» Listings for 2019

1. 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. ©IFAW 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.  ©Friends of the Koala 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.

2. Help pygmy hippos in Liberia

   Posted on 8:00pm Thursday 12th Sep 2019

   ©Fauna and Flora International 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

    

3. 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.

    

4. Sign the petition! Donald Trump, President of the United States: STOP Shooting Endangered Black Rhinos

   Posted on 8:00pm Saturday 7th Sep 2019

   All I can say about this petition is PLEASE READ IT, SIGN IT AND SHARE, SHARE, SHARE. How can anyone shoot animals for SPORT for goodness sake?  The organisers of the petition have asked people to share the text below this banner. I signed a petition on Action Network telling Donald Trump, President of the United States to STOP Shooting Endangered Black Rhinos. BACKGROUND The US government has issued a permit to US trophy hunter Chris D. Peyerk of Shelby Township, Michigan to shoot a Namibian black rhino for ‘sport’ and bring back its skin, skull and horn into the US. Black rhinos are critically endangered. Just 5,000 remain in the wild. It follows a case brought by trophy hunting lawyer John J Jackson, who runs an organisation called ‘Conservation Force’. Jackson is a former President of Safari Club International, the world’s largest trophy hunting group. ‘Conservation Force’ campaigns for hunters to bring home trophies of threatened species. It also lobbies for changes in the law to make it easier to hunt vulnerable species - including lions, leopards, cheetahs, elephants and polar bears, as well as rhinos. It sued Delta airlines when they previously refused to carry a black rhino trophy. It also sued the state of New Jersey when it tried to stop hunting trophies of threatened species coming in through its air and sea ports. Jackson has been on at least 38 elephant hunts alone. His trophy room includes the heads and bodies of giraffes, zebras, bears, buffaloes, cougars, leopards, rhinos, lions, wolves, and numerous species of deer and antelope. Several large elephant tusks form the centrepiece of his collection. He has written the following about trophy hunting: “Nothing has been so consistently fulfilling to me as my hunting. “It has stirred an insatiable appetite for more. Without it I would somehow be incomplete. “I can plainly see the African lion that has leaped into the air the moment its head snaps backward and explodes with smoke from my bullet.” ‘Conservation Force’ has made a number of donations to IUCN and has secured positions on key IUCN committees. Despite not being a scientist, Jackson has been a member of IUCN’s Lions specialist group. IUCN, through it’s ‘Traffic’ initiative, lobbied CITES delegates to vote AGAINST the proposal to protect giraffes at the recent Geneva wildlife trade conference – as did Safari Club International. The Species Survival Network, an alliance of 80 conservation groups around the world, strongly supported the measure which was proposed by a number of African nations. The conference also voted to double the number of black rhinos that can be shot by trophy hunters for so-called 'sport'. John Jackson and other ‘Conservation Force’ lobbyists were present at the CITES conference. Join me and take action   These animals need our help and all our voices.

    

5. Basking Sharks in Scotland need your support

   Posted on 9:00pm Sunday 1st Sep 2019

   Basking sharks love Scotland (and who can blame them – it’s stunning).   They head to the rich waters off the west coast every summer and they take a long journey to take there, coming from as far away as the Canary Islands. There’s an opportunity to really make a difference to basking sharks. The Scottish Government has launched a consultation on Marine Protected Areas – including one specifically for Basking Sharks. They are now considered vulnerable.  Although they have been a protected species I Scotland since 1998, they face threats in Scottish seas from fishing gear, boat traffic and micro-plastics. Back in the 19th and 20th centuries, 100,000 basking sharks were hunted in the North Atlantic……   so there aren’t as many of them left as there used to be. The proposed Sea of the Hebrides Marine Protected Area will give extra protections to basking sharks and other species such as minke whales.  Currently, it is proposed that 4 new Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) be added to Scotland’s exiting MPA areas.   These areas will protect important habitats and large mobile species such as Risso dolphins, Minke Whales and Basking Sharks. Find out more and give your support here.