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[This guest post was written by frozen about number 638 on The List; the album was also submitted by frozen.]
Dig out your copy of Lord of the Rings and put up the faux stone paneling in the basement – it’s dungeon synth time.
Simple synths and medieval vibes are the order of the day here. This particular release leans into the atmosphere and hypnotic feeling: one drifts easily into another fantasy world. At ~25 minutes per track, Mortiis doesn’t shy away from letting this atmosphere breathe, either: it maintains the intentionally dreamlike quality throughout. (English track translations are “The Journey to Caves and Wastelands” and “Emperor of an Unknown Dimension”, which is also the album title.)
Mortiis at the time of this recording was one person, and the name refers to both the band and the person. The project was founded after tiring of making black metal after leaving Emperor. Later, Mortiis would add other members to the project, and drift through electropop into industrial rock. Mortiis also had three similar side projects at various points: Fata Morgana, which was instrumental, Cîntecele Diavolui, which incorporated more neoclassical influence, and Vond, which drifted into darker ambient music.
Mortiis kept with the sound that would come to be called dungeon synth up until changing genres in 2000. Early Summoning releases were also in this vein. Dungeon synth is tied to black metal, not only by origins and imagery, but frequently appearing on black metal albums in the form of interludes: for instance, on Wolves in the Throne Room’s “Primordial Arcana”.
- Bandcamp: Mortiis – Keiser av en Dimensjon Ukjent
- Discogs: Mortiis – Keiser av en Dimensjon Ukjent
- Encyclopaedia Metallum: Mortiis
[Alt text for accompanying image: The artwork is a painting, a very dark green/black background with unreadable text in the background. In the center of the cover is an image of a person wearing a hooded robe, reaching out their left hand. The person is framed by a serpent in a circular pose, about to bite its own tail. The band name is in the top right corner, in the same light brown colour as the serpent, and the album name is along the bottom.]
https://1001otheralbums.com/2024/03/04/mortiis-keiser-av-en-dimensjon-ukjent-1995-norway/
#1001OtherAlbums #1990s #dungeonSynth #electronic #Mortiis #Norway
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Whenever I see an article about #soyMilk, #veganCheese, #veganSausages or "#vegan anything" I always see the usual brain dead comments from your average person, stating how soy milk isn't milk, or cheese only comes from cows, or sausages only have animal meat in it and nothing else. This ownership of the wording/definition is weird, and deflects from the far more important issue of the #AnimalRights of the animals, which, as any #AnnoyingVegan will tell you, have no rights if they are being exploited by humans without their consent.
Regardless, here is an example (comments on their Facebook post):
This is ridiculous for at least 2 reasons:
1. Words, their definitions and meaning change all the time. Examples here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/10/15/24-words-that-mean-totally-different-things-now-than-they-did-pre-internet/ and https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/words-that-used-to-mean-something-different
2. As long as things are not misleading or 'illegal' (and they are not, at least in Australia: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7368095/vegan-food-labels-not-duping-consumers-accc/) then there shouldn't be an objection to whatever a company decides to call its product.
Finally, I am going to use the #PeanutButter / #HotDog argument. If peanut butter or hot dogs can be called what they are (there is no cow butter in peanut butter and there is no dog meat (usually 🤢🤮) in hot dogs), then I don't see any problem with calling any vegan food item what it is trying to replicate or mimic as closely as possible. After all, the vegan food usually (if not always) has a different spelling, a prefix, or a sufix. Is it cheecky? Sure. But so is killing a cow for a couch.
In addition to hot dogs and peanut butter, here is a list:
-Monkey bread
-Welsh rabbit
-Fuzzy navel
-Spotted dick
-Egg cream (that's right, this drink has no eggs or cow cream in it)
-Cat's tongue
-Boston cooler
-Mincemeat
-Cold duck
-Cream crackers
-Bubble and squeak
-Ants on a log
-Ladies fingers
-Lady fingers
-Ladyfingers (yup, 3 different things)
-Gunpowder tea
-Puppy chow
-Beaver tail
-Cowboy caviar
-Grits
-English muffins
-Grasshopper pie
-Refried beans
-Bear claw
-Truffle oil
-Roosters beak
-The priest fainted
-Sweetbreads (no bread here!)
-Albany beef
-Bombay duck
-Cape cod turkey
-Geoduck
-Head cheese (no cow cheese here!)
-Phoenix claws
-Prarie oysters (yum yum!)
-Rocky mountain oysters (also known as calf fries)
-French dressing
-French fries
-Mongolian BBQ (neither Mongolian or a BBQ)
-Russian dressing
-Scotch bonnet
-Scotch woodcock
-Black/blood pudding
-Gunpowder dosa
-Hen-of-the-woods
-Plum pudding
-Pork butt
-Duck sauce
-Colonial goose
-Nuns farts / puffs
-Catheads and gravy
-Lion's head
-Ants climbing a trea
-Canadian bacon (not actually bacon?)
-Buffalo wings
-Eggplant
-Hamburger
-Chicken of the woods
-Horseradish
-Jerusalem artichoke (neither from Jeruselam or an artichoke)
-Jordan almonds
-Sea cucumber
-Swiss steak
-Toad in the hole
-Soldiers
-Angels/Devils on horse back
-Parsons/Popes/Sultans nose
-The meat, milk, and cream of a coconutIf I missed any, please share them here.
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Justice for Elijah McClain – Trial Update for Thursday Sept 28:
⚠️ CW: Police Violence against People with Invisible Disabilities.Several witnesses took the stand today including forensic toxicologist Michael Lamb from NMS labs in Pennsylvania. He testified that the only substances found in Maclean's blood were ketamine and cannabis. Lamb calculated that McClain had been given 7.7 milligrams per kilogram, whereas a typical anesthetic dose for sedation is 4-6 miligrams. The dose given to McClain was more likely to render a person unconscious and require assistance breathing. The Attorney for the defense focused on the Marijuana found in Maclean's system but, Lamb said he could not speak to how it may have affected his behavior, or if he had used it on the day of the incident. The defense attorneys fixation on cannabis, seemed to me as if he was clutching at "reefer madness" straws.
Also taking the stand today was Sgt. Kevin Smith, who oversees Aurora police trainings. Prosecutors dispelled the myth incorporated in their training that claimed "if someone can talk, then there able to breathe". Smith testified, "It's a pervasive phrase, but we're addressing it because an officer can be blind to certain signs if they truly believe it's true.… A person could be able to talk but still have an issue with respirations." Smith also said that in the case of respiratory distress, officers should call for medical assistance and provide aid themselves.
The Sgt. was also asked about training in regard to use of the carotid hold that was applied to McClain more than once on the night of his death. This tactic restricts blood flow to the brain rendering the person unconscious. Smith testified there are protocols about using the carotid hold, including not to use it repeatedly. He stated, "Once they come back to consciousness, we want to kind of start a little timer and say, hey, if they're not coherent, if they're not answering questions, if they're not appearing normal in that 30 seconds, then it's a medical emergency... We need to update rescue and provide first aid if we need to."
In my personal review of the three hours of body cam footage from multiple officers on scene, they seemed more concerned with weaving a tail of resistance by Elijah McClain for the body cam audio and other responders. The carotid hold was used twice on Elijah McClain who was not provided any medical attention by police. He never regained consciousness after it was employed. The trial resumes on Friday.
Click here 🧠 for the full account of what was done to Elijah.
#JusticeForElijahMcClain #BLM #DisabilityJustice #SocialJustice #NoJusticeNoPeace #StopKillingUs #ICantBreathe #InvisibleDisabilityRights #PoliceViolence
@disabilityjustice @disability @actuallyautistic -
Justice for Elijah McClain – Trial Update for Thursday Sept 28:
⚠️ CW: Police Violence against People with Invisible Disabilities.Several witnesses took the stand today including forensic toxicologist Michael Lamb from NMS labs in Pennsylvania. He testified that the only substances found in Maclean's blood were ketamine and cannabis. Lamb calculated that McClain had been given 7.7 milligrams per kilogram, whereas a typical anesthetic dose for sedation is 4-6 miligrams. The dose given to McClain was more likely to render a person unconscious and require assistance breathing. The Attorney for the defense focused on the Marijuana found in Maclean's system but, Lamb said he could not speak to how it may have affected his behavior, or if he had used it on the day of the incident. The defense attorneys fixation on cannabis, seemed to me as if he was clutching at "reefer madness" straws.
Also taking the stand today was Sgt. Kevin Smith, who oversees Aurora police trainings. Prosecutors dispelled the myth incorporated in their training that claimed "if someone can talk, then there able to breathe". Smith testified, "It's a pervasive phrase, but we're addressing it because an officer can be blind to certain signs if they truly believe it's true.… A person could be able to talk but still have an issue with respirations." Smith also said that in the case of respiratory distress, officers should call for medical assistance and provide aid themselves.
The Sgt. was also asked about training in regard to use of the carotid hold that was applied to McClain more than once on the night of his death. This tactic restricts blood flow to the brain rendering the person unconscious. Smith testified there are protocols about using the carotid hold, including not to use it repeatedly. He stated, "Once they come back to consciousness, we want to kind of start a little timer and say, hey, if they're not coherent, if they're not answering questions, if they're not appearing normal in that 30 seconds, then it's a medical emergency... We need to update rescue and provide first aid if we need to."
In my personal review of the three hours of body cam footage from multiple officers on scene, they seemed more concerned with weaving a tail of resistance by Elijah McClain for the body cam audio and other responders. The carotid hold was used twice on Elijah McClain who was not provided any medical attention by police. He never regained consciousness after it was employed. The trial resumes on Friday.
Click here 🧠 for the full account of what was done to Elijah.
#JusticeForElijahMcClain #BLM #DisabilityJustice #SocialJustice #NoJusticeNoPeace #StopKillingUs #ICantBreathe #InvisibleDisabilityRights #PoliceViolence
@disabilityjustice @disability @actuallyautistic -
Justice for Elijah McClain – Trial Update for Thursday Sept 28:
⚠️ CW: Police Violence against People with Invisible Disabilities.Several witnesses took the stand today including forensic toxicologist Michael Lamb from NMS labs in Pennsylvania. He testified that the only substances found in Maclean's blood were ketamine and cannabis. Lamb calculated that McClain had been given 7.7 milligrams per kilogram, whereas a typical anesthetic dose for sedation is 4-6 miligrams. The dose given to McClain was more likely to render a person unconscious and require assistance breathing. The Attorney for the defense focused on the Marijuana found in Maclean's system but, Lamb said he could not speak to how it may have affected his behavior, or if he had used it on the day of the incident. The defense attorneys fixation on cannabis, seemed to me as if he was clutching at "reefer madness" straws.
Also taking the stand today was Sgt. Kevin Smith, who oversees Aurora police trainings. Prosecutors dispelled the myth incorporated in their training that claimed "if someone can talk, then there able to breathe". Smith testified, "It's a pervasive phrase, but we're addressing it because an officer can be blind to certain signs if they truly believe it's true.… A person could be able to talk but still have an issue with respirations." Smith also said that in the case of respiratory distress, officers should call for medical assistance and provide aid themselves.
The Sgt. was also asked about training in regard to use of the carotid hold that was applied to McClain more than once on the night of his death. This tactic restricts blood flow to the brain rendering the person unconscious. Smith testified there are protocols about using the carotid hold, including not to use it repeatedly. He stated, "Once they come back to consciousness, we want to kind of start a little timer and say, hey, if they're not coherent, if they're not answering questions, if they're not appearing normal in that 30 seconds, then it's a medical emergency... We need to update rescue and provide first aid if we need to."
In my personal review of the three hours of body cam footage from multiple officers on scene, they seemed more concerned with weaving a tail of resistance by Elijah McClain for the body cam audio and other responders. The carotid hold was used twice on Elijah McClain who was not provided any medical attention by police. He never regained consciousness after it was employed. The trial resumes on Friday.
Click here 🧠 for the full account of what was done to Elijah.
#JusticeForElijahMcClain #BLM #DisabilityJustice #SocialJustice #NoJusticeNoPeace #StopKillingUs #ICantBreathe #InvisibleDisabilityRights #PoliceViolence
@disabilityjustice @disability @actuallyautistic -
Justice for Elijah McClain – Trial Update for Thursday Sept 28:
⚠️ CW: Police Violence against People with Invisible Disabilities.Several witnesses took the stand today including forensic toxicologist Michael Lamb from NMS labs in Pennsylvania. He testified that the only substances found in Maclean's blood were ketamine and cannabis. Lamb calculated that McClain had been given 7.7 milligrams per kilogram, whereas a typical anesthetic dose for sedation is 4-6 miligrams. The dose given to McClain was more likely to render a person unconscious and require assistance breathing. The Attorney for the defense focused on the Marijuana found in Maclean's system but, Lamb said he could not speak to how it may have affected his behavior, or if he had used it on the day of the incident. The defense attorneys fixation on cannabis, seemed to me as if he was clutching at "reefer madness" straws.
Also taking the stand today was Sgt. Kevin Smith, who oversees Aurora police trainings. Prosecutors dispelled the myth incorporated in their training that claimed "if someone can talk, then there able to breathe". Smith testified, "It's a pervasive phrase, but we're addressing it because an officer can be blind to certain signs if they truly believe it's true.… A person could be able to talk but still have an issue with respirations." Smith also said that in the case of respiratory distress, officers should call for medical assistance and provide aid themselves.
The Sgt. was also asked about training in regard to use of the carotid hold that was applied to McClain more than once on the night of his death. This tactic restricts blood flow to the brain rendering the person unconscious. Smith testified there are protocols about using the carotid hold, including not to use it repeatedly. He stated, "Once they come back to consciousness, we want to kind of start a little timer and say, hey, if they're not coherent, if they're not answering questions, if they're not appearing normal in that 30 seconds, then it's a medical emergency... We need to update rescue and provide first aid if we need to."
In my personal review of the three hours of body cam footage from multiple officers on scene, they seemed more concerned with weaving a tail of resistance by Elijah McClain for the body cam audio and other responders. The carotid hold was used twice on Elijah McClain who was not provided any medical attention by police. He never regained consciousness after it was employed. The trial resumes on Friday.
Click here 🧠 for the full account of what was done to Elijah.
#JusticeForElijahMcClain #BLM #DisabilityJustice #SocialJustice #NoJusticeNoPeace #StopKillingUs #ICantBreathe #InvisibleDisabilityRights #PoliceViolence
@disabilityjustice @disability @actuallyautistic -
Justice for Elijah McClain – Trial Update for Thursday Sept 28:
⚠️ CW: Police Violence against People with Invisible Disabilities.Several witnesses took the stand today including forensic toxicologist Michael Lamb from NMS labs in Pennsylvania. He testified that the only substances found in Maclean's blood were ketamine and cannabis. Lamb calculated that McClain had been given 7.7 milligrams per kilogram, whereas a typical anesthetic dose for sedation is 4-6 miligrams. The dose given to McClain was more likely to render a person unconscious and require assistance breathing. The Attorney for the defense focused on the Marijuana found in Maclean's system but, Lamb said he could not speak to how it may have affected his behavior, or if he had used it on the day of the incident. The defense attorneys fixation on cannabis, seemed to me as if he was clutching at "reefer madness" straws.
Also taking the stand today was Sgt. Kevin Smith, who oversees Aurora police trainings. Prosecutors dispelled the myth incorporated in their training that claimed "if someone can talk, then there able to breathe". Smith testified, "It's a pervasive phrase, but we're addressing it because an officer can be blind to certain signs if they truly believe it's true.… A person could be able to talk but still have an issue with respirations." Smith also said that in the case of respiratory distress, officers should call for medical assistance and provide aid themselves.
The Sgt. was also asked about training in regard to use of the carotid hold that was applied to McClain more than once on the night of his death. This tactic restricts blood flow to the brain rendering the person unconscious. Smith testified there are protocols about using the carotid hold, including not to use it repeatedly. He stated, "Once they come back to consciousness, we want to kind of start a little timer and say, hey, if they're not coherent, if they're not answering questions, if they're not appearing normal in that 30 seconds, then it's a medical emergency... We need to update rescue and provide first aid if we need to."
In my personal review of the three hours of body cam footage from multiple officers on scene, they seemed more concerned with weaving a tail of resistance by Elijah McClain for the body cam audio and other responders. The carotid hold was used twice on Elijah McClain who was not provided any medical attention by police. He never regained consciousness after it was employed. The trial resumes on Friday.
Click here 🧠 for the full account of what was done to Elijah.
#JusticeForElijahMcClain #BLM #DisabilityJustice #SocialJustice #NoJusticeNoPeace #StopKillingUs #ICantBreathe #InvisibleDisabilityRights #PoliceViolence
@disabilityjustice @disability @actuallyautistic -
Waigeo Cuscus Spilocuscus papuensis
Waigeo Cuscus Spilocuscus papuensis
Vulnerable
Extant
West Papua (Waigeo Island)
Cryptic and solitary marsupials, Waigeo Cuscuses cling to tree canopies on a Waigeo Island, West Papua. They are classified as vulnerable on IUCN Red List due to palm oil deforestation and mining on the tiny island where they live. Help them each time you shop and be #vegan, #Boycottpalmoil and #Boycott4Wildlife
Cryptic and solitary #marsupials, Waigeo #cuscus 🐒 cling to tree canopies on Waigeo Island #WestPapua, they are vulnerable from #palmoil 🌴🪔🩸💀⛔️ #deforestation. Help them and go #vegan and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/07/09/waigeo-cuscus-spilocuscus-papuensis/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterPocket sized cuties 🧸😻🩷 Waigeo #Cuscus are #vulnerable due to #palmoil #deforestation on a tiny island in #WestPapua. Fight for their survival, go #vegan 🥦🍅 and #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🪔🔥🧐🏂🙈🚫 #Boycott4Wildlife each time you shop https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/07/09/waigeo-cuscus-spilocuscus-papuensis/ via @palmoildetect
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterBehaviour & Appearance
Waigeo Cuscus, also known as the Waigeou Spotted Cuscus are cryptic and solitary marsupials of the family Phalangeridae. Not much is known about their ecology and behaviour and more research is needed in this area.
Waigeo Cuscus like other cuscus species have a strong prehensile tail that allows them to swing and hang in tree canopies.
Different cuscus species have eyes of varying colours. Waigeo Cuscuses have amber or orange eyes with have vertical pupils, similar to a cats or reptiles. This allows cuscuses to have superior night time vision. Like other cuscus, Waigeo Cuscuses have long nails to help with grip on tree branches and for grooming.
Geographical range
They are restricted to a small islet off the coast of the West Papua province called Waigeo Island. They prefer to live in primary or secondary tropical forests.
Threats
Their isolated and small geographic location makes their existence fragile and threatened by increased palm oil deforestation and mining in Waigeo Island, which is now taking place. An increase in hunting, mining and palm oil deforestation on the island would have a disastrous impact on this species.
Waigeo Cuscuses are classified as Vulnerable on IUCN Red List as they face many human-related threats including:
- Palm oil deforestation: Concessions for palm oil have been sold which invade into the Waigeo Cuscus’ range. They are limited to the small island and so any reduction in georgraphic range for palm oil will have disastrous consequences for them.
- Hunting and human persecution: These cuscus are hunted for their meat and fur.
- Mining: Mining concessions on Waigeo Island have been sold and this limits the geographic range of the Waigeo Cuscus across the small island.
Support the conservation of this species
This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.
Further Information
Helgen, K., Aplin, K. & Dickman, C. 2016. Spilocuscus papuensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T20638A21949972. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T20638A21949972.en. Accessed on 16 November 2022.
How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 3,172 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #bushmeat #cuscus #cuscuses #deforestation #ForgottenAnimals #hunting #Indonesia #Mammal #Marsupial #marsupials #mining #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #PapuaNewGuineaSpeciesEndangeredByPalmOilDeforestation #possum #possums #vegan #vulnerable #VulnerableSpecies #WaigeoCuscusSpilocuscusPapuensis #WestPapua #WestPapua
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Waigeo Cuscus Spilocuscus papuensis
Waigeo Cuscus Spilocuscus papuensis
Vulnerable
Extant
West Papua (Waigeo Island)
Cryptic and solitary marsupials, Waigeo Cuscuses cling to tree canopies on a Waigeo Island, West Papua. They are classified as vulnerable on IUCN Red List due to palm oil deforestation and mining on the tiny island where they live. Help them each time you shop and be #vegan, #Boycottpalmoil and #Boycott4Wildlife
Cryptic and solitary #marsupials, Waigeo #cuscus 🐒 cling to tree canopies on Waigeo Island #WestPapua, they are vulnerable from #palmoil 🌴🪔🩸💀⛔️ #deforestation. Help them and go #vegan and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/07/09/waigeo-cuscus-spilocuscus-papuensis/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterPocket sized cuties 🧸😻🩷 Waigeo #Cuscus are #vulnerable due to #palmoil #deforestation on a tiny island in #WestPapua. Fight for their survival, go #vegan 🥦🍅 and #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🪔🔥🧐🏂🙈🚫 #Boycott4Wildlife each time you shop https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/07/09/waigeo-cuscus-spilocuscus-papuensis/ via @palmoildetect
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterBehaviour & Appearance
Waigeo Cuscus, also known as the Waigeou Spotted Cuscus are cryptic and solitary marsupials of the family Phalangeridae. Not much is known about their ecology and behaviour and more research is needed in this area.
