Category: Help a species

1. Koalas need our help as bushfires rage in Australia

   Posted on 4:00pm Friday 1st Nov 2019

   Wildfires often hit the headlines now, but the media are slow to consider the impact they have on wildlife.  Sometimes they say “nobody died” and I really wonder if they are aware of the millions of animals who have been injured or, worst, died in the fires. And at the moment wildfires are raging, in California and New South Wales. In New South Wales, they are burning across Port Macquarie.  It’s estimated that between 20,000 to 48,000 koalas live both here and in Queensland.  They are heading for extinction here as early as 2050. It’s feared that a large number of koalas may have died in the flames.  Others will be homeless as their trees have burnt down; more will be suffering from smoke inhalation or burns. WWF Australia urgently needs all our support to help restore koala habitat and to care for injured wildlife.   Every single koala matters. Please help koalas today and help WWF Australia plant the first 10,000 trees  WWF have launched a plan to save koalas and to help protect and restore the trees they call home. The WWF Plan is called Two Billion Trees, and it’s a commitment to secure two billion trees over the next decade.  These will provide vulnerable wildlife with safe homes by: • Stopping excessive tree-clearing • Protecting existing forest and woodland • Restoring and planting new trees Whatever the outcome for koala numbers, their habitats will need to be restored, both for koalas and other wildlife.  The thing about koalas is that they are dependent on trees.  They need them for their food, their shelter and their safety.   Trees make a difference to koalas.  Without trees, they have nowhere to call home. So the area where the effort is to be concentrated is a koala triangle, between south west Sydney, Gennedah and Noosa.   It’s the heartland of Australia’s healthiest wild koala populations, but it’s threatened, not just by bushfires but by development. Please help plant the first 10,000 urgently needed trees in critical koala habitat, to save our precious koalas before they’re gone forever.

    

2. Australian Koalas need help - here's how you can get involved

   Posted on 8:00pm Saturday 5th Oct 2019

   Koalas have been having a critical time, thanks to punishing and devastating heatwaves and people destroying their habitat.  As a result, many are having no choice but to go into urban areas – where threats such as traffic and dogs threaten their very survival on a daily basis. In short, koalas are in crisis. But there is hope, and a way you can help, wherever you are in the world. IFAW (that’s the International Fund for Animal Welfare) have joined forces with Bangalow Koalas in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. Bangalor Koalas help restore essential wildlife corridors which enable koalas to move safely across the landscape – their own motorway network, if you like. The aim is to rescue orphaned koalas and restore vital koala corridors. They need somewhere safe to survive and thrive.   The will is there, and they need the cash to turn the will to do something about it into action and a result for the koalas. The goal is to raise £100,000 to plant 10,000 trees, but there’s more to it than that. Many koalas need help and a second chance to have a life in the wild.   Aminya is one of these; she lost her mother from a terrible fall at the age of 4 months, and so needed long term care.  Friends of the Koala stepped up and looked after her.  They prepare specialised milk formula, gather fresh leaves and give the koala joeys those essential life skills they need to survive in the wild.  Every single koala matters, so every single koala needs care, whether in the hands of Friends of the Koala or in the wild. Here's how your donation gift could help koalas: A gift of £14 could feed a koala at the nursery for one day  A gift of £40 could provide four eucalyptus trees  A gift of £110 could help us plant a section of eucalyptus forest for wildlife in need  A gift of £196 could feed a koala at the nursery for two weeks Of course, it isn’t just koalas who need trees.  Birds, squirrel gliders, possums, bats and insects all need them as well.  So your gift will help koalas AND a whole number of other species! We need to act now if we want to protect koalas and Australia’s animals from extinction.  DONATE HERE.

3. Help pygmy hippos in Liberia

   Posted on 8:00pm Thursday 12th Sep 2019

   Head to the jungles of Liberia, and you’ll find the absolutely adorable pygmy hippopotamus.   They enjoy spending their time bobbing along rivers, plodding up the riverbank and searching for tasty leaves. Enter a group of illegal miners.  They’ve hacked and hammered their way deep into the ancient forest, hunting for rare metals.  They brought about rampant deforestation and poaching all around them and the hippos have nowhere to run to.    All but 3,000 are dead.  They are heading towards extinction. But there’s a chance to enable local rangers to protect the hippos’ home - and making it impossible for the mining to ever return in the future. They are working with local people who want to protect the ancient forests as much as Fauna and Flora International do.   Please help the pygmy hippos and keep them free to romp and stomp around their home in peace. Will you donate £3 to help Fauna and Flora International and keep the forests free from illegal mining and care for the pygmy hippos and keep them safe Please go to Fauna and Flora's website to donate

    

4. Rhino horn belongs only to rhinos

   Posted on 9:00pm Wednesday 11th Sep 2019

   Do you agree with the statement: Rhino horn belongs only to rhinos? If you do agree with it, please sign the African Wildlife Foundaton’s pledge, saying “Rhion horn belongs only to rhinos”.  World Rhino Day takes place on 22 September, and the AWF says we must make one thing clearer than ever:  Rhino horns are not for sale. Let’s make it very clear: Rhino horns do not cure cancer or hangovers or any ailments. But the demand for rhino horn is there, as people believe it has medicinal benefits and is a symbol of high social status. Rhino horn is made of keratin – as human nails are – and it is as effective as curing cancer as chewing on your fingernails is. RHINO HORN BELONGS ON A RHINO. There are less than 6,000 critically endangered black rhinos left.  Unfortunately, poachers, traffickers and consumers don’t care.   We must stop them. Please give rhinos your support on this World Rhino Day.   Join one of 50,000 wildlife advocates and fight for these rhinos. Sign the AWF’s pledge if you agree that rhino horn belongs on a rhino.

    

5. Rare Asiatic black bear spotted in the DMZ between North and South Korea

   Posted on 4:35pm Thursday 9th May 2019

   There’s news from South Korea of a rare Asiatic black bear having been spotted in the DMZ. The DMZ is the Demilitarised Zone which divides North and South Korea.  The area is very cut off and as a result, it’s become a pristine nature reserve.  In fact, the DMZ has become a real haven for plants and wildlife;   the South Korean government predict that over 100 endangered species call the area home and the Ministry of Environment estimates that there are over 5,097 animal and plant species there, such as the red-crowned crane and black-faced spoonbill.  It’s thought there are about 3,050 red-crowned cranes left in the world so they are a very endangered species indeed.  However, it’s also a migrating route for birds and the Eurasian lynx has been spotted in the area too. Although South Korean soldiers reported seeing bears in the past, there wasn’t any photographic evidence.   The South Korea National Institute of Technology installed cameras – and the bear was spotted! KBS News   The bear seen is thought to be between 8 to 9 months old, weighing about 25 to 35 kilograms.   They think the bear is a descendant of the Asiatic black bears lived in the DMZ for a long time The DMZ is 155 miles long and 2.5 miles wide and it runs across the Korean Peninsula.  It’s heaviliy mined and fortified with barbed wire with surveillance cameras and electric fending.   It was created after the armistice which brought an end to the 1950-53 Korean War. Hiking trails are being established in the DMZ now as recently ties between North and South Korea have improved.