Blog on hold. This blog has not been updated for some time as I am waiting for something to happen. Any followers please be aware it is not forgotten and will resume at a later date.
Monday 27 November 2017
Thursday 30 July 2015
Save the Pangolin from the dinner plate
Save the Pangolin from the dinner plate
We all love the Panda for its cuddly bear looks, we all love the Giraffe for its gentle majestic looks, and we all love the Elephant for its family virtues and as a mastodon of earth but lets find a place for those that are not know,unloved or cared about. This poor creature needs as much help as it can get. One may thinks it is odd or ugly or strange (So are we to it) but it is also a mother living on earth and deserves every right we give to others
Conservationists are battling to save the pangolin, the most illegally traded animal in the world, before it is “eaten to extinction”
We all love the Panda for its cuddly bear looks, we all love the Giraffe for its gentle majestic looks, and we all love the Elephant for its family virtues and as a mastodon of earth but lets find a place for those that are not know,unloved or cared about. This poor creature needs as much help as it can get. One may thinks it is odd or ugly or strange (So are we to it) but it is also a mother living on earth and deserves every right we give to others
Conservationists are battling to save the pangolin, the most illegally traded animal in the world, before it is “eaten to extinction”
Prince William recently quipped that the bizarre creatures, which are the world’s only scaly mammals, run “the risk of becoming extinct before most people have even heard of them”
Pangolins are a protected species in Namibia, yet poaching, primarily for a growing local and international market in "traditional" medicines, has led to a dramatic drop in pangolin numbers. Some neighbouring countries have recorded a "huge increase" in pangolin trafficking over the last ten years, mainly to supply a growing Chinese market. The problem with assessing the damage to the pangolin populations is a lack of research due to the difficulties involved in monitoring these nocturnal rare and endangered animals.
Hong Kong celebrity Sharon Kwok's tragic pangolin encounter
Activist actress recounts her experience on the front line of the fight to stop pangolin poaching and return rescued specimens to the wild.
Activist actress recounts her experience on the front line of the fight to stop pangolin poaching and return rescued specimens to the wild.
It is my first trip to Sumatra, in Indonesia. I received a call from a friend on April 25 saying there had been a large, pangolin-related seizure and that this would be a good chance for me to do some research. So I hopped onto a plane and, on April 27, I am at a press conference being held at the scene of the crime: a seafood warehouse in Medan.
Upon arrival, we are greeted by members of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Wildlife Crimes Unit and officials in police or forestry department uniforms. A cocktail of smells assaults my nose - seafood, unwashed bodies, cigarettes and an unfamiliar stench: that of pangolin excrement and death. Frozen pangolins and parts are stored in two freezers, bags of scales are in a storeroom and the largest room holds 50 or so plastic poultry crates, the festive colours at odds with the cruelty being suffered by the 100 or so creatures inside.
I've never held a pangolin and I learn that these domestic-cat-sized animals must be handled with care. I pick up a large male, probably the strongest specimen of the lot, which was perhaps not the wisest choice: my wrists are now crisscrossed with small scratches from his scales.
These gentle forest animals never attack. If threatened, they roll into a ball for protection. This may protect them from lions or leopards but it's no defence against their greatest predator: man.
Why Hong Kong must embrace its wild side
After the press conference, the living pangolins are loaded onto a truck, to begin a four-hour trip to freedom. At a midway stop for food and fuel, I check the animals and find several more have died - the stress of captivity tends to kill pangolins, which is why you rarely find them in zoos - while those still alive are either too weak and traumatised to move or are extremely parched and greedily lap the water I provide. I take a baby away from a mother that appears too traumatised to care for her young, to safeguard it from being crushed.
At dusk we stop, but the crates still need to be carried deeper into the forest. I return the young pangolin to his mother and am happy to see he is strong and immediately starts feeding. His mother is still not doing very well, though.
Ninety-four pangolins are set free and the last I let go are the mother and baby I looked after. I carry them into bushes and lay them down gently. She is curled up tightly but he manages to squirm into the hollow of her belly - and that is the last I will see of them. It is an image I will never forget.
PANGOLINS ARE SHY, nocturnal animals that live in forests. They don't have teeth but they do have sticky tongues that are longer than their bodies, which they use to feed on termites and ants. Their sharp, strong claws help break apart wood and other hard surfaces beneath which their food can be found. Due to their unique diet, they control pests and help maintain the soil quality of forests.