Waigeo Cuscus like other cuscus species have a strong prehensile tail that allows them to swing and hang in tree canopies.
Different cuscus species have eyes of varying colours. Waigeo Cuscuses have amber or orange eyes with have vertical pupils, similar to a cats or reptiles. This allows cuscuses to have superior night time vision. Like other cuscus, Waigeo Cuscuses have long nails to help with grip on tree branches and for grooming.
Geographical range
They are restricted to a small islet off the coast of the West Papua province called Waigeo Island. They prefer to live in primary or secondary tropical forests.
Threats
Their isolated and small geographic location makes their existence fragile and threatened by increased palm oil deforestation and mining in Waigeo Island, which is now taking place. An increase in hunting, mining and palm oil deforestation on the island would have a disastrous impact on this species.
Waigeo Cuscuses are classified as Vulnerable on IUCN Red List as they face many human-related threats including:
- Palm oil deforestation: Concessions for palm oil have been sold which invade into the Waigeo Cuscus’ range. They are limited to the small island and so any reduction in georgraphic range for palm oil will have disastrous consequences for them.
- Hunting and human persecution: These cuscus are hunted for their meat and fur.
- Mining: Mining concessions on Waigeo Island have been sold and this limits the geographic range of the Waigeo Cuscus across the small island.
Support the conservation of this species
This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.
Further Information
Helgen, K., Aplin, K. & Dickman, C. 2016. Spilocuscus papuensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T20638A21949972. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T20638A21949972.en. Accessed on 16 November 2022.
How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #bushmeat #cuscus #cuscuses #deforestation #ForgottenAnimals #hunting #Indonesia #Mammal #Marsupial #marsupials #mining #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #PapuaNewGuineaSpeciesEndangeredByPalmOilDeforestation #vegan #vulnerable #VulnerableSpecies #WaigeoCuscusSpilocuscusPapuensis #WestPapua #WestPapua
-
Waigeo Cuscus Spilocuscus papuensis
Waigeo Cuscus Spilocuscus papuensis
Vulnerable
Extant
West Papua (Waigeo Island)
Cryptic and solitary marsupials, Waigeo Cuscuses cling to tree canopies on a Waigeo Island, West Papua. They are classified as vulnerable on IUCN Red List due to palm oil deforestation and mining on the tiny island where they live. Help them each time you shop and be #vegan, #Boycottpalmoil and #Boycott4Wildlife
Cryptic and solitary #marsupials, Waigeo #cuscus 🐒 cling to tree canopies on Waigeo Island #WestPapua, they are vulnerable from #palmoil 🌴🪔🩸💀⛔️ #deforestation. Help them and go #vegan and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/07/09/waigeo-cuscus-spilocuscus-papuensis/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterPocket sized cuties 🧸😻🩷 Waigeo #Cuscus are #vulnerable due to #palmoil #deforestation on a tiny island in #WestPapua. Fight for their survival, go #vegan 🥦🍅 and #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🪔🔥🧐🏂🙈🚫 #Boycott4Wildlife each time you shop https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/07/09/waigeo-cuscus-spilocuscus-papuensis/ via @palmoildetect
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterBehaviour & Appearance
Waigeo Cuscus, also known as the Waigeou Spotted Cuscus are cryptic and solitary marsupials of the family Phalangeridae. Not much is known about their ecology and behaviour and more research is needed in this area.
Waigeo Cuscus like other cuscus species have a strong prehensile tail that allows them to swing and hang in tree canopies.
Different cuscus species have eyes of varying colours. Waigeo Cuscuses have amber or orange eyes with have vertical pupils, similar to a cats or reptiles. This allows cuscuses to have superior night time vision. Like other cuscus, Waigeo Cuscuses have long nails to help with grip on tree branches and for grooming.
Geographical range
They are restricted to a small islet off the coast of the West Papua province called Waigeo Island. They prefer to live in primary or secondary tropical forests.
Threats
Their isolated and small geographic location makes their existence fragile and threatened by increased palm oil deforestation and mining in Waigeo Island, which is now taking place. An increase in hunting, mining and palm oil deforestation on the island would have a disastrous impact on this species.
Waigeo Cuscuses are classified as Vulnerable on IUCN Red List as they face many human-related threats including:
- Palm oil deforestation: Concessions for palm oil have been sold which invade into the Waigeo Cuscus’ range. They are limited to the small island and so any reduction in georgraphic range for palm oil will have disastrous consequences for them.
- Hunting and human persecution: These cuscus are hunted for their meat and fur.
- Mining: Mining concessions on Waigeo Island have been sold and this limits the geographic range of the Waigeo Cuscus across the small island.
Support the conservation of this species
This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.
Further Information
Helgen, K., Aplin, K. & Dickman, C. 2016. Spilocuscus papuensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T20638A21949972. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T20638A21949972.en. Accessed on 16 November 2022.
How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 3,172 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #bushmeat #cuscus #cuscuses #deforestation #ForgottenAnimals #hunting #Indonesia #Mammal #Marsupial #marsupials #mining #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #PapuaNewGuineaSpeciesEndangeredByPalmOilDeforestation #possum #possums #vegan #vulnerable #VulnerableSpecies #WaigeoCuscusSpilocuscusPapuensis #WestPapua #WestPapua
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Waigeo Cuscus Spilocuscus papuensis
Waigeo Cuscus Spilocuscus papuensis
Vulnerable
Extant
West Papua (Waigeo Island)
Cryptic and solitary marsupials, Waigeo Cuscuses cling to tree canopies on a Waigeo Island, West Papua. They are classified as vulnerable on IUCN Red List due to palm oil deforestation and mining on the tiny island where they live. Help them each time you shop and be #vegan, #Boycottpalmoil and #Boycott4Wildlife
Cryptic and solitary #marsupials, Waigeo #cuscus 🐒 cling to tree canopies on Waigeo Island #WestPapua, they are vulnerable from #palmoil 🌴🪔🩸💀⛔️ #deforestation. Help them and go #vegan and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/07/09/waigeo-cuscus-spilocuscus-papuensis/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterPocket sized cuties 🧸😻🩷 Waigeo #Cuscus are #vulnerable due to #palmoil #deforestation on a tiny island in #WestPapua. Fight for their survival, go #vegan 🥦🍅 and #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🪔🔥🧐🏂🙈🚫 #Boycott4Wildlife each time you shop https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/07/09/waigeo-cuscus-spilocuscus-papuensis/ via @palmoildetect
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterBehaviour & Appearance
Waigeo Cuscus, also known as the Waigeou Spotted Cuscus are cryptic and solitary marsupials of the family Phalangeridae. Not much is known about their ecology and behaviour and more research is needed in this area.
Waigeo Cuscus like other cuscus species have a strong prehensile tail that allows them to swing and hang in tree canopies.
Different cuscus species have eyes of varying colours. Waigeo Cuscuses have amber or orange eyes with have vertical pupils, similar to a cats or reptiles. This allows cuscuses to have superior night time vision. Like other cuscus, Waigeo Cuscuses have long nails to help with grip on tree branches and for grooming.
Geographical range
They are restricted to a small islet off the coast of the West Papua province called Waigeo Island. They prefer to live in primary or secondary tropical forests.
Threats
Their isolated and small geographic location makes their existence fragile and threatened by increased palm oil deforestation and mining in Waigeo Island, which is now taking place. An increase in hunting, mining and palm oil deforestation on the island would have a disastrous impact on this species.
Waigeo Cuscuses are classified as Vulnerable on IUCN Red List as they face many human-related threats including:
- Palm oil deforestation: Concessions for palm oil have been sold which invade into the Waigeo Cuscus’ range. They are limited to the small island and so any reduction in georgraphic range for palm oil will have disastrous consequences for them.
- Hunting and human persecution: These cuscus are hunted for their meat and fur.
- Mining: Mining concessions on Waigeo Island have been sold and this limits the geographic range of the Waigeo Cuscus across the small island.
Support the conservation of this species
This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.
Further Information
Helgen, K., Aplin, K. & Dickman, C. 2016. Spilocuscus papuensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T20638A21949972. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T20638A21949972.en. Accessed on 16 November 2022.
How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 3,172 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #bushmeat #cuscus #cuscuses #deforestation #ForgottenAnimals #hunting #Indonesia #Mammal #Marsupial #marsupials #mining #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #PapuaNewGuineaSpeciesEndangeredByPalmOilDeforestation #possum #possums #vegan #vulnerable #VulnerableSpecies #WaigeoCuscusSpilocuscusPapuensis #WestPapua #WestPapua
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Waigeo Cuscus Spilocuscus papuensis
Waigeo Cuscus Spilocuscus papuensis
Vulnerable
Extant
West Papua (Waigeo Island)
Cryptic and solitary marsupials, Waigeo Cuscuses cling to tree canopies on a Waigeo Island, West Papua. They are classified as vulnerable on IUCN Red List due to palm oil deforestation and mining on the tiny island where they live. Help them each time you shop and be #vegan, #Boycottpalmoil and #Boycott4Wildlife
Cryptic and solitary #marsupials, Waigeo #cuscus 🐒 cling to tree canopies on Waigeo Island #WestPapua, they are vulnerable from #palmoil 🌴🪔🩸💀⛔️ #deforestation. Help them and go #vegan and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/07/09/waigeo-cuscus-spilocuscus-papuensis/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterPocket sized cuties 🧸😻🩷 Waigeo #Cuscus are #vulnerable due to #palmoil #deforestation on a tiny island in #WestPapua. Fight for their survival, go #vegan 🥦🍅 and #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🪔🔥🧐🏂🙈🚫 #Boycott4Wildlife each time you shop https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/07/09/waigeo-cuscus-spilocuscus-papuensis/ via @palmoildetect
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterBehaviour & Appearance
Waigeo Cuscus, also known as the Waigeou Spotted Cuscus are cryptic and solitary marsupials of the family Phalangeridae. Not much is known about their ecology and behaviour and more research is needed in this area.
Waigeo Cuscus like other cuscus species have a strong prehensile tail that allows them to swing and hang in tree canopies.
Different cuscus species have eyes of varying colours. Waigeo Cuscuses have amber or orange eyes with have vertical pupils, similar to a cats or reptiles. This allows cuscuses to have superior night time vision. Like other cuscus, Waigeo Cuscuses have long nails to help with grip on tree branches and for grooming.
Geographical range
They are restricted to a small islet off the coast of the West Papua province called Waigeo Island. They prefer to live in primary or secondary tropical forests.
Threats
Their isolated and small geographic location makes their existence fragile and threatened by increased palm oil deforestation and mining in Waigeo Island, which is now taking place. An increase in hunting, mining and palm oil deforestation on the island would have a disastrous impact on this species.
Waigeo Cuscuses are classified as Vulnerable on IUCN Red List as they face many human-related threats including:
- Palm oil deforestation: Concessions for palm oil have been sold which invade into the Waigeo Cuscus’ range. They are limited to the small island and so any reduction in georgraphic range for palm oil will have disastrous consequences for them.
- Hunting and human persecution: These cuscus are hunted for their meat and fur.
- Mining: Mining concessions on Waigeo Island have been sold and this limits the geographic range of the Waigeo Cuscus across the small island.
Support the conservation of this species
This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.
Further Information
Helgen, K., Aplin, K. & Dickman, C. 2016. Spilocuscus papuensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T20638A21949972. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-2.RLTS.T20638A21949972.en. Accessed on 16 November 2022.
How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 3,172 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #bushmeat #cuscus #cuscuses #deforestation #ForgottenAnimals #hunting #Indonesia #Mammal #Marsupial #marsupials #mining #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #PapuaNewGuineaSpeciesEndangeredByPalmOilDeforestation #possum #possums #vegan #vulnerable #VulnerableSpecies #WaigeoCuscusSpilocuscusPapuensis #WestPapua #WestPapua
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Banded Surili (Raffles Banded Langur) Presbytis femoralis
Banded Surili (Raffles Banded Langur) Presbytis femoralis
Red List Status: Critically Endangered
Locations: Indonesia; Malaysia; Myanmar; Singapore; Thailand
A curious and intelligent small monkey species, Raffles’ Banded Langurs are also known by their other common names: Banded Leaf Monkey or Banded Surili. Endemic to the southern Malay Peninsula and Singapore, this critically endangered monkey is now found in only a few fragmented pockets of primary and secondary forest, swamps, mangroves, and rubber plantations. Once widespread across Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Thailand, the banded surili’s population has plummeted—fewer than 60 individuals survive in Malaysia, with Singapore’s last wild group clinging to existence in the Central Catchment Nature Reserve. Palm oil deforestation and habitat destruction continue to erase their world. Help them survive and #BoycottPalmOil and #Boycott4Wildlife every time you shop.
Only 60 Banded Surilis AKA Raffles Banded #Langurs 🐒🙈 hang on to survival in #Malaysia 🇲🇾 due to rampant #palmoil #deforestation. Help these #monkeys and use your wallet as a weapon! #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🪔🚜🔥💀❌ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/04/30/banded-surili-raffles-banded-langur-presbytis-femoralis/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterBanded Leaf #Monkeys 🐒🙈🐵 AKA Raffles Banded Langurs are #critically endangered from #palmoil #deforestation in #Malaysia 🇲🇾 Fight for their survival each time you shop #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🩸☠️🔥🧐⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/04/30/banded-surili-raffles-banded-langur-presbytis-femoralis/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterDeforestation and conversion of habitat continue to be the major threats to this species. They particularly affected by oil palm plantations, which are expanding very rapidly within their range.
IUCN RED LISTAppearance & Behaviour
Banded Surili’s are around 40-60 cm long and with their tails this can extend to up to 83cm in length. They weigh between 5 – 8 kg and possess dark fur with a a white coloured band across their chest and inner thighs and a shock of white fur on their face giving them a startled and morose appearance. Males have white fur with a black stripe down their back from head to tail. Males will leave their natal group before they reach sexual maturity – at about 4 years old.
Male langurs make a ke-ke-ke alarm call sound which is like a harsh rattle. In the wild, these langurs have been observed being groomed by long tailed macaques.
Threats
Deforestation and conversion of habitat continue to be the major threats to this species. They are particularly affected by oil palm plantations, which are expanding very rapidly within its range.
IUCN RED LISTThe Raffles Banded Langur was once a common sight throughout Singapore however their number has dwindled to only 60 individuals in the wild – they are critically endangered in the Central Catchment Nature Reserve. They have now increased to 70 individuals in 2022 however their ongoing existence is extremely fragile.
They are fussy fruit eaters and will travel great distances to obtain their chosen food sources: an estimated 27 plant species, including Hevea brasiliensis leaves, Adinandra dumosa flowers and Nephelium lappaceum fruits.
The Raffles’ Banded Langur faces numerous anthropogenic threats:
- Palm oil deforestation: Large swathes of their home range have been destroyed for timber and palm oil.
- Infrastructure projects: Roads and rail links cutting through their range further reduces their access to the forest.
- Hunting: Humans have been known to hunt them for food.
- Collection for the illegal pet trade.
Habitat
These langurs are mostly active during the day and spend the majority of their lives in the tree canopy. They prefer rainforest trees of the family Dipterocarpaceae and have historically been found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand. Although almost the entirety of their rainforest has been destroyed – mostly for palm oil in Malaysia and Indonesia. They are the most dependent on trees compared to other leaf monkeys. Raffles’ banded langurs can be found in primary and secondary forests, swamps, mangroves and rubber plantations.
Diet
Banded Surilis are mostly herbivorous with a diet mainly consisting of fruits, seeds and leaves. Their stomachs contain specialised bacteria to help break down plant matter.
Mating and breeding
They are highly social and gregarious and typically live in groups of 3 to 6 individuals. There’s normally 4 or more females for every one adult male in a troop. Banded Surilis appear to have two birth seasons: July/July and December/January.
Support Banded Surilis by going vegan and boycotting palm oil in the supermarket, it’s the #Boycott4Wildlife
Support the conservation of this species
This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.
Further Information
Ang, A., Boonratana, R. & Nijman, V. 2022. Presbytis femoralis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022: e.T39801A215090780. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T39801A215090780.en. Accessed on 31 October 2022.
Banded Surili (Raffles Banded Langur) Presbytis femoralis on Wikipedia
Banded Surili by Daniel Ferrayanto for Getty ImagesHow can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 3,180 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Read moreMel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Read moreAnthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Read moreHealth Physician Dr Evan Allen
Read moreThe World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
Read moreHow do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
Read more3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support #animals #BandedSuriliRafflesBandedLangurPresbytisFemoralis #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #critically #CriticallyEndangeredSpecies #deforestation #ForgottenAnimals #herbivore #herbivores #hunting #Indonesia #infrastructure #Langurs #Malaysia #Mammal #monkey #monkeys #Myanmar #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #Primate #roads #SeedDispersers #seeddispersal #singapore #Thailand -
White-Nosed Saki Chiropotes albinasus
White-Nosed Saki Chiropotes albinasus
Red List status: Vulnerable
Locations: Brazil
Curious, social and beautiful White-Nosed Sakis are striking and unusual looking #primates. This vulnerable primate is instantly recognisable by their long, silky black fur, reddish-pink noses, and distinctive hair tufts crowning their heads. The white-Nosed Saki’s range spans the shaded forests south-west of the Dos Marmelos river, where they are vulnerable from human-related threats including #palmoil, #soy and #meat #deforestation, #goldmining and human persecution. They deserve us to fight for their survival. Help them every time you shop and be #Vegan #BoycottPalmOil and #Boycott4Wildlife
Curious, social and beautiful White-Nosed Sakis 🐒🐵🙈 are vulnerable #monkeys in #Brazil 🇧🇷 from #soy #meat #palmoil 🌴🩸 #deforestation and #mining 🚜🔥 Protect them every time you shop, be #vegan #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/02/19/white-nosed-saki-chiropotes-albinasus/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterWhite-Nosed Sakis have striking tufts of hair on their noses and long silky tails 🙉🩷🤎 They are vulnerable in #Amazonia #Brazil from #soy #meat #palmoil #deforestation. Use your wallet and protect them! Be #vegan 🍉🍎 #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/02/19/white-nosed-saki-chiropotes-albinasus/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterWhite Nosed Sakis have a range throughout the south-east and south-central regions of the Amazon Rainforest which extends into the country of Brazil. Their range overlaps with the Uta Hicks bearded saki throughout the southern Amazon which means that they compete for food with this other species, leading to a lack of food availability. They have also been recorded in the area south-west of the Dos Marmelos river in Brazil.
Appearance & Behaviour
Distinctive White Nosed-Sakis have tufts of long hair on their heads and beards, along with a long silky tail. Despite their namesake, they don’t have a white nose. All over they have black silky fur and a reddish pink nose. Females and males look similar, although females have a shorter and thinner tufts and beards.
Young White-Nosed Sakis use their tails to swing through to the jungle canopy. As adults, these tails become non-prehensile and are only used for balance. Their teeth are canine in appearance and are able to bite through the tough shells of fruits and seeds.
Males weigh around 2.5 to 3kg and females weighing slightly less than this, averaging about 2.5kg. They range between 35-45 cm in body length. Their sleek bodies and long tails for balance and support make them agile and fast moving climbers and leapers in the Amazonian jungle.
White-Nosed Sakis are most active and socialise throughout the day. Groups of around 20-30 individuals congregate together for sleeping and food gathering but then separate for other activities.
They generally communicate using sound and have higher pitched alarm calls during times of getting each others attention to warn of danger. Lower pitched sounds are reserved for more relaxed periods of eating and socialising. They have been recorded to wag their tails as ways of communication. Other methods of communication remain under-investigated.
Threats
The main threats identified for the White Nosed Saki are deforestation, forest fragmentation through logging, cattle ranching, agriculture, rural settlements, subsistence hunting, improvement of road infrastructure and the construction of hydroelectric dams.
IUCN RED LIST
Threats include:
- Environmental destruction and deforestation for agriculture: beef, soy and palm oil.
- Infrustructure development including hydroelectric dams and gold mining.
- Human persecution and hunting. Their tails are used for cleaning dusters.
It is estimated that up to 30% of their range is threatened from agriculture.
Habitat
The White-Nosed Saki competes with other Chiropotes #monkeys over dwindling food sources. These elusive primates prefer to live in forests with little or no human disturbance and are able to organise in groups to forage for food. They are relatively flexible in terms of habitat preference, which will depend upon food availability. They prefer to live in the shaded comfort of upper forest canopies which provide shade, nutrients and protection from predators. This is where they are most observed spending their daily lives.
Diet
These monkeys are not fussy and have been known to consume 100’s of different plants in Brazilian Amazonia. In general, they are foraging frugivores and their diet consists of seeds, fruit, bark, insects, leaves and flowers. The majority of their diet consists of seeds and fruit, with insects being eaten around 10% of the time. Fruit is preferred in its unripened and immature state as a major source of protein and fibre.
