In the shadow of mankind – See Animals Wild

October 12, 2022October 6, 2022

Linking bear and wolf populations across Europe is the best way to preserve them longterm – is this possible?

The Pyrennes in the south west of France, and the corresponding area across the border, are a wonderful area of wilderness. There are currently about 64 bears living in this area. So where are we on the road to recovery?

Were the the entire Pyrennes mountains wild, it is thought that these mountains could support 600 bears. However, this area is not an area that is set aside for wilderness – there is a whole population of humans living in these mountains (almost 700,000 people live here).

It is thought that the bear population of the Pyrennes could potentially get to 250 in its current form.

August 29, 2022August 29, 2022

Protecting the natural world is important for the people who live near it as well as the animals

Around the globe,first world countries have been accused of demanding that emerging economies put aside large areas of land. This is in order (it is thought) to look after wildlife – for the benefit of wealthy tourists, with no regard to the population that lives nearby.

Yet, not only is this not true, it is often the basis that destructive industries use to fight against reserves of any kind.

“How dare you try to protect the lion, Tiger, chimpanzee, orangutan over the local people” is a idea regularly thrown about by vested interests. Yet, in actual fact these same businesses often totally destroy the locals way of life.

Consider the many thousands of villages in Sumatra which 50 years ago would have been deep in the rainforest – surrounded by thousands of miles of rainforest full of everything they could ever need. There are now many villages hemmed in my palm oil plantation – not only usually on stolen land, but often with owners who prosecute villagers for trespass even though it is in their own land.

This is similar in the Congo basin and the Amazon basin, as well as habitats as diverse as mountainous, forested, oceans and deserts to name just a few.

This is the purpose of our “in the shadow of mankind” listings. Our aim is to allow people the world over to profit in a way that doesn’t destroy wilderness that is left, but beings in a bit of money for the local population.

Please help spread the word.

February 18, 2018December 3, 2023

Cape leopards

Cape Leopards are a fascinating part of the leopard population of South Africa. It is estimated that there are as many as 1000 cape leopards living throughout the western cape. Now the western cape covers roughly 50,000 square miles so it is a rather large area, and they are spread across a few national parks. What is interesting about this group is that they are significantly smaller than any other group of leopards with females weighing around 20kg and males 35kg (generally leopards weigh between 60 and 70kg). Continue reading “Cape leopards”