Pangolins are the only mammals fully covered in scales, which are made of keratin, the same material present in our fingernails and hair, and in rhino horns. Although there is no supporting scientific research, some traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioners claim that when dried and roasted, pangolin scales can relieve palsy, stimulate lactation and help drain pus.
The scales can sell on the black market for more US$3,000 a kilogram and the whole animal is eaten in dishes popular in Vietnam and China. As a result, all eight species of pangolins now feature on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of animals threatened with extinction.
Pangolins are currently the most commonly trafficked type of wildlife. Last year, it was estimated that more than 100,000 pangolins were being poached annually. Judging by the number of seizures so far this year, it could be much more than that now. The past few weeks alone have seen several large confiscations of pangolin scales across the mainland, and, in June last year, three tonnes, worth HK$2 million, were discovered after they had been smuggled into Hong Kong from Kenya. Media reports from India and Pakistan indicate a lot of smuggling is going on across the borders with China.
THE DAY AFTER the pangolins were set free, the contents of the freezers along with other recent seizures of trafficked pangolins are destroyed. A large pit is dug and filled roughly four deep with dead animals. It is impossible to do an exact count - some animals have already been chopped into pieces - but about 4,000 dead pangolins go up in flames; 4,000 fewer members of a unique, vital and ancient species that faces extinction due to greed, misinformation and indifference.
It is easy to point fingers but these animals are being taken from the wild by people who have little to no income. It is difficult to control poaching when a single pangolin can bring in enough money to feed a family for months.
Also, the pangolin's habitats are disappearing at an alarming rate due to deforestation for palm-oil plantations.
The answer to saving the pangolin from extinction lies in urgent education and responsible government.
There are alternatives to using pangolin products in TCM, even if one believes the ingredients are effective. We can read labels carefully to spot and avoid products that contain palm oil or purchase only those labelled as containing sustainable palm oil. Last but not least, governments need to put a stop to continued extensive habitat destruction in order to protect and preserve biodiversity for future generations. (Taken from an article at http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1831649/hong-kong-celebrity-sharon-kwoks-tragic-pangolin-encounter)
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Saturday 20 June 2015
Why shoot a 14ft gentle giant - Giraffe
Why shoot a 14ft gentle giant - Giraffe
Facts
Giraffa camelopardalis
The closest related animal to the giraffe is the okapi.
Giraffes primarily eat leaves, especially from acacia, mimosa, and wild apricot trees. Their long, bluish, and flexible tongues can extend up to 18 inches to pluck leaves. Because they obtain moisture from the breakdown of leaves during digestion, giraffes can go for months without water.
Giraffes are born after a gestation of 15 months. Newborn giraffes can stand on their own within about 20 minutes and may be 6.5 feet tall at birth. The calves double their height within a year. Male giraffes are larger than females and can grow to 17 feet tall and weigh between 1,200 and 4,250 pounds.
Giraffes can live up to 25 years in the wild and even longer in captivity.
The giraffe has one of the shortest sleep requirements of any mammal, averaging less than two hours per day. It also has the longest tail—at about 8 feet.
Giraffes are essentially silent animals but can grunt, snort, whistle, and bleat.
The iconic Giraffe Manor, located in Nairobi, Kenya should be on everyone's bucket list. Sharing your breakfast with the endangered Rothschild Giraffe is an incredible, totally unique experience. When planning your safari it is the perfect start or finish to what will undoubtedly be a magical trip.
Facts
Giraffa camelopardalis
The closest related animal to the giraffe is the okapi.
Also on the endangered list
Giraffes primarily eat leaves, especially from acacia, mimosa, and wild apricot trees. Their long, bluish, and flexible tongues can extend up to 18 inches to pluck leaves. Because they obtain moisture from the breakdown of leaves during digestion, giraffes can go for months without water.
Giraffes are born after a gestation of 15 months. Newborn giraffes can stand on their own within about 20 minutes and may be 6.5 feet tall at birth. The calves double their height within a year. Male giraffes are larger than females and can grow to 17 feet tall and weigh between 1,200 and 4,250 pounds.
Giraffes can live up to 25 years in the wild and even longer in captivity.
The giraffe has one of the shortest sleep requirements of any mammal, averaging less than two hours per day. It also has the longest tail—at about 8 feet.
Giraffes are essentially silent animals but can grunt, snort, whistle, and bleat.
There are nine subspecies of giraffes in Africa, each distinguished by geographic location and the colour, pattern and shape of their spotted coats.