Mating and breeding
The mating and reproduction of the White Nosed Saki is an under-researched area. Observations show them to be seasonal breeders who give birth during spring and autumn. The gestation period has been studied and occurs over a period of five months. Studies indicate that only one infant is born each year to a mother, this is followed by a period of close maternal care and observation. More research is needed to reveal more detail.
Support White Nosed Sakis by going vegan and boycotting palm oil in the supermarket, it’s the #Boycott4Wildlife
Support the conservation of this species
This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.
Further Information
Pinto, L.P., Buss, G., Veiga, L.M., de Melo, F.R., Mittermeier, R.A., Boubli, J.P. & Wallace, R.B. 2021. Chiropotes albinasus (amended version of 2020 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: e.T4685A191702783. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T4685A191702783.en. Accessed on 31 October 2022.
White Nosed Saki, Animalia.bio
Spectacled bear sticking out his tongue by Natalia So for Getty ImagesHow can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 1,391 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your supportDid you enjoy visiting this website?
Palm Oil Detectives is 100% self-funded
Palm Oil Detectives is completely self-funded by its creator. All hosting and website fees and investigations into brands are self-funded by the creator of this online movement. If you like what I am doing, you and would like me to help meet costs, please send Palm Oil Detectives a thanks on Ko-Fi.
Say thanks on Ko-Fi#Amazonia #animals #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #Brazil #dams #deforestation #ForgottenAnimals #goldMining #goldmining #hunting #infrastructure #Mammal #meat #mining #monkey #monkeys #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #poaching #primates #roads #SeedDispersers #seeddispersal #SouthAmericaSpeciesEndangeredByPalmOilDeforestation #soy #vegan #VulnerableSpecies #WhiteNosedSakiChiropotesAlbinasus
-
White-Nosed Saki Chiropotes albinasus
White-Nosed Saki Chiropotes albinasus
Red List status: Vulnerable
Locations: Brazil
Curious, social and beautiful White-Nosed Sakis are striking and unusual looking #primates. This vulnerable primate is instantly recognisable by their long, silky black fur, reddish-pink noses, and distinctive hair tufts crowning their heads. The white-Nosed Saki’s range spans the shaded forests south-west of the Dos Marmelos river, where they are vulnerable from human-related threats including #palmoil, #soy and #meat #deforestation, #goldmining and human persecution. They deserve us to fight for their survival. Help them every time you shop and be #Vegan #BoycottPalmOil and #Boycott4Wildlife
Curious, social and beautiful White-Nosed Sakis 🐒🐵🙈 are vulnerable #monkeys in #Brazil 🇧🇷 from #soy #meat #palmoil 🌴🩸 #deforestation and #mining 🚜🔥 Protect them every time you shop, be #vegan #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/02/19/white-nosed-saki-chiropotes-albinasus/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterWhite-Nosed Sakis have striking tufts of hair on their noses and long silky tails 🙉🩷🤎 They are vulnerable in #Amazonia #Brazil from #soy #meat #palmoil #deforestation. Use your wallet and protect them! Be #vegan 🍉🍎 #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/02/19/white-nosed-saki-chiropotes-albinasus/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterWhite Nosed Sakis have a range throughout the south-east and south-central regions of the Amazon Rainforest which extends into the country of Brazil. Their range overlaps with the Uta Hicks bearded saki throughout the southern Amazon which means that they compete for food with this other species, leading to a lack of food availability. They have also been recorded in the area south-west of the Dos Marmelos river in Brazil.
Appearance & Behaviour
Distinctive White Nosed-Sakis have tufts of long hair on their heads and beards, along with a long silky tail. Despite their namesake, they don’t have a white nose. All over they have black silky fur and a reddish pink nose. Females and males look similar, although females have a shorter and thinner tufts and beards.
Young White-Nosed Sakis use their tails to swing through to the jungle canopy. As adults, these tails become non-prehensile and are only used for balance. Their teeth are canine in appearance and are able to bite through the tough shells of fruits and seeds.
Males weigh around 2.5 to 3kg and females weighing slightly less than this, averaging about 2.5kg. They range between 35-45 cm in body length. Their sleek bodies and long tails for balance and support make them agile and fast moving climbers and leapers in the Amazonian jungle.
White-Nosed Sakis are most active and socialise throughout the day. Groups of around 20-30 individuals congregate together for sleeping and food gathering but then separate for other activities.
They generally communicate using sound and have higher pitched alarm calls during times of getting each others attention to warn of danger. Lower pitched sounds are reserved for more relaxed periods of eating and socialising. They have been recorded to wag their tails as ways of communication. Other methods of communication remain under-investigated.
Threats
The main threats identified for the White Nosed Saki are deforestation, forest fragmentation through logging, cattle ranching, agriculture, rural settlements, subsistence hunting, improvement of road infrastructure and the construction of hydroelectric dams.
IUCN RED LIST
Threats include:
- Environmental destruction and deforestation for agriculture: beef, soy and palm oil.
- Infrustructure development including hydroelectric dams and gold mining.
- Human persecution and hunting. Their tails are used for cleaning dusters.
It is estimated that up to 30% of their range is threatened from agriculture.
Habitat
The White-Nosed Saki competes with other Chiropotes #monkeys over dwindling food sources. These elusive primates prefer to live in forests with little or no human disturbance and are able to organise in groups to forage for food. They are relatively flexible in terms of habitat preference, which will depend upon food availability. They prefer to live in the shaded comfort of upper forest canopies which provide shade, nutrients and protection from predators. This is where they are most observed spending their daily lives.
Diet
These monkeys are not fussy and have been known to consume 100’s of different plants in Brazilian Amazonia. In general, they are foraging frugivores and their diet consists of seeds, fruit, bark, insects, leaves and flowers. The majority of their diet consists of seeds and fruit, with insects being eaten around 10% of the time. Fruit is preferred in its unripened and immature state as a major source of protein and fibre.
Mating and breeding
The mating and reproduction of the White Nosed Saki is an under-researched area. Observations show them to be seasonal breeders who give birth during spring and autumn. The gestation period has been studied and occurs over a period of five months. Studies indicate that only one infant is born each year to a mother, this is followed by a period of close maternal care and observation. More research is needed to reveal more detail.
Support White Nosed Sakis by going vegan and boycotting palm oil in the supermarket, it’s the #Boycott4Wildlife
Support the conservation of this species
This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.
Further Information
Pinto, L.P., Buss, G., Veiga, L.M., de Melo, F.R., Mittermeier, R.A., Boubli, J.P. & Wallace, R.B. 2021. Chiropotes albinasus (amended version of 2020 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: e.T4685A191702783. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T4685A191702783.en. Accessed on 31 October 2022.
White Nosed Saki, Animalia.bio
Spectacled bear sticking out his tongue by Natalia So for Getty ImagesHow can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 1,391 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your supportDid you enjoy visiting this website?
Palm Oil Detectives is 100% self-funded
Palm Oil Detectives is completely self-funded by its creator. All hosting and website fees and investigations into brands are self-funded by the creator of this online movement. If you like what I am doing, you and would like me to help meet costs, please send Palm Oil Detectives a thanks on Ko-Fi.
Say thanks on Ko-Fi#Amazonia #animals #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #Brazil #dams #deforestation #ForgottenAnimals #goldMining #goldmining #hunting #infrastructure #Mammal #meat #mining #monkey #monkeys #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #poaching #primates #roads #SeedDispersers #seeddispersal #SouthAmericaSpeciesEndangeredByPalmOilDeforestation #soy #vegan #VulnerableSpecies #WhiteNosedSakiChiropotesAlbinasus
-
White-Nosed Saki Chiropotes albinasus
White-Nosed Saki Chiropotes albinasus
Red List status: Vulnerable
Locations: Brazil
Curious, social and beautiful White-Nosed Sakis are striking and unusual looking #primates. This vulnerable primate is instantly recognisable by their long, silky black fur, reddish-pink noses, and distinctive hair tufts crowning their heads. The white-Nosed Saki’s range spans the shaded forests south-west of the Dos Marmelos river, where they are vulnerable from human-related threats including #palmoil, #soy and #meat #deforestation, #goldmining and human persecution. They deserve us to fight for their survival. Help them every time you shop and be #Vegan #BoycottPalmOil and #Boycott4Wildlife
Curious, social and beautiful White-Nosed Sakis 🐒🐵🙈 are vulnerable #monkeys in #Brazil 🇧🇷 from #soy #meat #palmoil 🌴🩸 #deforestation and #mining 🚜🔥 Protect them every time you shop, be #vegan #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/02/19/white-nosed-saki-chiropotes-albinasus/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterWhite-Nosed Sakis have striking tufts of hair on their noses and long silky tails 🙉🩷🤎 They are vulnerable in #Amazonia #Brazil from #soy #meat #palmoil #deforestation. Use your wallet and protect them! Be #vegan 🍉🍎 #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/02/19/white-nosed-saki-chiropotes-albinasus/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterWhite Nosed Sakis have a range throughout the south-east and south-central regions of the Amazon Rainforest which extends into the country of Brazil. Their range overlaps with the Uta Hicks bearded saki throughout the southern Amazon which means that they compete for food with this other species, leading to a lack of food availability. They have also been recorded in the area south-west of the Dos Marmelos river in Brazil.
Appearance & Behaviour
Distinctive White Nosed-Sakis have tufts of long hair on their heads and beards, along with a long silky tail. Despite their namesake, they don’t have a white nose. All over they have black silky fur and a reddish pink nose. Females and males look similar, although females have a shorter and thinner tufts and beards.
Young White-Nosed Sakis use their tails to swing through to the jungle canopy. As adults, these tails become non-prehensile and are only used for balance. Their teeth are canine in appearance and are able to bite through the tough shells of fruits and seeds.
Males weigh around 2.5 to 3kg and females weighing slightly less than this, averaging about 2.5kg. They range between 35-45 cm in body length. Their sleek bodies and long tails for balance and support make them agile and fast moving climbers and leapers in the Amazonian jungle.
White-Nosed Sakis are most active and socialise throughout the day. Groups of around 20-30 individuals congregate together for sleeping and food gathering but then separate for other activities.
They generally communicate using sound and have higher pitched alarm calls during times of getting each others attention to warn of danger. Lower pitched sounds are reserved for more relaxed periods of eating and socialising. They have been recorded to wag their tails as ways of communication. Other methods of communication remain under-investigated.
Threats
The main threats identified for the White Nosed Saki are deforestation, forest fragmentation through logging, cattle ranching, agriculture, rural settlements, subsistence hunting, improvement of road infrastructure and the construction of hydroelectric dams.
IUCN RED LIST
Threats include:
- Environmental destruction and deforestation for agriculture: beef, soy and palm oil.
- Infrustructure development including hydroelectric dams and gold mining.
- Human persecution and hunting. Their tails are used for cleaning dusters.
It is estimated that up to 30% of their range is threatened from agriculture.
Habitat
The White-Nosed Saki competes with other Chiropotes #monkeys over dwindling food sources. These elusive primates prefer to live in forests with little or no human disturbance and are able to organise in groups to forage for food. They are relatively flexible in terms of habitat preference, which will depend upon food availability. They prefer to live in the shaded comfort of upper forest canopies which provide shade, nutrients and protection from predators. This is where they are most observed spending their daily lives.
Diet
These monkeys are not fussy and have been known to consume 100’s of different plants in Brazilian Amazonia. In general, they are foraging frugivores and their diet consists of seeds, fruit, bark, insects, leaves and flowers. The majority of their diet consists of seeds and fruit, with insects being eaten around 10% of the time. Fruit is preferred in its unripened and immature state as a major source of protein and fibre.
Mating and breeding
The mating and reproduction of the White Nosed Saki is an under-researched area. Observations show them to be seasonal breeders who give birth during spring and autumn. The gestation period has been studied and occurs over a period of five months. Studies indicate that only one infant is born each year to a mother, this is followed by a period of close maternal care and observation. More research is needed to reveal more detail.
Support White Nosed Sakis by going vegan and boycotting palm oil in the supermarket, it’s the #Boycott4Wildlife
Support the conservation of this species
This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.
Further Information
Pinto, L.P., Buss, G., Veiga, L.M., de Melo, F.R., Mittermeier, R.A., Boubli, J.P. & Wallace, R.B. 2021. Chiropotes albinasus (amended version of 2020 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: e.T4685A191702783. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T4685A191702783.en. Accessed on 31 October 2022.
White Nosed Saki, Animalia.bio
Spectacled bear sticking out his tongue by Natalia So for Getty ImagesHow can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 1,391 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your supportDid you enjoy visiting this website?
Palm Oil Detectives is 100% self-funded
Palm Oil Detectives is completely self-funded by its creator. All hosting and website fees and investigations into brands are self-funded by the creator of this online movement. If you like what I am doing, you and would like me to help meet costs, please send Palm Oil Detectives a thanks on Ko-Fi.
Say thanks on Ko-Fi#Amazonia #animals #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #Brazil #dams #deforestation #ForgottenAnimals #goldMining #goldmining #hunting #infrastructure #Mammal #meat #mining #monkey #monkeys #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #poaching #primates #roads #SeedDispersers #seeddispersal #SouthAmericaSpeciesEndangeredByPalmOilDeforestation #soy #vegan #VulnerableSpecies #WhiteNosedSakiChiropotesAlbinasus
-
White-Nosed Saki Chiropotes albinasus
White-Nosed Saki Chiropotes albinasus
Red List status: Vulnerable
Locations: Brazil
Curious, social and beautiful White-Nosed Sakis are striking and unusual looking #primates. This vulnerable primate is instantly recognisable by their long, silky black fur, reddish-pink noses, and distinctive hair tufts crowning their heads. The white-Nosed Saki’s range spans the shaded forests south-west of the Dos Marmelos river, where they are vulnerable from human-related threats including #palmoil, #soy and #meat #deforestation, #goldmining and human persecution. They deserve us to fight for their survival. Help them every time you shop and be #Vegan #BoycottPalmOil and #Boycott4Wildlife
Curious, social and beautiful White-Nosed Sakis 🐒🐵🙈 are vulnerable #monkeys in #Brazil 🇧🇷 from #soy #meat #palmoil 🌴🩸 #deforestation and #mining 🚜🔥 Protect them every time you shop, be #vegan #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/02/19/white-nosed-saki-chiropotes-albinasus/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterWhite-Nosed Sakis have striking tufts of hair on their noses and long silky tails 🙉🩷🤎 They are vulnerable in #Amazonia #Brazil from #soy #meat #palmoil #deforestation. Use your wallet and protect them! Be #vegan 🍉🍎 #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/02/19/white-nosed-saki-chiropotes-albinasus/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterWhite Nosed Sakis have a range throughout the south-east and south-central regions of the Amazon Rainforest which extends into the country of Brazil. Their range overlaps with the Uta Hicks bearded saki throughout the southern Amazon which means that they compete for food with this other species, leading to a lack of food availability. They have also been recorded in the area south-west of the Dos Marmelos river in Brazil.
Appearance & Behaviour
Distinctive White Nosed-Sakis have tufts of long hair on their heads and beards, along with a long silky tail. Despite their namesake, they don’t have a white nose. All over they have black silky fur and a reddish pink nose. Females and males look similar, although females have a shorter and thinner tufts and beards.
Young White-Nosed Sakis use their tails to swing through to the jungle canopy. As adults, these tails become non-prehensile and are only used for balance. Their teeth are canine in appearance and are able to bite through the tough shells of fruits and seeds.
Males weigh around 2.5 to 3kg and females weighing slightly less than this, averaging about 2.5kg. They range between 35-45 cm in body length. Their sleek bodies and long tails for balance and support make them agile and fast moving climbers and leapers in the Amazonian jungle.
White-Nosed Sakis are most active and socialise throughout the day. Groups of around 20-30 individuals congregate together for sleeping and food gathering but then separate for other activities.
They generally communicate using sound and have higher pitched alarm calls during times of getting each others attention to warn of danger. Lower pitched sounds are reserved for more relaxed periods of eating and socialising. They have been recorded to wag their tails as ways of communication. Other methods of communication remain under-investigated.
Threats
The main threats identified for the White Nosed Saki are deforestation, forest fragmentation through logging, cattle ranching, agriculture, rural settlements, subsistence hunting, improvement of road infrastructure and the construction of hydroelectric dams.
IUCN RED LIST
Threats include:
- Environmental destruction and deforestation for agriculture: beef, soy and palm oil.
- Infrustructure development including hydroelectric dams and gold mining.
- Human persecution and hunting. Their tails are used for cleaning dusters.
It is estimated that up to 30% of their range is threatened from agriculture.
Habitat
The White-Nosed Saki competes with other Chiropotes #monkeys over dwindling food sources. These elusive primates prefer to live in forests with little or no human disturbance and are able to organise in groups to forage for food. They are relatively flexible in terms of habitat preference, which will depend upon food availability. They prefer to live in the shaded comfort of upper forest canopies which provide shade, nutrients and protection from predators. This is where they are most observed spending their daily lives.
Diet
These monkeys are not fussy and have been known to consume 100’s of different plants in Brazilian Amazonia. In general, they are foraging frugivores and their diet consists of seeds, fruit, bark, insects, leaves and flowers. The majority of their diet consists of seeds and fruit, with insects being eaten around 10% of the time. Fruit is preferred in its unripened and immature state as a major source of protein and fibre.
Mating and breeding
The mating and reproduction of the White Nosed Saki is an under-researched area. Observations show them to be seasonal breeders who give birth during spring and autumn. The gestation period has been studied and occurs over a period of five months. Studies indicate that only one infant is born each year to a mother, this is followed by a period of close maternal care and observation. More research is needed to reveal more detail.
Support White Nosed Sakis by going vegan and boycotting palm oil in the supermarket, it’s the #Boycott4Wildlife
Support the conservation of this species
This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.
Further Information
Pinto, L.P., Buss, G., Veiga, L.M., de Melo, F.R., Mittermeier, R.A., Boubli, J.P. & Wallace, R.B. 2021. Chiropotes albinasus (amended version of 2020 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: e.T4685A191702783. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T4685A191702783.en. Accessed on 31 October 2022.
White Nosed Saki, Animalia.bio
Spectacled bear sticking out his tongue by Natalia So for Getty ImagesHow can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 1,391 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your supportDid you enjoy visiting this website?
Palm Oil Detectives is 100% self-funded
Palm Oil Detectives is completely self-funded by its creator. All hosting and website fees and investigations into brands are self-funded by the creator of this online movement. If you like what I am doing, you and would like me to help meet costs, please send Palm Oil Detectives a thanks on Ko-Fi.
Say thanks on Ko-Fi#Amazonia #animals #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #Brazil #dams #deforestation #ForgottenAnimals #goldMining #goldmining #hunting #infrastructure #Mammal #meat #mining #monkey #monkeys #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #poaching #primates #roads #SeedDispersers #seeddispersal #SouthAmericaSpeciesEndangeredByPalmOilDeforestation #soy #vegan #VulnerableSpecies #WhiteNosedSakiChiropotesAlbinasus
-
White-Nosed Saki Chiropotes albinasus
White-Nosed Saki Chiropotes albinasus
Red List status: Vulnerable
Locations: Brazil
Curious, social and beautiful White-Nosed Sakis are striking and unusual looking #primates. This vulnerable primate is instantly recognisable by their long, silky black fur, reddish-pink noses, and distinctive hair tufts crowning their heads. The white-Nosed Saki’s range spans the shaded forests south-west of the Dos Marmelos river, where they are vulnerable from human-related threats including #palmoil, #soy and #meat #deforestation, #goldmining and human persecution. They deserve us to fight for their survival. Help them every time you shop and be #Vegan #BoycottPalmOil and #Boycott4Wildlife
Curious, social and beautiful White-Nosed Sakis 🐒🐵🙈 are vulnerable #monkeys in #Brazil 🇧🇷 from #soy #meat #palmoil 🌴🩸 #deforestation and #mining 🚜🔥 Protect them every time you shop, be #vegan #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/02/19/white-nosed-saki-chiropotes-albinasus/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterWhite-Nosed Sakis have striking tufts of hair on their noses and long silky tails 🙉🩷🤎 They are vulnerable in #Amazonia #Brazil from #soy #meat #palmoil #deforestation. Use your wallet and protect them! Be #vegan 🍉🍎 #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/02/19/white-nosed-saki-chiropotes-albinasus/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterWhite Nosed Sakis have a range throughout the south-east and south-central regions of the Amazon Rainforest which extends into the country of Brazil. Their range overlaps with the Uta Hicks bearded saki throughout the southern Amazon which means that they compete for food with this other species, leading to a lack of food availability. They have also been recorded in the area south-west of the Dos Marmelos river in Brazil.
Appearance & Behaviour
Distinctive White Nosed-Sakis have tufts of long hair on their heads and beards, along with a long silky tail. Despite their namesake, they don’t have a white nose. All over they have black silky fur and a reddish pink nose. Females and males look similar, although females have a shorter and thinner tufts and beards.
