Threatened Animals of Singapore: A Guide to the

I congratulate the authors of this timely book and its sponsor BP in bringing to the attention of Singaporeans and of foreigners who have the interests of Singapore at heart the sadly large proportion of our remaining wildlife species whose continued existence is threatened. Some will say that if a species disappears from Singapore it does not matter as it exists across the water in Malaysia or Indonesia. People there may say the same and, before we know it, development or habitat loss may have reduced our list still further. We owe it to future generations not merely to preserve a few specimens in a park or zoo but to ensure that each species can flourish, filling its natural place in our ecosystem which has evolved over the ages. I am sure that this book will not only help this process but open many people’s eyes to the fact that “animals” are not only mammals.