The animals in Niger are known as Giraffa camelopardalis peralta, the most endangered subspecies in Africa. They have large orange-brown spots that fade into pale white legs.
Ten years ago, an estimated 140,000 giraffes inhabited Africa, according to Julian Fennessy, a Nairobi, Kenya-based conservation expert. Today, giraffes number less than 100,000, devastated by poaching, war, advancing deserts and exploding human populations that have destroyed and fragmented their habitats. Around half the giraffes live outside game parks in the wild, where they are more difficult to monitor and protect, Fennessy said.
Giraffe hunting is prohibited in many countries. And some, like Kenya, have taken giraffe meat off the menu of tourist restaurants that once served them up on huge skewers. Even so. The plight of giraffes has largely been overlooked in conservation circles.
The animals in Niger are known as Giraffa camelopardalis peralta, the most endangered subspecies in Africa. They have large orange-brown spots that fade into pale white legs.
Ten years ago, an estimated 140,000 giraffes inhabited Africa, according to Julian Fennessy, a Nairobi, Kenya-based conservation expert. Today, giraffes number less than 100,000, devastated by poaching, war, advancing deserts and exploding human populations that have destroyed and fragmented their habitats. Around half the giraffes live outside game parks in the wild, where they are more difficult to monitor and protect, Fennessy said.
Giraffe hunting is prohibited in many countries. And some, like Kenya, have taken giraffe meat off the menu of tourist restaurants that once served them up on huge skewers. Even so. The plight of giraffes has largely been overlooked in conservation circles.
Is this really fun for all the family? The giraffe hunters who pay £10,000 to shoot the gentle giants with guns and bows for sport.
Tourist trophy hunters are paying thousands of pounds to go and shoot giraffes with high-powered guns and bows.
The gentle giants are loved around the world for their comical appearance and gentle nature.
The gentle giants are loved around the world for their comical appearance and gentle nature.
But shocking images show how scores of big-spending men and women - and even families - travel from across the globe, some even from Britain, to kill them for sport.
Not all Giraffe are the same
The latest statistic show the number of giraffes in the world have nearly halved since 1988 from over 140,000 to less than 80,000.
Dr. Julian Fennessy produced the report for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
Another recent IUCN report suggests the giraffe may already need to be listed as a threatened species - because some populations are being decimated in places like West Africa and DR Congo.
They are already thought to be extinct in Angola, Mali and Nigeria.
Dr. Julian Fennessy produced the report for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
Another recent IUCN report suggests the giraffe may already need to be listed as a threatened species - because some populations are being decimated in places like West Africa and DR Congo.
They are already thought to be extinct in Angola, Mali and Nigeria.
It is without doubt that many animals on planet earth are under threat by humans, all that some of us can do is create awareness in anyway we can.
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Thank you
Save our wild Scottish cat
Save our wild Scottish cat
The Scottish wildcat is going extinct: an irreplaceable feature of our natural and cultural heritage, and our only surviving native feline, it has survived centuries of intense deforestation and persecution. It is losing the battle to hybridisation: cross-mating with feral domestic cats, which outnumber wildcats by 1000:1 across the Highlands.
There may only be 35 pure Scottish wildcats left, which face an impossible task finding each other to produce the next generation.
Over the last ten years statutory agencies have spent half a million pounds of public money talking about saving the wildcat, whilst over the last five years Wildcat Haven has spent less than £100,000 of grants and donations from the US, China, commercial sponsors and the international general public creating a vast, threat-free haven where the Scottish wildcat can thrive again.
This is the only chance that the pure wildcat has, and over the next five years we will expand to over 800 square miles and start bringing the true wildcat back.
These cats matter: evolved by nature for millions of years to fit perfectly into our ecology, we are losing them to apathy, indecision and irresponsible ownership of pet cats: a species that heavily over-populates putting intense pressure on native species and greatly damaging the environment.
Report a Sighting
We are particularly interested in sightings in the West Highlands, though if you think you may have seen one somewhere else we're always interested in hearing about it.
Please do read through the identification details below: hybrids look extremely similar to wildcats and we often receive sightings which look very little like wildcats! If you think what you saw came close then please e-mail any details you can remember about the cat and location, along with any photos or video, to:
sightings@wildcathaven.co.uk
Your name, email address and all details provided to us will be held in perpetuity on a database maintained by us and utilised for identifying areas with potential for pure wildcats. The data will be shared with legitimate research efforts benefiting wildcats by recognised experts and organisations who commit to respecting data protection and privacy laws in their use of the database.
