapin, or not adopt any at all. Perhaps then you’d like to make a donation instead :)

How do I adopt a terrapin?

There are two ways to do it, three if I’m willing to pay for you first, LOL.

  1. By cheque
    Download the Adoption Form (PDF), fill it up and send it back together with your cheque written in favour of “Turtle Conservation Centre” to the address indicated in the form. Your physical/online Certificate of Adoption will be sent to the mailing/email address that you provide in the form.
  2. Online transfer
    Send an email to cp@turtleconservationcentre.org and you will be given the necessary bank account information. After you have transferred the funds, your physical/online Certificate of Adoption will be sent to the mailing/email address that you provide in the form.

Yes, it’s that simple! :) I have received 20 pledges to adopt a terrapin from family, friends and blogger friends, so if you could spare RM 99 for a good cause, please help us by adopting a terrapin today :) Thank you very much!

Click here for pictures taken during the 5th Terrapin Independence Day on 09/09/09.

In the news:

Adopt a terrapin and help raise funds

September 8, 2009
by pelf in

If you have read one of my earlier posts, you will know by now that I have been dismissed from all turtle-related projects carried out by the university because the new Project Leader did not want me in her team. Initially, I was very depressed about it because I have been serving the turtle group in the last 5 years, and throughout the years, I have built a really good relationship with the project workers, former volunteers and sponsors.

But I later realized that what the Project Leader did to me was indeed a blessing-in-disguise and I can’t thank her enough :) By dismissing me from the turtle-related projects in the university, she actually gave me the opportunity to be a part of something BIGGER and more challenging.

In the past month, I have been very involved with the Turtle Conservation Centre (TCC), a newly-founded organization dedicated to turtle conservation in Malaysia. I have been setting up and modifying the TCC website (with whatever HTML and CSS knowledge that I have), transferring some blog posts and news articles from the old turtle website to the new TCC site, as well as adding a whole lot of new information about the projects that we are and will be carrying out. It is our hope that the TCC website will eventually be a 1-stop-centre that contains information on the turtles in Malaysia, yes, and that includes the sea turtles, river terrapins and terrestrial tortoises :)

Turtle Conservation Centre website

Because the TCC is a new organization, we are pretty much starting from scratch. Which means that we will have to raise funds in order for us to continue with our projects to save the turtles. And if you have ever tried to raise funds for a cause, you will understand the predicament we are in now, LOL. But we believe that help will come our way because we are doing something to help save our turtles, to help save Mother Nature. Plus, we also believe that there is a whole lot of philanthropists out there who would support projects such as ours. Yeah I know, I love my optimism :)

So our first public outreach program is the Adopt-A-Terrapin campaign. We will be releasing 99 captive-raised river terrapins into the Setiu River in Terengganu on Sept 9th (that’s tomorrow), in a “release of life” ceremony dubbed the “Terrapin Independence Day” (TID). This will be the fifth annual TID since 2005, but it will be TCC’s inaugural Terrapin Independence Day.

In conjunction with the auspicious date (9/9/09), we are putting these 99 three-year-old river terrapins up for adoption to raise funds so that we can continue to save these terrapins. Each river terrapin has been equipped with a microchip that allows us to identify them individually. These microchips also enable us to monitor their growth in the river whenever we recapture them.

Each terrapin adoption costs RM 99, or SGD 40, and we will send you information about the terrapin that you have adopted such as its microchip number, weight and measurements.

Would you like to adopt a terrapin and help raise funds for the Turtle Conservation Centre? Drop me a comment or send us an email (cp@turtleconservationcentre.org) if you would like to know more about the Adopt-A-Terrapin campaign :)

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Rumours travel fast

September 1, 2009
by pelf in

You know how fast rumours travel when somebody who lives right across the globe sends you an email to blindly defend and protect somebody who lives just next door to you, just because he thinks he knows better.

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