Saving Amur Leopards!

AMUR LEOPARDS NEED SAVING!!!

Fewer than 35 Amur Leopards remain in the wild, they are the worlds most endangered cat and seriously need our help!

There are adverts on the telly pleading for people to help and the WWF and working tirelessly to get as many people to donate money in order to save these beautiful creatures. The main reasons for them becoming so endangered is due to logging, forest fires and clearing of land to be used for farming; so as this is all humans doing do you not think we owe them something back by trying to save them!?

They are one of the worlds many most elusive but amazing creatures and there is so much more we can learn from them if we ensure them the future they deserve, would it not be a shame to let them die due to our own selfishness?

You can find out more and help to save the Amur Leopards by visiting the WWF website, you could make a huge difference even by doing the smallest things such as donating a small amount or even by just spreading the word as i am. You could save an Amur Leopards life and therefore provide the whole species with a future!

There is not much time left so ACT NOW.

Sun Bear

Scientific name - Helarctos Malayanus.

Where are they found - Primarily found in the tropical rainforests of South East Asia.

Size - They are the smallest member of the bear family standing at approximately 4ft (1.2m) in length and weighing less that 145lbs (65kg). Males also tend to be slightly larger than females in this species. 

Hibernation - Sun Bears do not hibernate so they can reproduce all year round and can have 1-2 cubs per year.

What they eat - They are also known as Honey Bears because of how much they love honey. They're omnivores so they will eat a wide variety of foods but they mainly eat invertebrates and fruits.

Predators - Sun Bears have few predators, other than humans. They are classed as vulnerable due to a recent decline in their population caused by the hunting of 'nuisance bears' that destroy crops and the widespread poaching driven by a market for their fur and their bile which is used in Chinese medicine. 

Sun Bears are sometimes captured or bred to be domestic pets; a role of which they are considered desirable, due to their relatively inoffensive nature and small size in comparison to other bears.

Unlike other bears, Sun Bears have short and sleek fur due to the lowland climates they inhabit. Dark/black fur covers the bears body, except on the chest where there is a pale orange/yellow marking in the shape of a horseshoe and similar coloured fur around its muzzle and eyes. This is what gives the Sun Bear its name.

THE FIRST-TIME NATURALIST Book Review

THE FIRST-TIME NATURALIST

Amazing book written by Nick Baker, a must read for anyone interested in the natural world! Its like a bible for people who want to go into a naturalist related career!! Everything from equipment needed, to how to track animals and identify them, experiments and things you can observe, how to build things such as a bird box and worm enclosure, and other things too!!! RECOMMENDED. 

Planet Earth Live

If anyone has not watched Planet Earth Live then they should start watching it now!! The first episode is one BBC iPlayer and the others are on over the next three weeks, also go to www.bbc.co.uk/planetearthlive for all the latest! AMAZING!!!

Mother Croc

Mother Croc - No animal is heartless

Mother Croc was a programme on NG Wild about Nile Crocodiles as mothers; it shows you how they are not cold-blooded heartless killers but dedicated, loving mothers who will do all sorts to protect their babies. It was filmed in Tanzania, Africa and not only tells the story of mother crocodiles but also shows some amazing footage not only of crocodiles but also of other African wildlife such as cheetahs and hippopotamus! It really is a must see!!

Crocodiles will gorge on food before June in order to build up fat reserves for the drought, this usually involves them eating animals such as zebras. In June, the rivers dry up and the crocodiles tend to only eat fish, this is also around the time that they tend to mate and lay their eggs. They can lay as many as 60 eggs at a time! They tend to build nests across the river bed and will usually nest next to other nesting females; if they nest away from the others then their eggs are a lot less likely to survive. Females will then guard their nests for around the next 3 months normally without eating and never leaving it for very long! The biggest danger to the Nile Crocodiles eggs is the Nile Monitor; throughout the incubation period of the eggs the mother crocodile will constantly be harassed by this creature. The only reason a mother crocodile will leave its egg is so that it can return to the water or seek out some shade to cool down, without doing this the animal will lose all of its energy and therefore not be able to protect the eggs. Another reason for them to leave the nest is that if they nest on their own away from the others it will be very hard for them to keep the nest secluded and if it gets invaded they may retreat. Crocodile eggs need moisture but if there is too much then the embryos can drown so crocodiles are very careful about where they build their nests. 30 degrees celcius is the perfect temperature for the eggs to mature but the mothers can't stay in the sun at this temperature for more than ten minutes. The temperature also determines the sex of the eggs; cooler temperatures produce more females and warmer temperatures produce more males. October is roughly when the eggs start to hatch; they call out to their mothers who then dig them up, place them gently in their mouths and carry them down to the river. The eggs normally hatch within hours of each other so the mother is likely to be doing this all day or night. Due to crocodile mothers commonly nesting so near to each other they can sometimes become confused as to which nest is who's and so this can cause conflict but in the end, for their babies, crocodiles will often team up to raise the young they are fighting over in order to give them a better chance of survival! The mothers will then care for their offspring for months after they have hatched so that their babies have the best chance!

A certain type of African bird also pays an important role in assisting this process because they actually lay their own eggs around where the crocodiles are nesting and they then help to scare away the Nile Monitors in return for the crocodiles to protect them from other predators such as hippopotamus. The birds eggs even hatch the same time as the crocodiles eggs so that they get to leave the banks of the river when the crocodiles do!

As you can see, you gain a lot of information from programmes like these and I think they are truly amazing! They show an whole new side to animals that so many people are scared of and they help people to relate to them. I really do think that programmes like this are going to be a massive help with conservation efforts of certain species and that they could even save whole species of animals in the future! How could you still hate an animal that is so dedicated to its future and its babies!? 

Mother Croc Programme

Mother Croc programme on tonight on NGW at 8pm!

Going to be reviewing it later this week!

Save the Tigers!

All species of Tiger are either extinct or seriously endangered. The main reasons for this are due to people hunting them for their pelt (skin and fur), for their meat and also for their body parts which can be used in local medicines. They are also endangered due to increasing habitat loss. In all, there are fewer than 2000 Bengal Tigers left in the wild, and fewer than 500 Siberian/Amur Tigers, Malayan Tigers, Sumatran Tigers and Indochinese Tigers left in the wild. Other species of Tiger are thought to be extinct such as the South China which although there are still roughly 50 Tigers in captivity, none have been sighted in the wild for many years.

Due to people constantly destroying more and more of prime Tiger habitat, we are putting more and more pressure on them to survive, and they aren't going to go down without a fight. This is why they are getting an increasingly bad name due to them having more and more run ins with people and most of these leading to the death of either the person or the tiger. Whenever a Tiger is killed by a person people don't pay much attention, but as soon as a person is killed by a Tiger there is uproar and it simply isn't fair. They are trying to survive and protect their own just as we do and we need to understand that. We should protect and respect these animals, not try to wipe them off the face of the Earth! Just imagine how you would feel if you were one of those Tigers.

Each of these types of Tiger bring a different thing to the world and they are all very important. The Sumatran Tiger is the smallest but has the largest canine teeth and the Siberian Tiger is the largest. Overall the Tiger is the largest big cat species in the world and we can't lose these magnificent creatures due to our own selfishness! We need to all start doing things now, before it is too late.

To help save the Tigers there is a number of things you can do; you can donate to an organisation such as the WWF or 'adopt a Tiger'. You can support the laws and bans that are put in place to stop the killing of Tigers by signing petitions and things. You can support zoos which participate in Tiger conservation and research and you can even volunteer yourself in these zoos or even abroad to help to save the Tigers!

We need to take action before it is too late.