Is the government finally going to ban hunting trophy import

Back in 2019, the conservative government passed a law banning the import of trophies from animals hunted abroad.

For most, a photo like this is disgusting. However, is there anywhere in the world where this is a necessary evil to protect the remaining wildlife? And how will the governments rules effect this?

Despite their status, various wild species are hunted in the wild and in theory this law would stop this.

Now, you might notice that it is now almost 2022, so what happened? Well it was announced in 2019 queens speech but has not been brought forwards by the conservatives who are currently in power (and suggested the law in the first place). Worryingly, they have not actually announced a timetable of when they will try to enact this law! Given it has been 3 years before they announced it, no firm timetable being in place would suggest that this is still not a certainty. Delay is particularly concerning, as many Conservative supporters are wealthy, so it is reasonable to think that wealthy donors are the reason that this law is taking so long to come into place.

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Shell has started to use seismic tests around South Africa looking for Oil

Despite a desperate attempt to halt this exploration, Shell has started seismic exploration of the ocean floor off the coast of South Africa. Why does this matter? Currently, this sea is an incredibly biodiverse and healthy ecosystem.

Importantly, these seas are home to a slowly recovering population of Southern right whales, Seismic tests require incredibly loud sounds which can damage whales hearing.

Although you only normally see a small part of these huge whales, occasionally they will breach, showing their size

Southern right whales are found throughout the southern hemisphere with populations migrating to South Africa, Argentina and Australia.

Current estimates range from 7000-13000. It is difficult to estimate historical numbers, but it is thought that the Southern right whale would have numbered between 55,000 and 70,000 at a minimum. It is true that the southern right whale is in a far better state than the Northern right whale, (pre whaling it is thought the northern right whale had a population between 9000, and 21,000, with no more than 400 remaining today) however this does not say much. New Zealand is thought to have landed around 40,000 southern right whales during the whaling period.

All of that is to say, that the whale population of south Africa has had a hard fought recovery over the last few years, and is thought to be able to reach pre-whaling numbers by 2100.

If this new threat is allowed to proceed, the recovery of the whale is likely to be in doubt.

First known albino chimpanzee was born in Africa this summer. Unfortunately it was killed

Many species can have albinism. That is: a lower amount of pigmentation or indeed a complete lack of pigmentation. From white lions and white deer, or indeed even white grizzly bears – possibly the initial way that Polar bears evolved, albinism is not rare. Humans are also capable of having this condition – evidence is clear that humans originated in Africa, suggesting that all white humans are descended from people who had this condition.

This is unfortunately an image of the infant after it was killed by its family

Indeed, I have seen an albino child in an African village – very white, despite having 2 black parents.

Never-the-less, albino chimpanzees are rare. Now it should be noted that this group that the chimpanzee was seen in has a well documented propensity for infanticide – so it is unclear if this would be the natural reaction to an albino chimpanzee birth.

Wild travel can resume!

With the improving covid situation worldwide finally we can return to visiting wild areas of the planet. Not only has the tourist industry missed this basil so it has had a terrible impact on conservation efforts in many parts of the world.

This is because in many cases there is not enough money to protect animals without out.the tourist dollars that they bring in. Since covid start there have been very few tourists arriving in many of these countries.

Yet this situation is changing. Now, many countries in Africa are considered completely safe. There have been less infections across the whole of Africa than have been reported in the UK – now while some of this may be down to poor health care (there are slightly more people who have died from covid in Africa than the UK), clearly your risk in Africa is far lower than your risk in the UK.

My family will be travelling to Kruger in South Africa in August! Obviously I hope for this to create many stories for this site and videos for the sister YouTube channel.

My other aim is to be able to list all of the public rest stops on the website after this trip. 

What does this mean?

Currently we only list the private reserves along the borders of the Kruger. These are fantastic ways of seeing wildlife. You will be pampered indeed spoilt, by the wonderful treatment you will receive. 

However, even amongst wealthy people, the cost of these lodges can become prohibitive – a one week safari in some of these places can run to $10,000 or more per person.

Of course on this website we wish to cater for people who have large amounts of money, however we are not in this category and we want to cater for everyone.

Self-drive safaris are something that many people greatly enjoy. With a little bit of research you can quickly become competent at finding the animal to yourself (sighting maps in each rest stop help). There is something liberating about entering an area so large, and being able to go where you like as you like, exploring whichever part of the park you prefer.

On self-drive safaris your accommodation is different. Generally you have the choice of setting up your own tent, taking a hut, or in some places a mid option is a a fancy safari tent. These obviously very in price, but even in the most expensive you are likely to be spending less over your whole holiday then you would for one night on a private reserve.

For those who could afford it I would recommend to do a self-drive safari with a couple of days on a private reserve at the beginning or end of your trip.

DO CONSIDER BOOKING TRIPS ABROAD. THESE RESERVES WILL BE LESS CROWDED THAN NORMAL, AND WE CAN STOP RESERVES BEING TURNED INTO HUNTING AREAS IF WE RETURN SOON ENOUGH.

All of the partners on this site have very reasonable policies on cancelation if this is necessary because of Covid.

There is also the advantage at the moment, that most airlines have a simple policy of cancellation if advice suggests that travel is not wise.

South African cheetah to be introduced into India

This Cheetah image feels like an exclusively African view – but it shouldn’t,

There is an impressive wealth of cats living in India. From the Indian tiger (known throughout the world) to the Asiatic lions last home- the gir forests of west india (the asiatic lion once roamed across Asia, throughout southern Europe, across northern and western Africa – therefore there are probably more “Asiatic” lion in Africa than in Asia), 12,000-14,000 leopards remain in the country. The snow leopard also still roams mountains within the country. It also still has a population of clouded leopards. In other words, in terms of big cats, it has all species except Jaguar.

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DNA analysis has demonstrated significant differences between African and Asian leopards

For the majority of people, a leopard is a leopard. Sure there are quite a range of subspecies, but one generally looks rather like the other. Indeed the only significant difference people often notice is one that has not justification – that of the melanistic leopard (or black panther)

In order to disturb wild leopards as little as possible, the study took DNA samples from museum held leopard specimens all over the world.

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Only 6.5% of the worlds forests are adequately protected!

Recent analysis has shown that designating an area protected, reducing threats it faces but does not eliminate them, and the study showed that deforestation inside a protected reserve is only 41% less likely to occur.

This view is repeated all over the earth

Now this is certainly a good reduction in risk, however, this still leaves substantial risk, and leaves us with the true figure of roughly 6.5%

If the earth is to avoid crippling climate change, we need all the forest we can retain.

We must do better

Are Javas mangroves paying a price for sifting plastics

Mangroves are incredible ecosystems, Highly essential in many parts of the planet. In many parts of the planet, mangrove roots stabilize the shoreline of rivers and seas halting large losses of land.

In this role, these trees also sift out much rubbish.

while this is an extreme example we are asking the worlds Mangroves to sift too much plastic from rivers and coastal waters.
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Could Indian Lions help return the Barbary Lion? Is it even a separate species?

In some ways, recent discoveries should have been made long ago. Asiatic lions historic distribution stretched across Asia, north Africa, and Southern Europe.

Given that the Barbary Lions historic range covered the central part of this huge area, it seems reasonable that the Barbary lion and the Asiatic lion should be closely related. Yet it was only in the last few years that genetic evidence has been shown that this is indeed the case.

West African Lions do look very like the Asiatic lion
Continue reading “Could Indian Lions help return the Barbary Lion? Is it even a separate species?”
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