Young White-Nosed Sakis use their tails to swing through to the jungle canopy. As adults, these tails become non-prehensile and are only used for balance. Their teeth are canine in appearance and are able to bite through the tough shells of fruits and seeds.
Males weigh around 2.5 to 3kg and females weighing slightly less than this, averaging about 2.5kg. They range between 35-45 cm in body length. Their sleek bodies and long tails for balance and support make them agile and fast moving climbers and leapers in the Amazonian jungle.
White-Nosed Sakis are most active and socialise throughout the day. Groups of around 20-30 individuals congregate together for sleeping and food gathering but then separate for other activities.
They generally communicate using sound and have higher pitched alarm calls during times of getting each others attention to warn of danger. Lower pitched sounds are reserved for more relaxed periods of eating and socialising. They have been recorded to wag their tails as ways of communication. Other methods of communication remain under-investigated.
Threats
The main threats identified for the White Nosed Saki are deforestation, forest fragmentation through logging, cattle ranching, agriculture, rural settlements, subsistence hunting, improvement of road infrastructure and the construction of hydroelectric dams.
IUCN RED LIST
Threats include:
- Environmental destruction and deforestation for agriculture: beef, soy and palm oil.
- Infrustructure development including hydroelectric dams and gold mining.
- Human persecution and hunting. Their tails are used for cleaning dusters.
It is estimated that up to 30% of their range is threatened from agriculture.
Habitat
The White-Nosed Saki competes with other Chiropotes #monkeys over dwindling food sources. These elusive primates prefer to live in forests with little or no human disturbance and are able to organise in groups to forage for food. They are relatively flexible in terms of habitat preference, which will depend upon food availability. They prefer to live in the shaded comfort of upper forest canopies which provide shade, nutrients and protection from predators. This is where they are most observed spending their daily lives.
Diet
These monkeys are not fussy and have been known to consume 100’s of different plants in Brazilian Amazonia. In general, they are foraging frugivores and their diet consists of seeds, fruit, bark, insects, leaves and flowers. The majority of their diet consists of seeds and fruit, with insects being eaten around 10% of the time. Fruit is preferred in its unripened and immature state as a major source of protein and fibre.
Mating and breeding
The mating and reproduction of the White Nosed Saki is an under-researched area. Observations show them to be seasonal breeders who give birth during spring and autumn. The gestation period has been studied and occurs over a period of five months. Studies indicate that only one infant is born each year to a mother, this is followed by a period of close maternal care and observation. More research is needed to reveal more detail.
Support White Nosed Sakis by going vegan and boycotting palm oil in the supermarket, it’s the #Boycott4Wildlife
Support the conservation of this species
This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.
Further Information
Pinto, L.P., Buss, G., Veiga, L.M., de Melo, F.R., Mittermeier, R.A., Boubli, J.P. & Wallace, R.B. 2021. Chiropotes albinasus (amended version of 2020 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: e.T4685A191702783. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T4685A191702783.en. Accessed on 31 October 2022.
White Nosed Saki, Animalia.bio
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Say thanks on Ko-Fi#Amazonia #animals #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #Brazil #dams #deforestation #ForgottenAnimals #goldMining #goldmining #hunting #infrastructure #Mammal #meat #mining #monkey #monkeys #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #poaching #primates #roads #SeedDispersers #seeddispersal #SouthAmericaSpeciesEndangeredByPalmOilDeforestation #soy #vegan #VulnerableSpecies #WhiteNosedSakiChiropotesAlbinasus
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Yes, must of those naive n00bs entering Fediverse space are dystopian censorship advocates... Because they're a bunch of fucking pussies.
They leave a dark world (Twatter) because they're cockroaches and the new ownership has turned the lights on - so they scatter, clamoring for the dark corners of the kitchen.
What they don't realize, however, is that by creating a Fediverse account, they've actually ventured into the direct sunlight... Where they may very well melt like Kirsten Dunst did in, "Interview with the Vampire".
Here's an excerpt from an earlier post here yesterday that I made, and I must say that I'm really enjoying watching those little bolshevik wokesters cancelling themselves into the corner as fast as they can... The culture shock they're suffering is truly entertaining:
<SNIP>
I just spent a good hour or so at mastodon .social and mentioned to a couple of folks about how they can leverage search capabilities in building up their own network of interests and friends using #hashtags, and searching on keywords; adding that Mastodon itself isn't really all that good at it, compared to some other platforms (like #Quanta, but I mention it that way by name).
Oh it was a bit sickening, actually. A bunch of people leaving #introductions saying they've arrived as refugees on that boat.... What's it called?
Oh yeah, #hashtag twittermigration. I find it grossly ironic, actually. Nothing against those folks, many of them #dumbfucks, oblivious to the fact that they've not "migrated to", but instead "fled from" a place that has decided (under the new management) to be a more free and #censorship resistant space, to a place that has always been a #radically_free and #censorship_resistant place (much moreso than the place they've just fled, and because the new management decided to make it a free speech and censorship resistant place).
Ummm... "Oh the horror" (Brando - Apocalypse Now).
"smh" (Me -Right Now).
Here's the rub. Matt Damon's aside (he actually did leave America), most of those chattel have already been *systemically* subjugated, and still are. Many may indeed remain in the #Fediverse, but the majority, regardless of what they say now, will be back on #Twatter again real soon.
They've missed the entire freaking point lolz. It's about #freedom (as in beer), and #FOSS (not thongs - there's no "L" there), and the ownership and privacy of their most personal and sensitive particular data.
They've arrived, mostly, for fundamentally the wrong reasons....
If they thought they were leaving some sort of hostile snakepit for the refuge of a koombaiyah bolshevik wokesville, well then, they couldn't be more mistaken.
They've jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire.
Well at least they're no longer being cooked up in a skillet to be served as Soylent Green for dinner, they're just being cremated on the flames - but their freedom and privacy (unimportant to them) is, at least, being respected. So that's good, but a huge number of those sissy bitches don't even know why.
Regardless, it's good to see people coming over. I wish them well, and a thick skin to wear - there's Buffalo Bob's out here after all.
Is #Matt_Damon still living in New Zealand or did he come back with his tail between his legs when #Sippy_Cup #Joe_Brandon ascended to #Communist in Chief?
"It puts the lotion on its skin!"
- Buffalo Bob
⛵
.
</SNIP> -
The thread about the East Foul Burn; profiting from sewage in the 18th century
This thread is part one of a series; the link to the next part can be found at the bottom.
We begin our story with the wonderfully verbose cover of a Victorian pamphlet;
FOUL BURN AGITATION!
STATEMENT
Explaining
NATURE AND HISTORY OF THE AGRICULTURAL IRRIGATION NEAR EDINBURGH;
Containing
A REFUTATION OF THE UNFOUNDED AND CALUMNIOUS MISREPRESENTATIONS ON THAT SUBJECT,
In
A PAMPHLET PUBLISHED IN THE NAME OF A COMMITTEE OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF POLICE, IN WHICH THE ANCIENT AND BEAUTIFUL CAPITAL OF SCOTLAND IS FALSELY DESCRIBED AS A RESIDENCE UNSAFE TO THE HEALTH OF ITS INHABITANTS!I say pamphlet, the thing is actually 166 pages long and I spent quite some time reading it (skimming much of it) so that you don’t have to. It is Victorian local politics at its best and wors, and much of it is indeed pure agitation. But it was worth ploughing my way through it as it happens to contain a complete and detailed description of Edinburgh’s largely forgotten East Foul Burn and the Irrigated Meadow systems of Craigentinny and Restalrig, their history and their method of operation.
Anyway, what is this East Foul Burn of which I speak? Well it’s the principal watercourse that in olden times drained most of the Old Town, the Nor’ Loch and the small suburbs south of the city into the sea; rainfall, sewage and all. We can see it on the below map of 1750 by William Roy. It is the stream which flows from bottom left to top right – the stream originating in Lochend Loch in the centre left is the tail burn of that body of water.
The East Foul Burn’s natural route to the sea via Restalrig and Fillyside (North Mains of Craigentinny). William Roy’s Lowland Map of c. 1750. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandIf you examine a old map of the Old Town and consider the topography, it’s obvious that gravity will carry anything liquid downhill. John Slezer’s remarkably accurate 17th century sketches of the city help us to visualise this from a contemporary point of view; any waste discharged on the north side of the ridge on which the Old Town of the city was built is obviously going to drain itself into the Nor’ Loch.
Prospect of the Castle and City of Edinburgh from the Nor’ Loch. John Slezer, 1673, arrows indicate the steep northern slopes of the “tail” of the crag and tail geological formation on which Edinburgh’s Old Town sitsThat loch could only drain eastwards, in the direction of the sea. James Gordon of Rothiemay’s remarkable 1647 bird’s eye view of Edinburgh shows it clearly. After irrigating the pleasant-looking Physic Garden by the Trinity College Kirk, it ran off down the North Back of Canongate (what we now call Calton Road) where it was joined by any runoff from the community nestled below the crags of the Calton Hill and from the streets and closes of the north side of the Canongate itself. The stream (in reality an open sewer) passes a number of round structures; these were wells and water cistern – one of the reasons so many breweries would congregate here. 100 years later, Edgar’s map of 1765 still shows that this open sewer still ran here.
Bird’s Eye View of Edinburgh, James Gordon of Rothiemay, 1647. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandStuart Harris, the late local historian and custodian of Edinburgh place names, refers to the wells here as being along the Tummel Burn (and you will also see it given as Tumble) which is an alternative name for the East Foul Burn, this refers to the water flow, although one imagines it wasn’t so much a pleasant babbling brook as a bubbling cauldron of filth.
The burn worked its way down the North Back of Canongate to the Wateryett (a Scots placename meaning water gate; the word for a gate was commonly port but can occasionally be yett; the word gate or gait meant a roadway e.g. Canongate). The water part of the name refereed as much to this being the route into the Canongate for drinking water from the wells as it was from being alongside a watercourse. The yett part refers to the area at the foot of the Canongate where there was a physical gateway; not a defensive structure, but a civic boundary and customs barrier. This is confirmed by a reference from a title deed in 1635 which describes the Foul Burn as being in a gutter known as the Strand. This latter term is an old Scots word for “an artificial water-channel or gutter, a street gutter” – the Abbey Strand is the name of the old building that stands to this day at the foot of the Canongate, just before you enter the grounds of the Holyroodhouse.
The Wateryett in 1818, a drawing by James Skene. By this time the physical gate had been replaced by a symbolic one for the toll house. © Edinburgh City LibrariesAfter the Water Yett, Edgar’s 1765 map shows that the burn ran in a culvert here, but we can infer its route. This map is the extent of 18th century town plans so to follow the burn we move onto an 1804 plan by John Ainslie to pick up the trail once more. It re-surfaces around Croftangry (corrupted in modern times to the Gaelic-sounding Croft-an-Righ) before disappearing underground again in the property of the Lord Chief Baron (Sir James Montgomery, 1st Baronet Stanhope) only to re-appearing on the property boundary between him and Mr Clerk. Comley Gardens and Clock Mill on Ainslie’s map are old placenames here still recalled by modern street names. The burn here now contains almost the entirety of the effluent of the city of Edinburgh, the Canongate, the burgh of Calton and the village of Abbeyhill.
Ainslie’s Town Plan of 1804, Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland. Orange lines show the course of the Foul Burn eastThe Comely Gardens referred to on the map above were a Tivoli Garden, a sort of Georgian amusement park where – for a fee – one could stroll the gardens and admire the roses, could take tea or coffee or fruits and entertainment such as dances and musicians may be laid on. Comely Gardens is to be forever remembered as the starting point of the Great Edinburgh Fire Balloon, the first manned aerial flight in the British Isles. In August 1784, James Tytler rode a Montgolfier-style balloon all the way to a crash-landing in Restalrig and his name is recalled in a couple of the modern street names in this area. But back to the matter in hand, following the burn east we have reached the Clock Mill, an old house named for a mill that was driven by the burn. The name came from Clokisrwne Mylne or Clocksorrow; clock is a corruption of the Scots clack, being a specific type of mill, an onomatopoeia based on the noise its mechanism made. Sorrow refers to some form of hollow in various old tongues.
Clockmill House in 1780, from Old & New Edinburgh by James Grant. Notice the naval telegraph mast on top of Calton HillIn the vicinity of Clock Mill, two further open sewers joined the burn, adding yet more effluent. The came from the Pleasance (and by extension much of the Southside) and from the Cowgate to its payload. Both of these first drained into a myre just south of Holyroodhouse, marked on Kincaid’s map of 1784 as Common Sewer Kept Stagnate for Manure, i.e. the sewage solids would settle out of the slow moving water and could be collected to fertilise the city’s gardens and orchards. There was good money to be made in such “soil” or “dung”. Before the advent of early industrial fertilisers or the Kelp Boom it was one of the few copious and economical sources of fertiliser for fields and was much in demand – all you had to do was collect it (or pay someone to do this)!
Kincaid’s Map of 1784, showing the “Common Serwer Kept Stagnate for Manure”. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandAfter Clockmill House, which was demolished in 1859 to landscape its grounds as a military parade ground, the burn passed beneath the main road east out of the city (the London Road would not be built until 1819). The bridge here was known as the Clockmill Bridge. It is the presence of the burn that explains why significant culverts were built here under both the North British Railway and the London Road when each was constructed. Robert “Lighthouse” Stevenson, the engineer of the London Road, produced beautiful drawings for the culvert here under his road;
Stevenson’s drawings for the London Road culvert. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland (MS.5849, No.54 – 57)By the time the burn passed under this culvert, it was carrying the daily sewage of about 60-80,000 people, not to mention their animals. The Foul Burn Agitation! pamphlet describes it as “a rapid and copious stream… to which [is] added the impure waters that proceed from the houses, streets and lanes of the city“. From there, the effluent of the city should have been a relatively straightforward journey down the broad, shallow natural valley in which Restalrig sits to the sea, at Fillyside (roughly where the Matalan store now is).
The East Foul Burn at Restalrig village, flowing along the foreground and passing under the road in a culvert. From an old post card, early 20th century.However it could not take this natural procession to the sea as its process was interrupted; it was industriously turned over into a series of irrigated meadows, “irrigated by the waters from the City” at Restalrig, Craigentinny and Fillyside.
Kirkwood’s Plan of 1817 showing the irrigated meadows along the Foul Burn. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandIn the irrigated meadows, the Foul Burn was intersected by “principal feeders“, ditches cut along the topographic gradient. Water could be admitted to the feeders by means of sluices or damming the outflow. These feeders in turn fed further side-ditches into individual plots. The plots would be subject to controlled flooding from April to November, the fodder growing season. For two or three days a plot would be flooded, saturating the ground with sewage which would settle. The water was then allowed to run off and the plot was given three to five weeks for the grass to grow. It could then be cropped and the process could begin again. The process of flooding and cropping plots was rotated so that there were always fields ready to crop, and there was always a good supply of sewage with which to flood it. The whole object of this exercise was to provide a steady supply of food for the city’s dairy herds – this was a time when milk could not be preserved or transported any great distance, so the cattle had to be kept in and around the immediate vicinity. The system also had dedicated settling ponds where the soil could be collected and sold off by the cartload.
Craigentinny Meadows, James Steuart, 1885. Note the sluice and ditch and the ample crops. © Edinburgh City LibrariesThe Restalrig Meadows were at the turn of the 19th century the property of the forementioned Sir James Montgomery Bt. and extended to around 30 acres. The Craigentinny and Fillyside Meadows were owned by William Henry Miller of Craigentinny and were the largest at c. 120 acres.
Craigentinny Meadows, photograph by David Sclater, 1895. On the horizon are the “Craigentinny Marbles” (tomb of William Henry Miller) and Wheatfield House on the present day Portobello Road. © Edinburgh City LibrariesThere were further such irrigated meadows at the foot of Salisbury Crags, about 14 acres – the property of the Earl of Haddington – and near Coltbridge (modern Murrayfield) to the west, some 40-50 acres owned by Russell of Roseburn. This latter ground was fed by a much smaller foul burn – the West Foul Burn – which drained the portion of the city around Tollcross, West Port and Lauriston and the west end of the Boroughloch, making its way west via Dalry to Roseburn and then into the Water of Leith.
While the soil of the city had been collected since time immemorial, it’s not clear when this industrial-scale meadow system evolved. The Foul Burn Agitation! recounts testimony of elderly farm workers of Restalrig that they had been in place since at least 1750. However a document from 1561 when the lands of Restalrig Kirk were confiscated during the Reformation records “of certain prebendaries yardis, in Restalrig and Chalmeris pertening to the saidis prebendaris, callit their Mansis and pece of suard Meadow” – the suard here referring to a piece of marshy or boggy ground. The pamphlet states the “practice existed from time immemorial of flooding the Meadow grounds by means of the Foul Burn“. So we can say with some certainty that it was an old and established practice, and indeed the courts agreed with this when Alexander Duncan WS of Restalrig House tried to sue his neighbouring sewage barons, Miller and Montgomery, on account of the smell from the meadows spoiling his quality of life.
Restlarig House, c. 1883Indeed the legal action ended up backfiring on Duncan because in 1833 the Burgh Police Act protected the proprietors from any act “to divert or alter any stream or watercourse, or diminish the ancient and accustomed quantity of rain or other water or soil flowing therein“, guaranteeing their right to operate the meadows and collect the profits. (Side note, this was included in a Police Act because at that time in Scotland the Police had the powers and responsibilities for cleansing the burgh, distributing water and preventing disease).
The East Foul Burn at Craigentinny, WS Reid, 1860. Looking towards Miller’s Craigentinny House. Notice the bridge across the river and that the bank is reinforced – evidence of the extensive river management. Notice that the crops on the left of the picture seem long and those on the right are short, evidence of the constant rotation of cropping in the plots. © Edinburgh City LibrariesThe other aspect of the system was the settling ponds. These are recorded as far back as 1738 when Mr Baird of Clockmill was irrigating his fields and “collecting dung“, but by the late 18th century they were beginning to be infilled and had vanished by the 1820s. These are clearly shown on Kirkwood’s 1817 town plan. Appropriately enough parts of it look like a bit like a drawing of the human digestive system! The reason for abandoning the ponds because of two problems; firstly, there was too much sandy sediment washed off the city streets into the burn, and the customers – market gardeners mainly – were loathe to pour sand onto their plots and orchards. More importantly however the sediment was found increasingly to be full of seeds. Without putrefaction (fermentation), these seeds could not be killed, and when the seed-rich manure was spread it was an instant recipe for spreading weeds.
The soil settling ponds around Restalrig and Craigentinny. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandAnd so the system concentrated around the production of grass for animal forage; a very productive and profitable system it was. 400 labourers were employed seasonally, and some 3,300 cattle in Edinburgh and 600 in Leith depended on it, mainly pen-fed dairy animals. Most dairies were small concerns, run by the occupation of a “cow feeder“, with 20-40 milk cows each.
The Holyrood Dairy, c. 1830-40. Painting by William Stewart Watson. © Edinburgh Museums & GalleriesThe meadows were estimated to turn a profit for their proprietors of £5,000 per annum (about £600,000 in 2022), with William Henry Miller estimating he made £30,000 (c. £3.4 million) over 2 years. Rents were 20-30/s per acre, or up to double that for the better pasture or during times of food scarcity. Preparing a meadow cost £20-25 per acre and was a sound investment. Miller in 1821 spent £1,000 turning over 40 acres of “sandy wasteland” – the lands of Fillyside were ancient raised beaches – to meadow use. Each acre could provide up to 6 full crops per year.
A Map of Miller’s estate at Craigentinny showing the huge network of feeders and ditches that supported the Irrigated Meadow system. This map was surveyed for Miller in 1847. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandAll-in-all, this was a very productive and profitable concern, so much so that in 1834 the Police Commissioners tried to extend the burgh boundary to include the irrigated meadows and to give themselves rights over them. They spent 4,000 of the city’s pounds on the scheme, which the Foul Burn Agitation! describes as “Dung Speculation“. They were unsuccessful though as the proprietors and their one-time adversary Mr Duncan fought the Commissioners off. William Henry Miller (a former MP by this point, wealthy and influential) was quick to defend his profitable scheme. In 1843 when the North British Railway proposed running their line across his meadows, Miller had them shift it about 100 feet west so that it instead skirted around his lands. He then exchanged parcels of his land on the south of the new line with his neighbours – the Dukes of Abercorn – who had parcels trapped by the railway on the north, so each could maintain a contiguous field system. Miller also made thinds hard enough for the NBR that they never built their proposed shorter branch to Leith across his land.
The survey of Miller’s lands in 1847 show the main and sub-feeders, and the direction of flow of the water of the Foul Burn through them. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandBut the whole system had a number of problems facing it. Firstly, the woeful sanitation of the Old Town needed resolving – it was recognised by now that waste needed to be piped under the ground, not just run in an open sewer for the benefit of a couple of wealthy landowners. And secondly, in 1817 the Edinburgh & Leith Gas Light Company began building a gas works at New Street, crowned by its great chimney that dominated the Canongate.