Identification
Telling Scottish wildcats from domestic cats is simple, but telling them from hybrids which can take many forms is very difficult. Text books, news articles and research papers are littered with images of hybrid cats labelled as wildcats.
You can help them and every penny/cent counts.
Here is where I have set up a crowd fund project for them
Thank you
Sunday 31 May 2015
Saturday 14 March 2015
Technology can help - DRONES
Technology can help them - DRONES
Air Shepherd Drones
Stop
Elephant & Rhino
Poaching
Extraordinary Increase in Elephant and
Rhino Poaching Deaths Threatens
EXTINCTION
40,000 elephants and over 1,200 rhinos killed by poachers in a single year.
At that rate both will be extinct within 10 years. In the last half-dozen years there has been an exponential increase in the killing of elephants and rhinos by poachers, Throughout Africa, over 100,000 elephants were killed between 2010 and the end of 2012 – 40,000 in 2013 alone.
Illegal poaching: $70 billion dollars a year and growing. Elephants are slaughtered for their tusks, then their ivory is carved into trinkets. China and the U.S. lead the countries that are driving the demand for ivory tusks. A single tusk can be worth more than US$ 75,000.
Rhino horns are worth over $65,000 per kilo on the black market. Criminal gangs are involved as it’s worth more than gold. The skyrocketing values of tusks (up to US$ 150,000) and horns (as much as US$ 500,000) generate extraordinary profits.
Rhino horns are worth over $65,000 per kilo on the black market. Criminal gangs are involved as it’s worth more than gold. The skyrocketing values of tusks (up to US$ 150,000) and horns (as much as US$ 500,000) generate extraordinary profits.
The problem is new, and accelerating rapidly
Vietnam’s thirst for powdered rhino horn is a new phenomenon. It didn’t exist 10 years ago. This isn’t based on an age-old tradition or eastern medicine.
Opportunists making outrageous claims regarding the power of rhino horn have created a booming market based on ignorance and greed. The rapid increase in the Chinese middle class is fueling the huge demand for carved ivory. Rhinos used to roam in the jungles of Vietnam. But not one rhino is left. They have all been slaughtered for their horns, and the Javan Rhino is now extinct.
Opportunists making outrageous claims regarding the power of rhino horn have created a booming market based on ignorance and greed. The rapid increase in the Chinese middle class is fueling the huge demand for carved ivory. Rhinos used to roam in the jungles of Vietnam. But not one rhino is left. They have all been slaughtered for their horns, and the Javan Rhino is now extinct.
We’ve developed a proven way to stop poaching. In one location in South Africa where up to 19 rhinos were being killed a month, none died during the six months that we flew there. The poaching stopped.
At the present rate of killing, all elephants and rhinos will be dead within ten years, but you can help us assure that that doesn’t happen. You can literally help save these magnificent animals from extinction.
Someday you will be able to tell your grandchildren, “Elephants and rhinos are still here because I helped to fund the program that saved their lives.”
We have the technology, we have the people, we have the experience, we know it works. Now, we just need your support.
PLEASE DONATE
In the paypal notes please put for DRONES
Friday 6 March 2015
The last stronghold until extinction - Virunga
The last stronghold until extinction - Virunga
Intro about the Virunga park
VIRUNGA IS THE INCREDIBLE TRUE STORY OF A GROUP OF BRAVE PEOPLE RISKING
THEIR LIVES TO BUILD A BETTER FUTURE IN A PART OF AFRICA THE WORLD'S
FORGOTTEN AND A GRIPPING EXPOSE OF THE REALITIES OF LIFE IN THE CONGO
A small corridor in a great continent lies the last Silver back
Colony of Apes
Without the rangers there would be no park. Over 130 have been killed protecting
the park leaving wives and children behind in the name of conversation.
This is just not about just the Ape but all species of Fauna and Flora
Meet the Rangers who risk their lives to protect gorillas and other wild life
as they fight to keep the park safe
The sting operation
Click image to website
PLEASE DONATE
YOU WILL BE NOT JUST DONATING TO THE PARK
BUT FOR ALL INVOLVED IN ITS
BUT FOR ALL INVOLVED IN ITS
UP KEEP AND SAFETY OF ALL Click image
Or
NO WE THANK YOU
NO WE THANK YOU