The gasworks and its chimney, with the Canongate Kirk on the left for scale.At this point, coal gas works had yet to begin extracting their by-products for industrial use, so you can guess where the gas works were dumping all the highly toxic waste chemicals. Coal tar, sulphur and ammonia as well as any other numbers and varieties of hydrocarbons went into the Foul Burn from New Street. The gas works “give forth an abundant stream, the odour of which is no doubt extremely offensive, being the most nauseous of all compounds… …This flows into a principal feeder of the old foul burn at the South Back of the Canongate“. To put it simply, the gas works was poisoning the burn. This was not the first time that the foul burns had been polluted by industry. In 1791, Russell of Roseburn attempted to use the courts to stop the Haig’s distillery at Lochrin from polluting his irrigated meadows at Coltbridge.
The proprietors of the eastern irrigated meadows managed to get fines applied to the gas works, £200 per instance of pollution and £20 per day – this seemed to have the intended effect. Or perhaps the gas works just found it more profitable to begin capturing its by products for commercial gain rather than letting them run away. Whatever the reason, the Foul Burn was “cleared up” and the eastern meadows managed to carry on; the 1888 OS 6 inch Survey shows they still occupy their main extent. In 1901, an attempt was made to bury the entirety of the burn underground as a sere, but this was unsuccessful. The scheme finally commenced in 1921 as a work programme for unemployed men; a £60,000 government grant being secured to provide employment for 400 men for six months. This “draining of the swap” opened up the lands of Lochend, Restalrig and Craigentinny for public housing schemes in the 1920s and 1930s. Some of the land of the Fillyside Meadow had already been set aside as Craigentinny Golf Couse, which had been undertaken by Leith Corporation to clear golfing off of the Links. A railway yard was later also laid adjacent, appropriately it was called the Meadows Yard.
Craigentinny Meadows, looking towards Edinburgh, 1930, in the vicinity of what is now the golf course. The dark building in the mid ground is Craigentinny House. An amazingly pastoral scene, unchanged for about 200 years, so late on. © Edinburgh City LibrariesAnd what of the East Foul Burn? Well I can tell you it’s still there but just like many of Edinburgh’s old burns it’s hiding under the ground in its culvert. Very few people who live above it probably know it’s there. We get other reminders of its presence from local place names; the area name Meadowbank? that’s lifted directly off a house known as Meadow Bank, built on the southern of the meadows. And Sunnyside Bank off of Lower London Road? that’s the south-facing (therefore sunnier) bank.
The old house of Meadowbank. An 1854 sketch by William Channing. © Edinburgh City LibrariesThis thread continues with part 2 – The thread about the problem of sewage disposal in 19th century Edinburgh and Leith; and how something ended up being done about it.
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The thread about the East Foul Burn; a long-forgotten Edinburgh stream that was the centre of a vast sewage-based agribusiness
This thread is part one of a series; the link to the next part can be found at the bottom.
We begin our story with the wonderfully verbose cover of a Victorian pamphlet;
FOUL BURN AGITATION!
STATEMENT
Explaining
NATURE AND HISTORY OF THE AGRICULTURAL IRRIGATION NEAR EDINBURGH;
Containing
A REFUTATION OF THE UNFOUNDED AND CALUMNIOUS MISREPRESENTATIONS ON THAT SUBJECT,
In
A PAMPHLET PUBLISHED IN THE NAME OF A COMMITTEE OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF POLICE, IN WHICH THE ANCIENT AND BEAUTIFUL CAPITAL OF SCOTLAND IS FALSELY DESCRIBED AS A RESIDENCE UNSAFE TO THE HEALTH OF ITS INHABITANTS!I say pamphlet, the thing is actually 166 pages long and I spent quite some time reading it (skimming much of it) so that you don’t have to. It is Victorian local politics at its best and wors, and much of it is indeed pure agitation. But it was worth ploughing my way through it as it happens to contain a complete and detailed description of Edinburgh’s largely forgotten East Foul Burn and the Irrigated Meadow systems of Craigentinny and Restalrig, their history and their method of operation.
Anyway, what is this East Foul Burn of which I speak? Well it’s the principal watercourse that in olden times drained most of the Old Town, the Nor’ Loch and the small suburbs south of the city into the sea; rainfall, sewage and all. We can see it on the below map of 1750 by William Roy. It is the stream which flows from bottom left to top right – the stream originating in Lochend Loch in the centre left is the tail burn of that body of water.
The East Foul Burn’s natural route to the sea via Restalrig and Fillyside (North Mains of Craigentinny). William Roy’s Lowland Map of c. 1750. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandIf you examine a old map of the Old Town and consider the topography, it’s obvious that gravity will carry anything liquid downhill. John Slezer’s remarkably accurate 17th century sketches of the city help us to visualise this from a contemporary point of view; any waste discharged on the north side of the ridge on which the Old Town of the city was built is obviously going to drain itself into the Nor’ Loch.
Prospect of the Castle and City of Edinburgh from the Nor’ Loch. John Slezer, 1673, arrows indicate the steep northern slopes of the “tail” of the crag and tail geological formation on which Edinburgh’s Old Town sitsThat loch could only drain eastwards, in the direction of the sea. James Gordon of Rothiemay’s remarkable 1647 bird’s eye view of Edinburgh shows it clearly. After irrigating the pleasant-looking Physic Garden by the Trinity College Kirk, it ran off down the North Back of Canongate (what we now call Calton Road) where it was joined by any runoff from the community nestled below the crags of the Calton Hill and from the streets and closes of the north side of the Canongate itself. The stream (in reality an open sewer) passes a number of round structures; these were wells and water cistern – one of the reasons so many breweries would congregate here. 100 years later, Edgar’s map of 1765 still shows that this open sewer still ran here.
Bird’s Eye View of Edinburgh, James Gordon of Rothiemay, 1647. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandStuart Harris, the late local historian and custodian of Edinburgh place names, refers to the wells here as being along the Tummel Burn (and you will also see it given as Tumble) which is an alternative name for the East Foul Burn, this refers to the water flow, although one imagines it wasn’t so much a pleasant babbling brook as a bubbling cauldron of filth.
The burn worked its way down the North Back of Canongate to the Wateryett (a Scots placename meaning water gate; the word for a gate was commonly port but can occasionally be yett; the word gate or gait meant a roadway e.g. Canongate). The water part of the name refereed as much to this being the route into the Canongate for drinking water from the wells as it was from being alongside a watercourse. The yett part refers to the area at the foot of the Canongate where there was a physical gateway; not a defensive structure, but a civic boundary and customs barrier. This is confirmed by a reference from a title deed in 1635 which describes the Foul Burn as being in a gutter known as the Strand. This latter term is an old Scots word for “an artificial water-channel or gutter, a street gutter” – the Abbey Strand is the name of the old building that stands to this day at the foot of the Canongate, just before you enter the grounds of the Holyroodhouse.
The Wateryett in 1818, a drawing by James Skene. By this time the physical gate had been replaced by a symbolic one for the toll house. © Edinburgh City LibrariesAfter the Water Yett, Edgar’s 1765 map shows that the burn ran in a culvert here, but we can infer its route. This map is the extent of 18th century town plans so to follow the burn we move onto an 1804 plan by John Ainslie to pick up the trail once more. It re-surfaces around Croftangry (corrupted in modern times to the Gaelic-sounding Croft-an-Righ) before disappearing underground again in the property of the Lord Chief Baron (Sir James Montgomery, 1st Baronet Stanhope) only to re-appearing on the property boundary between him and Mr Clerk. Comley Gardens and Clock Mill on Ainslie’s map are old placenames here still recalled by modern street names. The burn here now contains almost the entirety of the effluent of the city of Edinburgh, the Canongate, the burgh of Calton and the village of Abbeyhill.
Ainslie’s Town Plan of 1804, Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland. Orange lines show the course of the Foul Burn eastThe Comely Gardens referred to on the map above were a Tivoli Garden, a sort of Georgian amusement park where – for a fee – one could stroll the gardens and admire the roses, could take tea or coffee or fruits and entertainment such as dances and musicians may be laid on. Comely Gardens is to be forever remembered as the starting point of the Great Edinburgh Fire Balloon, the first manned aerial flight in the British Isles. In August 1784, James Tytler rode a Montgolfier-style balloon all the way to a crash-landing in Restalrig and his name is recalled in a couple of the modern street names in this area. But back to the matter in hand, following the burn east we have reached the Clock Mill, an old house named for a mill that was driven by the burn. The name came from Clokisrwne Mylne or Clocksorrow; clock is a corruption of the Scots clack, being a specific type of mill, an onomatopoeia based on the noise its mechanism made. Sorrow refers to some form of hollow in various old tongues.
Clockmill House in 1780, from Old & New Edinburgh by James Grant. Notice the naval telegraph mast on top of Calton HillIn the vicinity of Clock Mill, two further open sewers joined the burn, adding yet more effluent. The came from the Pleasance (and by extension much of the Southside) and from the Cowgate to its payload. Both of these first drained into a myre just south of Holyroodhouse, marked on Kincaid’s map of 1784 as Common Sewer Kept Stagnate for Manure, i.e. the sewage solids would settle out of the slow moving water and could be collected to fertilise the city’s gardens and orchards. There was good money to be made in such “soil” or “dung”. Before the advent of early industrial fertilisers or the Kelp Boom it was one of the few copious and economical sources of fertiliser for fields and was much in demand – all you had to do was collect it (or pay someone to do this)!
Kincaid’s Map of 1784, showing the “Common Serwer Kept Stagnate for Manure”. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandAfter Clockmill House, which was demolished in 1859 to landscape its grounds as a military parade ground, the burn passed beneath the main road east out of the city (the London Road would not be built until 1819). The bridge here was known as the Clockmill Bridge. It is the presence of the burn that explains why significant culverts were built here under both the North British Railway and the London Road when each was constructed. Robert “Lighthouse” Stevenson, the engineer of the London Road, produced beautiful drawings for the culvert here under his road;
Stevenson’s drawings for the London Road culvert. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland (MS.5849, No.54 – 57)By the time the burn passed under this culvert, it was carrying the daily sewage of about 60-80,000 people, not to mention their animals. The Foul Burn Agitation! pamphlet describes it as “a rapid and copious stream… to which [is] added the impure waters that proceed from the houses, streets and lanes of the city“. From there, the effluent of the city should have been a relatively straightforward journey down the broad, shallow natural valley in which Restalrig sits to the sea, at Fillyside (roughly where the Matalan store now is).
The East Foul Burn at Restalrig village, flowing along the foreground and passing under the road in a culvert. From an old post card, early 20th century.However it could not take this natural procession to the sea as its process was interrupted; it was industriously turned over into a series of irrigated meadows, “irrigated by the waters from the City” at Restalrig, Craigentinny and Fillyside.
Kirkwood’s Plan of 1817 showing the irrigated meadows along the Foul Burn. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandIn the irrigated meadows, the Foul Burn was intersected by “principal feeders“, ditches cut along the topographic gradient. Water could be admitted to the feeders by means of sluices or damming the outflow. These feeders in turn fed further side-ditches into individual plots. The plots would be subject to controlled flooding from April to November, the fodder growing season. For two or three days a plot would be flooded, saturating the ground with sewage which would settle. The water was then allowed to run off and the plot was given three to five weeks for the grass to grow. It could then be cropped and the process could begin again. The process of flooding and cropping plots was rotated so that there were always fields ready to crop, and there was always a good supply of sewage with which to flood it. The whole object of this exercise was to provide a steady supply of food for the city’s dairy herds – this was a time when milk could not be preserved or transported any great distance, so the cattle had to be kept in and around the immediate vicinity. The system also had dedicated settling ponds where the soil could be collected and sold off by the cartload.
Craigentinny Meadows, James Steuart, 1885. Note the sluice and ditch and the ample crops. © Edinburgh City LibrariesThe Restalrig Meadows were at the turn of the 19th century the property of the forementioned Sir James Montgomery Bt. and extended to around 30 acres. The Craigentinny and Fillyside Meadows were owned by William Henry Miller of Craigentinny and were the largest at c. 120 acres.
Craigentinny Meadows, photograph by David Sclater, 1895. On the horizon are the “Craigentinny Marbles” (tomb of William Henry Miller) and Wheatfield House on the present day Portobello Road. © Edinburgh City LibrariesThere were further such irrigated meadows at the foot of Salisbury Crags, about 14 acres – the property of the Earl of Haddington – and near Coltbridge (modern Murrayfield) to the west, some 40-50 acres owned by Russell of Roseburn. This latter ground was fed by a much smaller foul burn – the West Foul Burn – which drained the portion of the city around Tollcross, West Port and Lauriston and the west end of the Boroughloch, making its way west via Dalry to Roseburn and then into the Water of Leith.
While the soil of the city had been collected since time immemorial, it’s not clear when this industrial-scale meadow system evolved. The Foul Burn Agitation! recounts testimony of elderly farm workers of Restalrig that they had been in place since at least 1750. However a document from 1561 when the lands of Restalrig Kirk were confiscated during the Reformation records “of certain prebendaries yardis, in Restalrig and Chalmeris pertening to the saidis prebendaris, callit their Mansis and pece of suard Meadow” – the suard here referring to a piece of marshy or boggy ground. The pamphlet states the “practice existed from time immemorial of flooding the Meadow grounds by means of the Foul Burn“. So we can say with some certainty that it was an old and established practice, and indeed the courts agreed with this when Alexander Duncan WS of Restalrig House tried to sue his neighbouring sewage barons, Miller and Montgomery, on account of the smell from the meadows spoiling his quality of life.
Restlarig House, c. 1883Indeed the legal action ended up backfiring on Duncan because in 1833 the Burgh Police Act protected the proprietors from any act “to divert or alter any stream or watercourse, or diminish the ancient and accustomed quantity of rain or other water or soil flowing therein“, guaranteeing their right to operate the meadows and collect the profits. (Side note, this was included in a Police Act because at that time in Scotland the Police had the powers and responsibilities for cleansing the burgh, distributing water and preventing disease).
The East Foul Burn at Craigentinny, WS Reid, 1860. Looking towards Miller’s Craigentinny House. Notice the bridge across the river and that the bank is reinforced – evidence of the extensive river management. Notice that the crops on the left of the picture seem long and those on the right are short, evidence of the constant rotation of cropping in the plots. © Edinburgh City LibrariesThe other aspect of the system was the settling ponds. These are recorded as far back as 1738 when Mr Baird of Clockmill was irrigating his fields and “collecting dung“, but by the late 18th century they were beginning to be infilled and had vanished by the 1820s. These are clearly shown on Kirkwood’s 1817 town plan. Appropriately enough parts of it look like a bit like a drawing of the human digestive system! The reason for abandoning the ponds because of two problems; firstly, there was too much sandy sediment washed off the city streets into the burn, and the customers – market gardeners mainly – were loathe to pour sand onto their plots and orchards. More importantly however the sediment was found increasingly to be full of seeds. Without putrefaction (fermentation), these seeds could not be killed, and when the seed-rich manure was spread it was an instant recipe for spreading weeds.
The soil settling ponds around Restalrig and Craigentinny. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandAnd so the system concentrated around the production of grass for animal forage; a very productive and profitable system it was. 400 labourers were employed seasonally, and some 3,300 cattle in Edinburgh and 600 in Leith depended on it, mainly pen-fed dairy animals. Most dairies were small concerns, run by the occupation of a “cow feeder“, with 20-40 milk cows each.
The Holyrood Dairy, c. 1830-40. Painting by William Stewart Watson. © Edinburgh Museums & GalleriesThe meadows were estimated to turn a profit for their proprietors of £5,000 per annum (about £600,000 in 2022), with William Henry Miller estimating he made £30,000 (c. £3.4 million) over 2 years. Rents were 20-30/s per acre, or up to double that for the better pasture or during times of food scarcity. Preparing a meadow cost £20-25 per acre and was a sound investment. Miller in 1821 spent £1,000 turning over 40 acres of “sandy wasteland” – the lands of Fillyside were ancient raised beaches – to meadow use. Each acre could provide up to 6 full crops per year.
A Map of Miller’s estate at Craigentinny showing the huge network of feeders and ditches that supported the Irrigated Meadow system. This map was surveyed for Miller in 1847. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandAll-in-all, this was a very productive and profitable concern, so much so that in 1834 the Police Commissioners tried to extend the burgh boundary to include the irrigated meadows and to give themselves rights over them. They spent 4,000 of the city’s pounds on the scheme, which the Foul Burn Agitation! describes as “Dung Speculation“. They were unsuccessful though as the proprietors and their one-time adversary Mr Duncan fought the Commissioners off. William Henry Miller (a former MP by this point, wealthy and influential) was quick to defend his profitable scheme. In 1843 when the North British Railway proposed running their line across his meadows, Miller had them shift it about 100 feet west so that it instead skirted around his lands. He then exchanged parcels of his land on the south of the new line with his neighbours – the Dukes of Abercorn – who had parcels trapped by the railway on the north, so each could maintain a contiguous field system. Miller also made thinds hard enough for the NBR that they never built their proposed shorter branch to Leith across his land.
The survey of Miller’s lands in 1847 show the main and sub-feeders, and the direction of flow of the water of the Foul Burn through them. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandBut the whole system had a number of problems facing it. Firstly, the woeful sanitation of the Old Town needed resolving – it was recognised by now that waste needed to be piped under the ground, not just run in an open sewer for the benefit of a couple of wealthy landowners. And secondly, in 1817 the Edinburgh & Leith Gas Light Company began building a gas works at New Street, crowned by its great chimney that dominated the Canongate.
The gasworks and its chimney, with the Canongate Kirk on the left for scale.At this point, coal gas works had yet to begin extracting their by-products for industrial use, so you can guess where the gas works were dumping all the highly toxic waste chemicals. Coal tar, sulphur and ammonia as well as any other numbers and varieties of hydrocarbons went into the Foul Burn from New Street. The gas works “give forth an abundant stream, the odour of which is no doubt extremely offensive, being the most nauseous of all compounds… …This flows into a principal feeder of the old foul burn at the South Back of the Canongate“. To put it simply, the gas works was poisoning the burn. This was not the first time that the foul burns had been polluted by industry. In 1791, Russell of Roseburn attempted to use the courts to stop the Haig’s distillery at Lochrin from polluting his irrigated meadows at Coltbridge.
The proprietors of the eastern irrigated meadows managed to get fines applied to the gas works, £200 per instance of pollution and £20 per day – this seemed to have the intended effect. Or perhaps the gas works just found it more profitable to begin capturing its by products for commercial gain rather than letting them run away. Whatever the reason, the Foul Burn was “cleared up” and the eastern meadows managed to carry on; the 1888 OS 6 inch Survey shows they still occupy their main extent. In 1901, an attempt was made to bury the entirety of the burn underground as a sere, but this was unsuccessful. The scheme finally commenced in 1921 as a work programme for unemployed men; a £60,000 government grant being secured to provide employment for 400 men for six months. This “draining of the swap” opened up the lands of Lochend, Restalrig and Craigentinny for public housing schemes in the 1920s and 1930s. Some of the land of the Fillyside Meadow had already been set aside as Craigentinny Golf Couse, which had been undertaken by Leith Corporation to clear golfing off of the Links. A railway yard was later also laid adjacent, appropriately it was called the Meadows Yard.
Craigentinny Meadows, looking towards Edinburgh, 1930, in the vicinity of what is now the golf course. The dark building in the mid ground is Craigentinny House. An amazingly pastoral scene, unchanged for about 200 years, so late on. © Edinburgh City LibrariesAnd what of the East Foul Burn? Well I can tell you it’s still there but just like many of Edinburgh’s old burns it’s hiding under the ground in its culvert. Very few people who live above it probably know it’s there. We get other reminders of its presence from local place names; the area name Meadowbank? that’s lifted directly off a house known as Meadow Bank, built on the southern of the meadows. And Sunnyside Bank off of Lower London Road? that’s the south-facing (therefore sunnier) bank.
The old house of Meadowbank. An 1854 sketch by William Channing. © Edinburgh City LibrariesThis thread continues with part 2 – The thread about the problem of sewage disposal in 19th century Edinburgh and Leith; and how something ended up being done about it.
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#craigentinny #Fillyside #IrrigatedMeadows #Millers #Restalrig #River #Seafield #Sewage #Written2019
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The thread about the East Foul Burn; a long-forgotten Edinburgh stream that was the centre of a vast sewage-based agribusiness
This thread is part one of a series; the link to the next part can be found at the bottom.
We begin our story with the wonderfully verbose cover of a Victorian pamphlet;
FOUL BURN AGITATION!
STATEMENT
Explaining
NATURE AND HISTORY OF THE AGRICULTURAL IRRIGATION NEAR EDINBURGH;
Containing
A REFUTATION OF THE UNFOUNDED AND CALUMNIOUS MISREPRESENTATIONS ON THAT SUBJECT,
In
A PAMPHLET PUBLISHED IN THE NAME OF A COMMITTEE OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF POLICE, IN WHICH THE ANCIENT AND BEAUTIFUL CAPITAL OF SCOTLAND IS FALSELY DESCRIBED AS A RESIDENCE UNSAFE TO THE HEALTH OF ITS INHABITANTS!I say pamphlet, the thing is actually 166 pages long and I spent quite some time reading it (skimming much of it) so that you don’t have to. It is Victorian local politics at its best and wors, and much of it is indeed pure agitation. But it was worth ploughing my way through it as it happens to contain a complete and detailed description of Edinburgh’s largely forgotten East Foul Burn and the Irrigated Meadow systems of Craigentinny and Restalrig, their history and their method of operation.
Anyway, what is this East Foul Burn of which I speak? Well it’s the principal watercourse that in olden times drained most of the Old Town, the Nor’ Loch and the small suburbs south of the city into the sea; rainfall, sewage and all. We can see it on the below map of 1750 by William Roy. It is the stream which flows from bottom left to top right – the stream originating in Lochend Loch in the centre left is the tail burn of that body of water.
The East Foul Burn’s natural route to the sea via Restalrig and Fillyside (North Mains of Craigentinny). William Roy’s Lowland Map of c. 1750. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandIf you examine a old map of the Old Town and consider the topography, it’s obvious that gravity will carry anything liquid downhill. John Slezer’s remarkably accurate 17th century sketches of the city help us to visualise this from a contemporary point of view; any waste discharged on the north side of the ridge on which the Old Town of the city was built is obviously going to drain itself into the Nor’ Loch.
Prospect of the Castle and City of Edinburgh from the Nor’ Loch. John Slezer, 1673, arrows indicate the steep northern slopes of the “tail” of the crag and tail geological formation on which Edinburgh’s Old Town sitsThat loch could only drain eastwards, in the direction of the sea. James Gordon of Rothiemay’s remarkable 1647 bird’s eye view of Edinburgh shows it clearly. After irrigating the pleasant-looking Physic Garden by the Trinity College Kirk, it ran off down the North Back of Canongate (what we now call Calton Road) where it was joined by any runoff from the community nestled below the crags of the Calton Hill and from the streets and closes of the north side of the Canongate itself. The stream (in reality an open sewer) passes a number of round structures; these were wells and water cistern – one of the reasons so many breweries would congregate here. 100 years later, Edgar’s map of 1765 still shows that this open sewer still ran here.
Bird’s Eye View of Edinburgh, James Gordon of Rothiemay, 1647. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandStuart Harris, the late local historian and custodian of Edinburgh place names, refers to the wells here as being along the Tummel Burn (and you will also see it given as Tumble) which is an alternative name for the East Foul Burn, this refers to the water flow, although one imagines it wasn’t so much a pleasant babbling brook as a bubbling cauldron of filth.
The burn worked its way down the North Back of Canongate to the Wateryett (a Scots placename meaning water gate; the word for a gate was commonly port but can occasionally be yett; the word gate or gait meant a roadway e.g. Canongate). The water part of the name refereed as much to this being the route into the Canongate for drinking water from the wells as it was from being alongside a watercourse. The yett part refers to the area at the foot of the Canongate where there was a physical gateway; not a defensive structure, but a civic boundary and customs barrier. This is confirmed by a reference from a title deed in 1635 which describes the Foul Burn as being in a gutter known as the Strand. This latter term is an old Scots word for “an artificial water-channel or gutter, a street gutter” – the Abbey Strand is the name of the old building that stands to this day at the foot of the Canongate, just before you enter the grounds of the Holyroodhouse.
The Wateryett in 1818, a drawing by James Skene. By this time the physical gate had been replaced by a symbolic one for the toll house. © Edinburgh City LibrariesAfter the Water Yett, Edgar’s 1765 map shows that the burn ran in a culvert here, but we can infer its route. This map is the extent of 18th century town plans so to follow the burn we move onto an 1804 plan by John Ainslie to pick up the trail once more. It re-surfaces around Croftangry (corrupted in modern times to the Gaelic-sounding Croft-an-Righ) before disappearing underground again in the property of the Lord Chief Baron (Sir James Montgomery, 1st Baronet Stanhope) only to re-appearing on the property boundary between him and Mr Clerk. Comley Gardens and Clock Mill on Ainslie’s map are old placenames here still recalled by modern street names. The burn here now contains almost the entirety of the effluent of the city of Edinburgh, the Canongate, the burgh of Calton and the village of Abbeyhill.
Ainslie’s Town Plan of 1804, Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland. Orange lines show the course of the Foul Burn eastThe Comely Gardens referred to on the map above were a Tivoli Garden, a sort of Georgian amusement park where – for a fee – one could stroll the gardens and admire the roses, could take tea or coffee or fruits and entertainment such as dances and musicians may be laid on. Comely Gardens is to be forever remembered as the starting point of the Great Edinburgh Fire Balloon, the first manned aerial flight in the British Isles. In August 1784, James Tytler rode a Montgolfier-style balloon all the way to a crash-landing in Restalrig and his name is recalled in a couple of the modern street names in this area. But back to the matter in hand, following the burn east we have reached the Clock Mill, an old house named for a mill that was driven by the burn. The name came from Clokisrwne Mylne or Clocksorrow; clock is a corruption of the Scots clack, being a specific type of mill, an onomatopoeia based on the noise its mechanism made. Sorrow refers to some form of hollow in various old tongues.
Clockmill House in 1780, from Old & New Edinburgh by James Grant. Notice the naval telegraph mast on top of Calton HillIn the vicinity of Clock Mill, two further open sewers joined the burn, adding yet more effluent. The came from the Pleasance (and by extension much of the Southside) and from the Cowgate to its payload. Both of these first drained into a myre just south of Holyroodhouse, marked on Kincaid’s map of 1784 as Common Sewer Kept Stagnate for Manure, i.e. the sewage solids would settle out of the slow moving water and could be collected to fertilise the city’s gardens and orchards. There was good money to be made in such “soil” or “dung”. Before the advent of early industrial fertilisers or the Kelp Boom it was one of the few copious and economical sources of fertiliser for fields and was much in demand – all you had to do was collect it (or pay someone to do this)!
Kincaid’s Map of 1784, showing the “Common Serwer Kept Stagnate for Manure”. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandAfter Clockmill House, which was demolished in 1859 to landscape its grounds as a military parade ground, the burn passed beneath the main road east out of the city (the London Road would not be built until 1819). The bridge here was known as the Clockmill Bridge. It is the presence of the burn that explains why significant culverts were built here under both the North British Railway and the London Road when each was constructed. Robert “Lighthouse” Stevenson, the engineer of the London Road, produced beautiful drawings for the culvert here under his road;
Stevenson’s drawings for the London Road culvert. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland (MS.5849, No.54 – 57)By the time the burn passed under this culvert, it was carrying the daily sewage of about 60-80,000 people, not to mention their animals. The Foul Burn Agitation! pamphlet describes it as “a rapid and copious stream… to which [is] added the impure waters that proceed from the houses, streets and lanes of the city“. From there, the effluent of the city should have been a relatively straightforward journey down the broad, shallow natural valley in which Restalrig sits to the sea, at Fillyside (roughly where the Matalan store now is).
The East Foul Burn at Restalrig village, flowing along the foreground and passing under the road in a culvert. From an old post card, early 20th century.However it could not take this natural procession to the sea as its process was interrupted; it was industriously turned over into a series of irrigated meadows, “irrigated by the waters from the City” at Restalrig, Craigentinny and Fillyside.
Kirkwood’s Plan of 1817 showing the irrigated meadows along the Foul Burn. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandIn the irrigated meadows, the Foul Burn was intersected by “principal feeders“, ditches cut along the topographic gradient. Water could be admitted to the feeders by means of sluices or damming the outflow. These feeders in turn fed further side-ditches into individual plots. The plots would be subject to controlled flooding from April to November, the fodder growing season. For two or three days a plot would be flooded, saturating the ground with sewage which would settle. The water was then allowed to run off and the plot was given three to five weeks for the grass to grow. It could then be cropped and the process could begin again. The process of flooding and cropping plots was rotated so that there were always fields ready to crop, and there was always a good supply of sewage with which to flood it. The whole object of this exercise was to provide a steady supply of food for the city’s dairy herds – this was a time when milk could not be preserved or transported any great distance, so the cattle had to be kept in and around the immediate vicinity. The system also had dedicated settling ponds where the soil could be collected and sold off by the cartload.
Craigentinny Meadows, James Steuart, 1885. Note the sluice and ditch and the ample crops. © Edinburgh City LibrariesThe Restalrig Meadows were at the turn of the 19th century the property of the forementioned Sir James Montgomery Bt. and extended to around 30 acres. The Craigentinny and Fillyside Meadows were owned by William Henry Miller of Craigentinny and were the largest at c. 120 acres.
Craigentinny Meadows, photograph by David Sclater, 1895. On the horizon are the “Craigentinny Marbles” (tomb of William Henry Miller) and Wheatfield House on the present day Portobello Road. © Edinburgh City LibrariesThere were further such irrigated meadows at the foot of Salisbury Crags, about 14 acres – the property of the Earl of Haddington – and near Coltbridge (modern Murrayfield) to the west, some 40-50 acres owned by Russell of Roseburn. This latter ground was fed by a much smaller foul burn – the West Foul Burn – which drained the portion of the city around Tollcross, West Port and Lauriston and the west end of the Boroughloch, making its way west via Dalry to Roseburn and then into the Water of Leith.
While the soil of the city had been collected since time immemorial, it’s not clear when this industrial-scale meadow system evolved. The Foul Burn Agitation! recounts testimony of elderly farm workers of Restalrig that they had been in place since at least 1750. However a document from 1561 when the lands of Restalrig Kirk were confiscated during the Reformation records “of certain prebendaries yardis, in Restalrig and Chalmeris pertening to the saidis prebendaris, callit their Mansis and pece of suard Meadow” – the suard here referring to a piece of marshy or boggy ground. The pamphlet states the “practice existed from time immemorial of flooding the Meadow grounds by means of the Foul Burn“. So we can say with some certainty that it was an old and established practice, and indeed the courts agreed with this when Alexander Duncan WS of Restalrig House tried to sue his neighbouring sewage barons, Miller and Montgomery, on account of the smell from the meadows spoiling his quality of life.
Restlarig House, c. 1883Indeed the legal action ended up backfiring on Duncan because in 1833 the Burgh Police Act protected the proprietors from any act “to divert or alter any stream or watercourse, or diminish the ancient and accustomed quantity of rain or other water or soil flowing therein“, guaranteeing their right to operate the meadows and collect the profits. (Side note, this was included in a Police Act because at that time in Scotland the Police had the powers and responsibilities for cleansing the burgh, distributing water and preventing disease).
The East Foul Burn at Craigentinny, WS Reid, 1860. Looking towards Miller’s Craigentinny House. Notice the bridge across the river and that the bank is reinforced – evidence of the extensive river management. Notice that the crops on the left of the picture seem long and those on the right are short, evidence of the constant rotation of cropping in the plots. © Edinburgh City LibrariesThe other aspect of the system was the settling ponds. These are recorded as far back as 1738 when Mr Baird of Clockmill was irrigating his fields and “collecting dung“, but by the late 18th century they were beginning to be infilled and had vanished by the 1820s. These are clearly shown on Kirkwood’s 1817 town plan. Appropriately enough parts of it look like a bit like a drawing of the human digestive system! The reason for abandoning the ponds because of two problems; firstly, there was too much sandy sediment washed off the city streets into the burn, and the customers – market gardeners mainly – were loathe to pour sand onto their plots and orchards. More importantly however the sediment was found increasingly to be full of seeds. Without putrefaction (fermentation), these seeds could not be killed, and when the seed-rich manure was spread it was an instant recipe for spreading weeds.
The soil settling ponds around Restalrig and Craigentinny. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandAnd so the system concentrated around the production of grass for animal forage; a very productive and profitable system it was. 400 labourers were employed seasonally, and some 3,300 cattle in Edinburgh and 600 in Leith depended on it, mainly pen-fed dairy animals. Most dairies were small concerns, run by the occupation of a “cow feeder“, with 20-40 milk cows each.
The Holyrood Dairy, c. 1830-40. Painting by William Stewart Watson. © Edinburgh Museums & GalleriesThe meadows were estimated to turn a profit for their proprietors of £5,000 per annum (about £600,000 in 2022), with William Henry Miller estimating he made £30,000 (c. £3.4 million) over 2 years. Rents were 20-30/s per acre, or up to double that for the better pasture or during times of food scarcity. Preparing a meadow cost £20-25 per acre and was a sound investment. Miller in 1821 spent £1,000 turning over 40 acres of “sandy wasteland” – the lands of Fillyside were ancient raised beaches – to meadow use. Each acre could provide up to 6 full crops per year.
A Map of Miller’s estate at Craigentinny showing the huge network of feeders and ditches that supported the Irrigated Meadow system. This map was surveyed for Miller in 1847. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandAll-in-all, this was a very productive and profitable concern, so much so that in 1834 the Police Commissioners tried to extend the burgh boundary to include the irrigated meadows and to give themselves rights over them. They spent 4,000 of the city’s pounds on the scheme, which the Foul Burn Agitation! describes as “Dung Speculation“. They were unsuccessful though as the proprietors and their one-time adversary Mr Duncan fought the Commissioners off. William Henry Miller (a former MP by this point, wealthy and influential) was quick to defend his profitable scheme. In 1843 when the North British Railway proposed running their line across his meadows, Miller had them shift it about 100 feet west so that it instead skirted around his lands. He then exchanged parcels of his land on the south of the new line with his neighbours – the Dukes of Abercorn – who had parcels trapped by the railway on the north, so each could maintain a contiguous field system. Miller also made thinds hard enough for the NBR that they never built their proposed shorter branch to Leith across his land.
The survey of Miller’s lands in 1847 show the main and sub-feeders, and the direction of flow of the water of the Foul Burn through them. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandBut the whole system had a number of problems facing it. Firstly, the woeful sanitation of the Old Town needed resolving – it was recognised by now that waste needed to be piped under the ground, not just run in an open sewer for the benefit of a couple of wealthy landowners. And secondly, in 1817 the Edinburgh & Leith Gas Light Company began building a gas works at New Street, crowned by its great chimney that dominated the Canongate.
The gasworks and its chimney, with the Canongate Kirk on the left for scale.At this point, coal gas works had yet to begin extracting their by-products for industrial use, so you can guess where the gas works were dumping all the highly toxic waste chemicals. Coal tar, sulphur and ammonia as well as any other numbers and varieties of hydrocarbons went into the Foul Burn from New Street. The gas works “give forth an abundant stream, the odour of which is no doubt extremely offensive, being the most nauseous of all compounds… …This flows into a principal feeder of the old foul burn at the South Back of the Canongate“. To put it simply, the gas works was poisoning the burn. This was not the first time that the foul burns had been polluted by industry. In 1791, Russell of Roseburn attempted to use the courts to stop the Haig’s distillery at Lochrin from polluting his irrigated meadows at Coltbridge.
The proprietors of the eastern irrigated meadows managed to get fines applied to the gas works, £200 per instance of pollution and £20 per day – this seemed to have the intended effect. Or perhaps the gas works just found it more profitable to begin capturing its by products for commercial gain rather than letting them run away. Whatever the reason, the Foul Burn was “cleared up” and the eastern meadows managed to carry on; the 1888 OS 6 inch Survey shows they still occupy their main extent. In 1901, an attempt was made to bury the entirety of the burn underground as a sere, but this was unsuccessful. The scheme finally commenced in 1921 as a work programme for unemployed men; a £60,000 government grant being secured to provide employment for 400 men for six months. This “draining of the swap” opened up the lands of Lochend, Restalrig and Craigentinny for public housing schemes in the 1920s and 1930s. Some of the land of the Fillyside Meadow had already been set aside as Craigentinny Golf Couse, which had been undertaken by Leith Corporation to clear golfing off of the Links. A railway yard was later also laid adjacent, appropriately it was called the Meadows Yard.
Craigentinny Meadows, looking towards Edinburgh, 1930, in the vicinity of what is now the golf course. The dark building in the mid ground is Craigentinny House. An amazingly pastoral scene, unchanged for about 200 years, so late on. © Edinburgh City LibrariesAnd what of the East Foul Burn? Well I can tell you it’s still there but just like many of Edinburgh’s old burns it’s hiding under the ground in its culvert. Very few people who live above it probably know it’s there. We get other reminders of its presence from local place names; the area name Meadowbank? that’s lifted directly off a house known as Meadow Bank, built on the southern of the meadows. And Sunnyside Bank off of Lower London Road? that’s the south-facing (therefore sunnier) bank.
The old house of Meadowbank. An 1854 sketch by William Channing. © Edinburgh City LibrariesThis thread continues with part 2 – The thread about the problem of sewage disposal in 19th century Edinburgh and Leith; and how something ended up being done about it.
If you have found this useful, informative or amusing, perhaps you would like to help contribute towards the running costs of this site – including keeping it ad-free and my book-buying budget to find further stories to bring you – by supporting me on ko-fi. Or please do just share this post on social media or amongst friends.
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#craigentinny #Fillyside #IrrigatedMeadows #Millers #Restalrig #River #Seafield #Sewage #Written2019
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The thread about the East Foul Burn; a long-forgotten Edinburgh stream that was the centre of a vast sewage-based agribusiness
This thread is part one of a series; the link to the next part can be found at the bottom.
We begin our story with the wonderfully verbose cover of a Victorian pamphlet;
FOUL BURN AGITATION!
STATEMENT
Explaining
NATURE AND HISTORY OF THE AGRICULTURAL IRRIGATION NEAR EDINBURGH;
Containing
A REFUTATION OF THE UNFOUNDED AND CALUMNIOUS MISREPRESENTATIONS ON THAT SUBJECT,
In
A PAMPHLET PUBLISHED IN THE NAME OF A COMMITTEE OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF POLICE, IN WHICH THE ANCIENT AND BEAUTIFUL CAPITAL OF SCOTLAND IS FALSELY DESCRIBED AS A RESIDENCE UNSAFE TO THE HEALTH OF ITS INHABITANTS!I say pamphlet, the thing is actually 166 pages long and I spent quite some time reading it (skimming much of it) so that you don’t have to. It is Victorian local politics at its best and wors, and much of it is indeed pure agitation. But it was worth ploughing my way through it as it happens to contain a complete and detailed description of Edinburgh’s largely forgotten East Foul Burn and the Irrigated Meadow systems of Craigentinny and Restalrig, their history and their method of operation.
Anyway, what is this East Foul Burn of which I speak? Well it’s the principal watercourse that in olden times drained most of the Old Town, the Nor’ Loch and the small suburbs south of the city into the sea; rainfall, sewage and all. We can see it on the below map of 1750 by William Roy. It is the stream which flows from bottom left to top right – the stream originating in Lochend Loch in the centre left is the tail burn of that body of water.
The East Foul Burn’s natural route to the sea via Restalrig and Fillyside (North Mains of Craigentinny). William Roy’s Lowland Map of c. 1750. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandIf you examine a old map of the Old Town and consider the topography, it’s obvious that gravity will carry anything liquid downhill. John Slezer’s remarkably accurate 17th century sketches of the city help us to visualise this from a contemporary point of view; any waste discharged on the north side of the ridge on which the Old Town of the city was built is obviously going to drain itself into the Nor’ Loch.
Prospect of the Castle and City of Edinburgh from the Nor’ Loch. John Slezer, 1673, arrows indicate the steep northern slopes of the “tail” of the crag and tail geological formation on which Edinburgh’s Old Town sitsThat loch could only drain eastwards, in the direction of the sea. James Gordon of Rothiemay’s remarkable 1647 bird’s eye view of Edinburgh shows it clearly. After irrigating the pleasant-looking Physic Garden by the Trinity College Kirk, it ran off down the North Back of Canongate (what we now call Calton Road) where it was joined by any runoff from the community nestled below the crags of the Calton Hill and from the streets and closes of the north side of the Canongate itself. The stream (in reality an open sewer) passes a number of round structures; these were wells and water cistern – one of the reasons so many breweries would congregate here. 100 years later, Edgar’s map of 1765 still shows that this open sewer still ran here.
Bird’s Eye View of Edinburgh, James Gordon of Rothiemay, 1647. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandStuart Harris, the late local historian and custodian of Edinburgh place names, refers to the wells here as being along the Tummel Burn (and you will also see it given as Tumble) which is an alternative name for the East Foul Burn, this refers to the water flow, although one imagines it wasn’t so much a pleasant babbling brook as a bubbling cauldron of filth.
The burn worked its way down the North Back of Canongate to the Wateryett (a Scots placename meaning water gate; the word for a gate was commonly port but can occasionally be yett; the word gate or gait meant a roadway e.g. Canongate). The water part of the name refereed as much to this being the route into the Canongate for drinking water from the wells as it was from being alongside a watercourse. The yett part refers to the area at the foot of the Canongate where there was a physical gateway; not a defensive structure, but a civic boundary and customs barrier. This is confirmed by a reference from a title deed in 1635 which describes the Foul Burn as being in a gutter known as the Strand. This latter term is an old Scots word for “an artificial water-channel or gutter, a street gutter” – the Abbey Strand is the name of the old building that stands to this day at the foot of the Canongate, just before you enter the grounds of the Holyroodhouse.
The Wateryett in 1818, a drawing by James Skene. By this time the physical gate had been replaced by a symbolic one for the toll house. © Edinburgh City LibrariesAfter the Water Yett, Edgar’s 1765 map shows that the burn ran in a culvert here, but we can infer its route. This map is the extent of 18th century town plans so to follow the burn we move onto an 1804 plan by John Ainslie to pick up the trail once more. It re-surfaces around Croftangry (corrupted in modern times to the Gaelic-sounding Croft-an-Righ) before disappearing underground again in the property of the Lord Chief Baron (Sir James Montgomery, 1st Baronet Stanhope) only to re-appearing on the property boundary between him and Mr Clerk. Comley Gardens and Clock Mill on Ainslie’s map are old placenames here still recalled by modern street names. The burn here now contains almost the entirety of the effluent of the city of Edinburgh, the Canongate, the burgh of Calton and the village of Abbeyhill.
Ainslie’s Town Plan of 1804, Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland. Orange lines show the course of the Foul Burn eastThe Comely Gardens referred to on the map above were a Tivoli Garden, a sort of Georgian amusement park where – for a fee – one could stroll the gardens and admire the roses, could take tea or coffee or fruits and entertainment such as dances and musicians may be laid on. Comely Gardens is to be forever remembered as the starting point of the Great Edinburgh Fire Balloon, the first manned aerial flight in the British Isles. In August 1784, James Tytler rode a Montgolfier-style balloon all the way to a crash-landing in Restalrig and his name is recalled in a couple of the modern street names in this area. But back to the matter in hand, following the burn east we have reached the Clock Mill, an old house named for a mill that was driven by the burn. The name came from Clokisrwne Mylne or Clocksorrow; clock is a corruption of the Scots clack, being a specific type of mill, an onomatopoeia based on the noise its mechanism made. Sorrow refers to some form of hollow in various old tongues.
Clockmill House in 1780, from Old & New Edinburgh by James Grant. Notice the naval telegraph mast on top of Calton HillIn the vicinity of Clock Mill, two further open sewers joined the burn, adding yet more effluent. The came from the Pleasance (and by extension much of the Southside) and from the Cowgate to its payload. Both of these first drained into a myre just south of Holyroodhouse, marked on Kincaid’s map of 1784 as Common Sewer Kept Stagnate for Manure, i.e. the sewage solids would settle out of the slow moving water and could be collected to fertilise the city’s gardens and orchards. There was good money to be made in such “soil” or “dung”. Before the advent of early industrial fertilisers or the Kelp Boom it was one of the few copious and economical sources of fertiliser for fields and was much in demand – all you had to do was collect it (or pay someone to do this)!
Kincaid’s Map of 1784, showing the “Common Serwer Kept Stagnate for Manure”. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandAfter Clockmill House, which was demolished in 1859 to landscape its grounds as a military parade ground, the burn passed beneath the main road east out of the city (the London Road would not be built until 1819). The bridge here was known as the Clockmill Bridge. It is the presence of the burn that explains why significant culverts were built here under both the North British Railway and the London Road when each was constructed. Robert “Lighthouse” Stevenson, the engineer of the London Road, produced beautiful drawings for the culvert here under his road;
Stevenson’s drawings for the London Road culvert. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland (MS.5849, No.54 – 57)By the time the burn passed under this culvert, it was carrying the daily sewage of about 60-80,000 people, not to mention their animals. The Foul Burn Agitation! pamphlet describes it as “a rapid and copious stream… to which [is] added the impure waters that proceed from the houses, streets and lanes of the city“. From there, the effluent of the city should have been a relatively straightforward journey down the broad, shallow natural valley in which Restalrig sits to the sea, at Fillyside (roughly where the Matalan store now is).
The East Foul Burn at Restalrig village, flowing along the foreground and passing under the road in a culvert. From an old post card, early 20th century.However it could not take this natural procession to the sea as its process was interrupted; it was industriously turned over into a series of irrigated meadows, “irrigated by the waters from the City” at Restalrig, Craigentinny and Fillyside.
Kirkwood’s Plan of 1817 showing the irrigated meadows along the Foul Burn. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandIn the irrigated meadows, the Foul Burn was intersected by “principal feeders“, ditches cut along the topographic gradient. Water could be admitted to the feeders by means of sluices or damming the outflow. These feeders in turn fed further side-ditches into individual plots. The plots would be subject to controlled flooding from April to November, the fodder growing season. For two or three days a plot would be flooded, saturating the ground with sewage which would settle. The water was then allowed to run off and the plot was given three to five weeks for the grass to grow. It could then be cropped and the process could begin again. The process of flooding and cropping plots was rotated so that there were always fields ready to crop, and there was always a good supply of sewage with which to flood it. The whole object of this exercise was to provide a steady supply of food for the city’s dairy herds – this was a time when milk could not be preserved or transported any great distance, so the cattle had to be kept in and around the immediate vicinity. The system also had dedicated settling ponds where the soil could be collected and sold off by the cartload.
Craigentinny Meadows, James Steuart, 1885. Note the sluice and ditch and the ample crops. © Edinburgh City LibrariesThe Restalrig Meadows were at the turn of the 19th century the property of the forementioned Sir James Montgomery Bt. and extended to around 30 acres. The Craigentinny and Fillyside Meadows were owned by William Henry Miller of Craigentinny and were the largest at c. 120 acres.
Craigentinny Meadows, photograph by David Sclater, 1895. On the horizon are the “Craigentinny Marbles” (tomb of William Henry Miller) and Wheatfield House on the present day Portobello Road. © Edinburgh City LibrariesThere were further such irrigated meadows at the foot of Salisbury Crags, about 14 acres – the property of the Earl of Haddington – and near Coltbridge (modern Murrayfield) to the west, some 40-50 acres owned by Russell of Roseburn. This latter ground was fed by a much smaller foul burn – the West Foul Burn – which drained the portion of the city around Tollcross, West Port and Lauriston and the west end of the Boroughloch, making its way west via Dalry to Roseburn and then into the Water of Leith.
While the soil of the city had been collected since time immemorial, it’s not clear when this industrial-scale meadow system evolved. The Foul Burn Agitation! recounts testimony of elderly farm workers of Restalrig that they had been in place since at least 1750. However a document from 1561 when the lands of Restalrig Kirk were confiscated during the Reformation records “of certain prebendaries yardis, in Restalrig and Chalmeris pertening to the saidis prebendaris, callit their Mansis and pece of suard Meadow” – the suard here referring to a piece of marshy or boggy ground. The pamphlet states the “practice existed from time immemorial of flooding the Meadow grounds by means of the Foul Burn“. So we can say with some certainty that it was an old and established practice, and indeed the courts agreed with this when Alexander Duncan WS of Restalrig House tried to sue his neighbouring sewage barons, Miller and Montgomery, on account of the smell from the meadows spoiling his quality of life.
Restlarig House, c. 1883Indeed the legal action ended up backfiring on Duncan because in 1833 the Burgh Police Act protected the proprietors from any act “to divert or alter any stream or watercourse, or diminish the ancient and accustomed quantity of rain or other water or soil flowing therein“, guaranteeing their right to operate the meadows and collect the profits. (Side note, this was included in a Police Act because at that time in Scotland the Police had the powers and responsibilities for cleansing the burgh, distributing water and preventing disease).
The East Foul Burn at Craigentinny, WS Reid, 1860. Looking towards Miller’s Craigentinny House. Notice the bridge across the river and that the bank is reinforced – evidence of the extensive river management. Notice that the crops on the left of the picture seem long and those on the right are short, evidence of the constant rotation of cropping in the plots. © Edinburgh City LibrariesThe other aspect of the system was the settling ponds. These are recorded as far back as 1738 when Mr Baird of Clockmill was irrigating his fields and “collecting dung“, but by the late 18th century they were beginning to be infilled and had vanished by the 1820s. These are clearly shown on Kirkwood’s 1817 town plan. Appropriately enough parts of it look like a bit like a drawing of the human digestive system! The reason for abandoning the ponds because of two problems; firstly, there was too much sandy sediment washed off the city streets into the burn, and the customers – market gardeners mainly – were loathe to pour sand onto their plots and orchards. More importantly however the sediment was found increasingly to be full of seeds. Without putrefaction (fermentation), these seeds could not be killed, and when the seed-rich manure was spread it was an instant recipe for spreading weeds.
The soil settling ponds around Restalrig and Craigentinny. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandAnd so the system concentrated around the production of grass for animal forage; a very productive and profitable system it was. 400 labourers were employed seasonally, and some 3,300 cattle in Edinburgh and 600 in Leith depended on it, mainly pen-fed dairy animals. Most dairies were small concerns, run by the occupation of a “cow feeder“, with 20-40 milk cows each.
The Holyrood Dairy, c. 1830-40. Painting by William Stewart Watson. © Edinburgh Museums & GalleriesThe meadows were estimated to turn a profit for their proprietors of £5,000 per annum (about £600,000 in 2022), with William Henry Miller estimating he made £30,000 (c. £3.4 million) over 2 years. Rents were 20-30/s per acre, or up to double that for the better pasture or during times of food scarcity. Preparing a meadow cost £20-25 per acre and was a sound investment. Miller in 1821 spent £1,000 turning over 40 acres of “sandy wasteland” – the lands of Fillyside were ancient raised beaches – to meadow use. Each acre could provide up to 6 full crops per year.
A Map of Miller’s estate at Craigentinny showing the huge network of feeders and ditches that supported the Irrigated Meadow system. This map was surveyed for Miller in 1847. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandAll-in-all, this was a very productive and profitable concern, so much so that in 1834 the Police Commissioners tried to extend the burgh boundary to include the irrigated meadows and to give themselves rights over them. They spent 4,000 of the city’s pounds on the scheme, which the Foul Burn Agitation! describes as “Dung Speculation“. They were unsuccessful though as the proprietors and their one-time adversary Mr Duncan fought the Commissioners off. William Henry Miller (a former MP by this point, wealthy and influential) was quick to defend his profitable scheme. In 1843 when the North British Railway proposed running their line across his meadows, Miller had them shift it about 100 feet west so that it instead skirted around his lands. He then exchanged parcels of his land on the south of the new line with his neighbours – the Dukes of Abercorn – who had parcels trapped by the railway on the north, so each could maintain a contiguous field system. Miller also made thinds hard enough for the NBR that they never built their proposed shorter branch to Leith across his land.
The survey of Miller’s lands in 1847 show the main and sub-feeders, and the direction of flow of the water of the Foul Burn through them. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandBut the whole system had a number of problems facing it. Firstly, the woeful sanitation of the Old Town needed resolving – it was recognised by now that waste needed to be piped under the ground, not just run in an open sewer for the benefit of a couple of wealthy landowners. And secondly, in 1817 the Edinburgh & Leith Gas Light Company began building a gas works at New Street, crowned by its great chimney that dominated the Canongate.
The gasworks and its chimney, with the Canongate Kirk on the left for scale.At this point, coal gas works had yet to begin extracting their by-products for industrial use, so you can guess where the gas works were dumping all the highly toxic waste chemicals. Coal tar, sulphur and ammonia as well as any other numbers and varieties of hydrocarbons went into the Foul Burn from New Street. The gas works “give forth an abundant stream, the odour of which is no doubt extremely offensive, being the most nauseous of all compounds… …This flows into a principal feeder of the old foul burn at the South Back of the Canongate“. To put it simply, the gas works was poisoning the burn. This was not the first time that the foul burns had been polluted by industry. In 1791, Russell of Roseburn attempted to use the courts to stop the Haig’s distillery at Lochrin from polluting his irrigated meadows at Coltbridge.
The proprietors of the eastern irrigated meadows managed to get fines applied to the gas works, £200 per instance of pollution and £20 per day – this seemed to have the intended effect. Or perhaps the gas works just found it more profitable to begin capturing its by products for commercial gain rather than letting them run away. Whatever the reason, the Foul Burn was “cleared up” and the eastern meadows managed to carry on; the 1888 OS 6 inch Survey shows they still occupy their main extent. In 1901, an attempt was made to bury the entirety of the burn underground as a sere, but this was unsuccessful. The scheme finally commenced in 1921 as a work programme for unemployed men; a £60,000 government grant being secured to provide employment for 400 men for six months. This “draining of the swap” opened up the lands of Lochend, Restalrig and Craigentinny for public housing schemes in the 1920s and 1930s. Some of the land of the Fillyside Meadow had already been set aside as Craigentinny Golf Couse, which had been undertaken by Leith Corporation to clear golfing off of the Links. A railway yard was later also laid adjacent, appropriately it was called the Meadows Yard.
Craigentinny Meadows, looking towards Edinburgh, 1930, in the vicinity of what is now the golf course. The dark building in the mid ground is Craigentinny House. An amazingly pastoral scene, unchanged for about 200 years, so late on. © Edinburgh City LibrariesAnd what of the East Foul Burn? Well I can tell you it’s still there but just like many of Edinburgh’s old burns it’s hiding under the ground in its culvert. Very few people who live above it probably know it’s there. We get other reminders of its presence from local place names; the area name Meadowbank? that’s lifted directly off a house known as Meadow Bank, built on the southern of the meadows. And Sunnyside Bank off of Lower London Road? that’s the south-facing (therefore sunnier) bank.
The old house of Meadowbank. An 1854 sketch by William Channing. © Edinburgh City LibrariesThis thread continues with part 2 – The thread about the problem of sewage disposal in 19th century Edinburgh and Leith; and how something ended up being done about it.
If you have found this useful, informative or amusing, perhaps you would like to help contribute towards the running costs of this site – including keeping it ad-free and my book-buying budget to find further stories to bring you – by supporting me on ko-fi. Or please do just share this post on social media or amongst friends.
These threads © 2017-2025, Andy Arthur.
NO AI TRAINING: Any use of the contents of this website to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.
#craigentinny #Fillyside #IrrigatedMeadows #Millers #Restalrig #River #Seafield #Sewage #Written2019
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The Stealth and Beauty of the Clouded Leopard
Beautiful and unique Clouded Leopards are #endangered by #palmoil, #meat #mining #deforestation and human persecution across their range. Help them every time you shop and be #vegan, #Boycottpalmoil and #Boycott4wildlife
The Stealth and Beauty of the Clouded #Leopard 🌧️🦁🐆 These beautiful beings face #extinction from #palmoil #deforestation 🌴🩸☠️🔥🚜⛔️ Help them to survive and be #vegan #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/03/08/the-stealth-and-beauty-of-the-clouded-leopard/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterFound in the forests of Asia, this secretive midsized cat is almost as mysterious today as it was nearly 200 years ago when it was first described. We do know, however, that it has a taste for the treetops. This wonderfully agile feline is an incredible arboreal hunter, capable of catching monkeys, civets and even birds in the trees, balancing itself with the longest tail, in relation to body size, of any cat. In fact, the clouded leopard is probably the most talented climber in the whole cat family.
It is one of just two species of feline that can rotate its flexible ankles backwards (the other is the margay from South America), which allows it to climb down a tree headfirst with squirrel-like ease, move along horizontal branches while hanging beneath them like a sloth, and even dangle from a branch using just its hind feet. Its Malayan name is harimau-dahan, which means ‘branch tiger’.
With regard to the clouded leopard’s name, although it does have beautiful cloud-like markings on its body, it is not a leopard. It isn’t even part of the Panthera genus of ‘big cats’, where true leopards – along with lions, tigers and jaguars – sit. Originally, there was just one species of clouded leopard, but scientists ‘split’ the species in 2006 because of genetic differences between those found on mainland Asia and those found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. The images in this article are of the clouded leopard; the second, more recently recognised species, which tends to be darker in colour and has smaller cloud markings, is now known as the Sunda clouded leopard.
Relative to its size, the clouded leopard has the longest upper canine teeth of any predator. At 5 cm long, they’re not much shorter than those of a tiger, even though a tiger can be up to 10 times larger in body size. It seems as though the clouded leopard is the closest living species we have to the extinct sabre-toothed cats.
By Nature Nook
Read moreHow can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
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Join 3,172 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#AnimalBiodiversityNews #animals #bigCat #Borneo #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #carnivores #conservation #deforestation #endangered #extinction #leopard #meat #mining #nature #NatureNook #palmoil #predator #predators #smallCat #Sumatra #vegan
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The Stealth and Beauty of the Clouded Leopard
Beautiful and unique Clouded Leopards are #endangered by #palmoil, #meat #mining #deforestation and human persecution across their range. Help them every time you shop and be #vegan, #Boycottpalmoil and #Boycott4wildlife
The Stealth and Beauty of the Clouded #Leopard 🌧️🦁🐆 These beautiful beings face #extinction from #palmoil #deforestation 🌴🩸☠️🔥🚜⛔️ Help them to survive and be #vegan #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/03/08/the-stealth-and-beauty-of-the-clouded-leopard/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterFound in the forests of Asia, this secretive midsized cat is almost as mysterious today as it was nearly 200 years ago when it was first described. We do know, however, that it has a taste for the treetops. This wonderfully agile feline is an incredible arboreal hunter, capable of catching monkeys, civets and even birds in the trees, balancing itself with the longest tail, in relation to body size, of any cat. In fact, the clouded leopard is probably the most talented climber in the whole cat family.
It is one of just two species of feline that can rotate its flexible ankles backwards (the other is the margay from South America), which allows it to climb down a tree headfirst with squirrel-like ease, move along horizontal branches while hanging beneath them like a sloth, and even dangle from a branch using just its hind feet. Its Malayan name is harimau-dahan, which means ‘branch tiger’.
With regard to the clouded leopard’s name, although it does have beautiful cloud-like markings on its body, it is not a leopard. It isn’t even part of the Panthera genus of ‘big cats’, where true leopards – along with lions, tigers and jaguars – sit. Originally, there was just one species of clouded leopard, but scientists ‘split’ the species in 2006 because of genetic differences between those found on mainland Asia and those found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. The images in this article are of the clouded leopard; the second, more recently recognised species, which tends to be darker in colour and has smaller cloud markings, is now known as the Sunda clouded leopard.
Relative to its size, the clouded leopard has the longest upper canine teeth of any predator. At 5 cm long, they’re not much shorter than those of a tiger, even though a tiger can be up to 10 times larger in body size. It seems as though the clouded leopard is the closest living species we have to the extinct sabre-toothed cats.
By Nature Nook
Read moreHow can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 3,172 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#AnimalBiodiversityNews #animals #bigCat #Borneo #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #carnivores #conservation #deforestation #endangered #extinction #leopard #meat #mining #nature #NatureNook #palmoil #predator #predators #smallCat #Sumatra #vegan
-
The Stealth and Beauty of the Clouded Leopard
Beautiful and unique Clouded Leopards are #endangered by #palmoil, #meat #mining #deforestation and human persecution across their range. Help them every time you shop and be #vegan, #Boycottpalmoil and #Boycott4wildlife
The Stealth and Beauty of the Clouded #Leopard 🌧️🦁🐆 These beautiful beings face #extinction from #palmoil #deforestation 🌴🩸☠️🔥🚜⛔️ Help them to survive and be #vegan #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/03/08/the-stealth-and-beauty-of-the-clouded-leopard/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterFound in the forests of Asia, this secretive midsized cat is almost as mysterious today as it was nearly 200 years ago when it was first described. We do know, however, that it has a taste for the treetops. This wonderfully agile feline is an incredible arboreal hunter, capable of catching monkeys, civets and even birds in the trees, balancing itself with the longest tail, in relation to body size, of any cat. In fact, the clouded leopard is probably the most talented climber in the whole cat family.
It is one of just two species of feline that can rotate its flexible ankles backwards (the other is the margay from South America), which allows it to climb down a tree headfirst with squirrel-like ease, move along horizontal branches while hanging beneath them like a sloth, and even dangle from a branch using just its hind feet. Its Malayan name is harimau-dahan, which means ‘branch tiger’.
With regard to the clouded leopard’s name, although it does have beautiful cloud-like markings on its body, it is not a leopard. It isn’t even part of the Panthera genus of ‘big cats’, where true leopards – along with lions, tigers and jaguars – sit. Originally, there was just one species of clouded leopard, but scientists ‘split’ the species in 2006 because of genetic differences between those found on mainland Asia and those found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. The images in this article are of the clouded leopard; the second, more recently recognised species, which tends to be darker in colour and has smaller cloud markings, is now known as the Sunda clouded leopard.
Relative to its size, the clouded leopard has the longest upper canine teeth of any predator. At 5 cm long, they’re not much shorter than those of a tiger, even though a tiger can be up to 10 times larger in body size. It seems as though the clouded leopard is the closest living species we have to the extinct sabre-toothed cats.
By Nature Nook
Read moreHow can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 3,172 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#AnimalBiodiversityNews #animals #bigCat #Borneo #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #carnivores #conservation #deforestation #endangered #extinction #leopard #meat #mining #nature #NatureNook #palmoil #predator #predators #smallCat #Sumatra #vegan
-
The Stealth and Beauty of the Clouded Leopard
Beautiful and unique Clouded Leopards are #endangered by #palmoil, #meat #mining #deforestation and human persecution across their range. Help them every time you shop and be #vegan, #Boycottpalmoil and #Boycott4wildlife
The Stealth and Beauty of the Clouded #Leopard 🌧️🦁🐆 These beautiful beings face #extinction from #palmoil #deforestation 🌴🩸☠️🔥🚜⛔️ Help them to survive and be #vegan #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/03/08/the-stealth-and-beauty-of-the-clouded-leopard/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterFound in the forests of Asia, this secretive midsized cat is almost as mysterious today as it was nearly 200 years ago when it was first described. We do know, however, that it has a taste for the treetops. This wonderfully agile feline is an incredible arboreal hunter, capable of catching monkeys, civets and even birds in the trees, balancing itself with the longest tail, in relation to body size, of any cat. In fact, the clouded leopard is probably the most talented climber in the whole cat family.
It is one of just two species of feline that can rotate its flexible ankles backwards (the other is the margay from South America), which allows it to climb down a tree headfirst with squirrel-like ease, move along horizontal branches while hanging beneath them like a sloth, and even dangle from a branch using just its hind feet. Its Malayan name is harimau-dahan, which means ‘branch tiger’.
With regard to the clouded leopard’s name, although it does have beautiful cloud-like markings on its body, it is not a leopard. It isn’t even part of the Panthera genus of ‘big cats’, where true leopards – along with lions, tigers and jaguars – sit. Originally, there was just one species of clouded leopard, but scientists ‘split’ the species in 2006 because of genetic differences between those found on mainland Asia and those found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. The images in this article are of the clouded leopard; the second, more recently recognised species, which tends to be darker in colour and has smaller cloud markings, is now known as the Sunda clouded leopard.
Relative to its size, the clouded leopard has the longest upper canine teeth of any predator. At 5 cm long, they’re not much shorter than those of a tiger, even though a tiger can be up to 10 times larger in body size. It seems as though the clouded leopard is the closest living species we have to the extinct sabre-toothed cats.
By Nature Nook
Read moreHow can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 3,172 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#AnimalBiodiversityNews #animals #bigCat #Borneo #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #carnivores #conservation #deforestation #endangered #extinction #leopard #meat #mining #nature #NatureNook #palmoil #predator #predators #smallCat #Sumatra #vegan
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The Stealth and Beauty of the Clouded Leopard
Beautiful and unique Clouded Leopards are #endangered by #palmoil, #meat #mining #deforestation and human persecution across their range. Help them every time you shop and be #vegan, #Boycottpalmoil and #Boycott4wildlife
The Stealth and Beauty of the Clouded #Leopard 🌧️🦁🐆 These beautiful beings face #extinction from #palmoil #deforestation 🌴🩸☠️🔥🚜⛔️ Help them to survive and be #vegan #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/03/08/the-stealth-and-beauty-of-the-clouded-leopard/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterFound in the forests of Asia, this secretive midsized cat is almost as mysterious today as it was nearly 200 years ago when it was first described. We do know, however, that it has a taste for the treetops. This wonderfully agile feline is an incredible arboreal hunter, capable of catching monkeys, civets and even birds in the trees, balancing itself with the longest tail, in relation to body size, of any cat. In fact, the clouded leopard is probably the most talented climber in the whole cat family.
It is one of just two species of feline that can rotate its flexible ankles backwards (the other is the margay from South America), which allows it to climb down a tree headfirst with squirrel-like ease, move along horizontal branches while hanging beneath them like a sloth, and even dangle from a branch using just its hind feet. Its Malayan name is harimau-dahan, which means ‘branch tiger’.
With regard to the clouded leopard’s name, although it does have beautiful cloud-like markings on its body, it is not a leopard. It isn’t even part of the Panthera genus of ‘big cats’, where true leopards – along with lions, tigers and jaguars – sit. Originally, there was just one species of clouded leopard, but scientists ‘split’ the species in 2006 because of genetic differences between those found on mainland Asia and those found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. The images in this article are of the clouded leopard; the second, more recently recognised species, which tends to be darker in colour and has smaller cloud markings, is now known as the Sunda clouded leopard.
Relative to its size, the clouded leopard has the longest upper canine teeth of any predator. At 5 cm long, they’re not much shorter than those of a tiger, even though a tiger can be up to 10 times larger in body size. It seems as though the clouded leopard is the closest living species we have to the extinct sabre-toothed cats.
By Nature Nook
Read moreHow can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 3,172 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#AnimalBiodiversityNews #animals #bigCat #Borneo #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #carnivores #conservation #deforestation #endangered #extinction #leopard #meat #mining #nature #NatureNook #palmoil #predator #predators #smallCat #Sumatra #vegan
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White-thighed Colobus Colobus vellerosus
White-thighed Colobus Colobus vellerosus
IUCN Red List Status: Critically Endangered
Location: Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Togo, Nigeria, Burkina Faso
The White-thighed Colobus is found in the forests of West Africa, including lowland rainforest, semi-deciduous forest, gallery forest, and swamp forest. Key strongholds include the Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary in Ghana and Kikélé Sacred Forest in Benin.
The White-thighed Colobus (Colobus vellerosus), also known as the Ursine Colobus or Geoffroy’s Black-and-White Colobus, is a striking primate of West Africa and is currently listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Their numbers have plummeted by over 80% in just three generations due to rampant deforestation driven by logging, agriculture, and expanding palm oil plantations. Intense bushmeat hunting and weakening traditional taboos have further accelerated their decline. With fewer than 1,500 individuals thought to remain in the wild, urgent action is needed to save them. Use your wallet as a weapon—boycott products that contain palm oil and support ethical, indigenous-led conservation. BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife #Vegan #BoycottMeat
https://youtu.be/ZtNODz25LzU?si=toKWDq3KJWzMmwSC
The White-thighed #Colobus of #Ghana are critically endangered #monkeys 🐒🙈🧐🙊 Big brands are destroying their home for #palmoil, edging them towards #extinction. Take action! #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🚫 #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/02/15/white-thighed-colobus-colobus-vellerosus/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterWith complex vocalisations and striking halos of white hair, the White-thighed #Colobus 🐵🐒🩷 are arguably rarest #primates in #WestAfrica 🇨🇮 🇬🇭 Help them to survive when you #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🪔🔥🧐⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife in the supermarket! @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/02/15/white-thighed-colobus-colobus-vellerosus/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterAppearance and Behaviour
The White-thighed Colobus is instantly recognisable by its black fur offset with bright white patches on the thighs and a halo of thick white fur surrounding their bare black face. Their long, fully white tail and slender body give them a unique silhouette among colobines. Infants are born completely white and darken to adult colouration by around three months.
In both Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, more than half of the closed forest in the forest reserves has been converted to plantation or farmland, or cleared and left bare (Bitty et al. 2015).
IUCN Red List
These monkeys are highly arboreal, agile, and diurnal, moving through the canopy with grace. Their complex vocal repertoire includes deep roaring calls to defend territories and sharp snorts as alarm signals. Group structure typically includes one territorial male with multiple females and their offspring, though multi-male groups are also observed.
Diet
Primarily folivorous, the White-thighed Colobus feeds on young leaves, seeds, fruits, buds, flowers, and bark. Their diet includes more than 30 plant species and varies with seasonal availability. In Kikélé Sacred Forest, they consume large amounts of leaves (over 60%), followed by fruits and other plant parts. They occasionally supplement their diet with termite clay.
Reproduction and Mating
Groups of these colobuses typically include one or more adult males, several females, and their offspring. Group sizes range from 10 to 25 individuals. Breeding occurs year-round, with a likely peak during the dry season. Infants are closely cared for by mothers and other females, fostering a strong social structure. Males often disperse upon reaching sexual maturity.
Geographic Range
The species is found in Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Nigeria, Togo, and possibly the southernmost tip of Burkina Faso. It has been extirpated from many forest reserves in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire due to extreme hunting and forest clearance. Populations remain in Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary (Ghana), Comoé National Park (Côte d’Ivoire), Fazao-Malfakassa National Park (Togo), and Kikélé Sacred Forest (Benin). It is likely extinct in Burkina Faso.
Threats
The White-thighed Colobus is threatened primarily by hunting and secondarily by habitat loss (McGraw 2005). Accelerated hunting pressure is discernible from reported changes in hunters’ behaviour in the species’ range countries. Thirty years ago, hunters in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire almost always hunted only larger-bodied animals, but now they are mostly hunting smaller-bodied animals because of the depletion of large primates like C. vellerosus (Decher and Kpelle 2005, Gonedelé Bi et al. 2016).
In Comoé National Park in Côte d’Ivoire, several groups remain, but hunting pressure and mining occur although some patrol is in place.
- Deforestation from logging, agriculture, road building, and palm oil plantations has fragmented and destroyed their habitat.
- Palm oil, tobacco and cocoa expansion and industrial production is a major driver of forest clearance across West Africa, particularly in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.
- Hunting for bushmeat is rampant, including in protected areas and sacred groves.
- Collapse of traditional taboos that once protected the species has made them vulnerable to killing by local communities.
- Hydropower development, such as the proposed Adjarala dam on the Mono River, threatens forests in Benin and Togo.
- Infrastructure expansion and human settlement continue to encroach on remaining habitats.
Take Action!
Use your wallet as a weapon. Boycott products that contain palm oil—this is one of the leading causes of deforestation that is destroying the forests of the White-thighed Colobus. Avoid meat and dairy, which drive land clearing for grazing and feed crops. Support indigenous-led conservation and community-based sanctuaries like Boabeng-Fiema. Demand governments halt infrastructure projects in critical habitat areas. Take action every time you shop BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife be #Vegan and #BoycottMeat
FAQs
How many White-thighed Colobus are left in the wild?
Recent estimates suggest fewer than 1,500 individuals remain across their entire range (IUCN, 2020). In some places, only a few isolated groups survive, such as in Kikélé Sacred Forest (Benin) and Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary (Ghana).
What is the average lifespan of the White-thighed Colobus in the wild?
While specific data are scarce, similar species of colobus monkeys live up to 20 years in the wild. In captivity, they may live slightly longer under optimal care.
How are White-thighed Colobuses affected by palm oil?
Palm oil plantations are expanding rapidly in West Africa, replacing biodiverse forests with monocultures. This directly destroys the colobus monkeys’ food sources, sleeping trees, and corridors between forest patches. Products with palm oil continue to drive this destruction.
What are the biggest threats to the White-thighed Colobus?
Besides palm oil, the main threats include logging, conversion of forest to farmland, hunting for bushmeat, infrastructure development (roads and dams), and the erosion of traditional beliefs that once protected them.
Are White-thighed Colobuses sacred to local communities?
Yes, in areas like Boabeng-Fiema and Kikélé, they are considered sacred and are given burial rites. However, these traditions are fading, and poaching still occurs.
White-thighed Colobus Colobus vellerosus
Support the conservation of this species
Further Information
Arseneau-Robar, T. J., Teichroeb, J. A., Macintosh, A. J. J., Saj, T. L., Glotfelty, E., Lucci, S., Sicotte, P., & Wikberg, E. C. (2024). When population growth intensifies intergroup competition, female colobus monkeys free-ride less. Scientific Reports, 14, Article 14363. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-64188-0
Djègo-Djossou, S., Koné, I., Fandohan, A. B., Djègo, J. G., Huynen, M. C., & Sinsin, B. (2015). Habitat Use by White-Thighed Colobus in the Kikélé Sacred Forest: Activity Budget, Feeding Ecology and Selection of Sleeping Trees. Primate Conservation, 2015(29), 97–105. https://doi.org/10.1896/052.029.0106
Kankam, B. O., Antwi-Bosiako, P., Addae-Wireko, L., & Dankwah, C. (2023). Growing population of the critically endangered white-thighed colobus monkey (Colobus vellerosus) from forest fragments in Ghana. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 39, e33. doi:10.1017/S0266467423000214
Matsuda Goodwin, R., Gonedelé Bi, S., Nobimè, G., Koné, I., Osei, D., Segniagbeto, G. & Oates, J.F. 2020. Colobus vellerosus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020: e.T5146A169472127. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T5146A169472127.en. Downloaded on 15 February 2021.
Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund. (2021). White-thighed Colobus – Project No. 202525581. https://www.speciesconservation.org/case-studies-projects/white-thighed-colobus/25581
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3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#Benin #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottMeat #BoycottPalmOil #BurkinaFaso #Colobus #CoteDIvoire #CriticallyEndangeredSpecies #dams #deforestation #extinction #ForgottenAnimals #Ghana #hunting #hydroelectric #IvoryCoast #Mammal #meatDeforestation_ #mining #monkey #monkeys #Nigeria #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #poachers #poaching #Primate #primates #primatology #tobacco #Togo #vegan #WestAfrica #WhiteThighedColobusColobusVellerosus
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White-thighed Colobus Colobus vellerosus
White-thighed Colobus Colobus vellerosus
IUCN Red List Status: Critically Endangered
Location: Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Togo, Nigeria, Burkina Faso
The White-thighed Colobus is found in the forests of West Africa, including lowland rainforest, semi-deciduous forest, gallery forest, and swamp forest. Key strongholds include the Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary in Ghana and Kikélé Sacred Forest in Benin.
The White-thighed Colobus (Colobus vellerosus), also known as the Ursine Colobus or Geoffroy’s Black-and-White Colobus, is a striking primate of West Africa and is currently listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Their numbers have plummeted by over 80% in just three generations due to rampant deforestation driven by logging, agriculture, and expanding palm oil plantations. Intense bushmeat hunting and weakening traditional taboos have further accelerated their decline. With fewer than 1,500 individuals thought to remain in the wild, urgent action is needed to save them. Use your wallet as a weapon—boycott products that contain palm oil and support ethical, indigenous-led conservation. BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife #Vegan #BoycottMeat
https://youtu.be/ZtNODz25LzU?si=toKWDq3KJWzMmwSC
The White-thighed #Colobus of #Ghana are critically endangered #monkeys 🐒🙈🧐🙊 Big brands are destroying their home for #palmoil, edging them towards #extinction. Take action! #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🚫 #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/02/15/white-thighed-colobus-colobus-vellerosus/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterWith complex vocalisations and striking halos of white hair, the White-thighed #Colobus 🐵🐒🩷 are arguably rarest #primates in #WestAfrica 🇨🇮 🇬🇭 Help them to survive when you #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🪔🔥🧐⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife in the supermarket! @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/02/15/white-thighed-colobus-colobus-vellerosus/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterAppearance and Behaviour
The White-thighed Colobus is instantly recognisable by its black fur offset with bright white patches on the thighs and a halo of thick white fur surrounding their bare black face. Their long, fully white tail and slender body give them a unique silhouette among colobines. Infants are born completely white and darken to adult colouration by around three months.
In both Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, more than half of the closed forest in the forest reserves has been converted to plantation or farmland, or cleared and left bare (Bitty et al. 2015).
IUCN Red List
These monkeys are highly arboreal, agile, and diurnal, moving through the canopy with grace. Their complex vocal repertoire includes deep roaring calls to defend territories and sharp snorts as alarm signals. Group structure typically includes one territorial male with multiple females and their offspring, though multi-male groups are also observed.
Diet
Primarily folivorous, the White-thighed Colobus feeds on young leaves, seeds, fruits, buds, flowers, and bark. Their diet includes more than 30 plant species and varies with seasonal availability. In Kikélé Sacred Forest, they consume large amounts of leaves (over 60%), followed by fruits and other plant parts. They occasionally supplement their diet with termite clay.
Reproduction and Mating
Groups of these colobuses typically include one or more adult males, several females, and their offspring. Group sizes range from 10 to 25 individuals. Breeding occurs year-round, with a likely peak during the dry season. Infants are closely cared for by mothers and other females, fostering a strong social structure. Males often disperse upon reaching sexual maturity.
Geographic Range
The species is found in Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Nigeria, Togo, and possibly the southernmost tip of Burkina Faso. It has been extirpated from many forest reserves in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire due to extreme hunting and forest clearance. Populations remain in Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary (Ghana), Comoé National Park (Côte d’Ivoire), Fazao-Malfakassa National Park (Togo), and Kikélé Sacred Forest (Benin). It is likely extinct in Burkina Faso.
Threats
The White-thighed Colobus is threatened primarily by hunting and secondarily by habitat loss (McGraw 2005). Accelerated hunting pressure is discernible from reported changes in hunters’ behaviour in the species’ range countries. Thirty years ago, hunters in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire almost always hunted only larger-bodied animals, but now they are mostly hunting smaller-bodied animals because of the depletion of large primates like C. vellerosus (Decher and Kpelle 2005, Gonedelé Bi et al. 2016).
In Comoé National Park in Côte d’Ivoire, several groups remain, but hunting pressure and mining occur although some patrol is in place.
- Deforestation from logging, agriculture, road building, and palm oil plantations has fragmented and destroyed their habitat.
- Palm oil, tobacco and cocoa expansion and industrial production is a major driver of forest clearance across West Africa, particularly in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.
- Hunting for bushmeat is rampant, including in protected areas and sacred groves.
- Collapse of traditional taboos that once protected the species has made them vulnerable to killing by local communities.
- Hydropower development, such as the proposed Adjarala dam on the Mono River, threatens forests in Benin and Togo.
- Infrastructure expansion and human settlement continue to encroach on remaining habitats.
Take Action!
Use your wallet as a weapon. Boycott products that contain palm oil—this is one of the leading causes of deforestation that is destroying the forests of the White-thighed Colobus. Avoid meat and dairy, which drive land clearing for grazing and feed crops. Support indigenous-led conservation and community-based sanctuaries like Boabeng-Fiema. Demand governments halt infrastructure projects in critical habitat areas. Take action every time you shop BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife be #Vegan and #BoycottMeat
FAQs
How many White-thighed Colobus are left in the wild?
Recent estimates suggest fewer than 1,500 individuals remain across their entire range (IUCN, 2020). In some places, only a few isolated groups survive, such as in Kikélé Sacred Forest (Benin) and Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary (Ghana).
What is the average lifespan of the White-thighed Colobus in the wild?
While specific data are scarce, similar species of colobus monkeys live up to 20 years in the wild. In captivity, they may live slightly longer under optimal care.
How are White-thighed Colobuses affected by palm oil?
Palm oil plantations are expanding rapidly in West Africa, replacing biodiverse forests with monocultures. This directly destroys the colobus monkeys’ food sources, sleeping trees, and corridors between forest patches. Products with palm oil continue to drive this destruction.
What are the biggest threats to the White-thighed Colobus?
Besides palm oil, the main threats include logging, conversion of forest to farmland, hunting for bushmeat, infrastructure development (roads and dams), and the erosion of traditional beliefs that once protected them.
Are White-thighed Colobuses sacred to local communities?
Yes, in areas like Boabeng-Fiema and Kikélé, they are considered sacred and are given burial rites. However, these traditions are fading, and poaching still occurs.
White-thighed Colobus Colobus vellerosus
Support the conservation of this species
Further Information
Arseneau-Robar, T. J., Teichroeb, J. A., Macintosh, A. J. J., Saj, T. L., Glotfelty, E., Lucci, S., Sicotte, P., & Wikberg, E. C. (2024). When population growth intensifies intergroup competition, female colobus monkeys free-ride less. Scientific Reports, 14, Article 14363. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-64188-0
Djègo-Djossou, S., Koné, I., Fandohan, A. B., Djègo, J. G., Huynen, M. C., & Sinsin, B. (2015). Habitat Use by White-Thighed Colobus in the Kikélé Sacred Forest: Activity Budget, Feeding Ecology and Selection of Sleeping Trees. Primate Conservation, 2015(29), 97–105. https://doi.org/10.1896/052.029.0106
Kankam, B. O., Antwi-Bosiako, P., Addae-Wireko, L., & Dankwah, C. (2023). Growing population of the critically endangered white-thighed colobus monkey (Colobus vellerosus) from forest fragments in Ghana. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 39, e33. doi:10.1017/S0266467423000214
Matsuda Goodwin, R., Gonedelé Bi, S., Nobimè, G., Koné, I., Osei, D., Segniagbeto, G. & Oates, J.F. 2020. Colobus vellerosus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020: e.T5146A169472127. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T5146A169472127.en. Downloaded on 15 February 2021.
Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund. (2021). White-thighed Colobus – Project No. 202525581. https://www.speciesconservation.org/case-studies-projects/white-thighed-colobus/25581
How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 1,398 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#Benin #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottMeat #BoycottPalmOil #BurkinaFaso #Colobus #CoteDIvoire #CriticallyEndangeredSpecies #dams #deforestation #extinction #ForgottenAnimals #Ghana #hunting #hydroelectric #IvoryCoast #Mammal #meatDeforestation_ #mining #monkey #monkeys #Nigeria #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #poachers #poaching #Primate #primates #primatology #tobacco #Togo #vegan #WestAfrica #WhiteThighedColobusColobusVellerosus