Now Spring has Sprung

The fourth series of Springwatch will air later at 20:00 BST on BBC2, for all you Brits out there and for other people who might receive the channel. Springwatch is coming live from Norfolk this year, and will be following many animal families like usual. Later on in the series they should be announcing the results of the survey to see when Spring arrived.

Catch it every Monday to Thursday at the time above for three weeks. There is also a spin-off for pre-schoolers.

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The Devil's Way

They may look scary, and not appealing, but they are. To me they are, anyway.

The Tasmanian Devil, named because it looks like to a demon to some people and it only lives in the Australian state of Tasmania, is being wiped out. But for once, it isn't our fault.

They are getting cancer. The marsupials bite each other, and that is what it believed to be spreading the disease.

Tens of thousands have lost their lives since the nineties, the decade before the one we are currently in. It is feared that the mammals could be gone for good within five years. That means we'll have until 2013 at the latest to see these creatures. That's only if we don't do anything to help.

The Australian government has been trying to think of ways to help the carnivores. One way has already been put into action. The healthy animals have been moved to other parts of the country, where D.F.T.D. has not struck (that's Devil Facial Tumour Disease to you and me).

I hope the species is saved before it's too late. I would love to see one in the wild. I did visit Sydney for two days a few years back, on the way back from New Zealand, but that is miles away from Tasmania.

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Going, One by One

Animals are dying, one by one. The Zoological Society of London and the World Wildlife Fund tries to keep track of 1400 species, but more than one in four individual creatures are now dead.

Marine species are the worst affected. Hammerhead Shark populations are falling extremely fast, and the Baiji is feared extinct.

Pollution, farming, over-fishing & hunting are the main reasons. Not only are populations declining, one in every hundred species becomes extinct each year due to human activity.

This is being called one of the "Great Extinction Episodes" of Earth.

I hope the species recover and have a good future, however unlikely that may be.

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Three Years 'til Death

There is a very big danger about. Orangutans in Borneo are the victims. And this is why.

Within three years, the largest population of wild orangutans might not be on Borneo anymore. Within three years, they could all be dead.

2011 could see the end. And it's our fault.

As much as I hate to say it, we are doing this. Palm oil is a very big trade, and it comes at a very big price. The price of the rainforest.

Orangutans are endangered anyway, but this just adds to it. There are only 20,000 left in Borneo, a decline from 31,000 in 2004. It is vital that they survive.

If the government there doesn't do anything to stop this terror, the mammals will become homeless and starve to death. If they do find food, it will be the palm oil seeds, which means farmers will be poaching them.

These orangutans are entering their darkest days.

This story makes me extremely upset and extremely angry. I hope something helps them to survive.

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The Return of the Cull

Last week, the government of South Africa announced that a ban on elephant killing is to be lifted. It is meant to help other wildlife species in the area. I previously posted about the government thinking about this. You can read that post here.

The ban was introduced thirteen years ago, in 1995, because the numbers were falling fast. The numbers have more than doubled since then.

But it isn't all bad news. The mammals will only be killed if other ways of controlling them (such as better enclosures) don't work. Although many animal rights campaigners want the ban reintroduced.

I personally do not agree with the cull. I hope they do find way of keeping all creatures safe.

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Wildlife and You: May 2008

So this is the fourth of its kind, when it should be the fifth. There may not have been an April 2008 version, but that doesn't mean I'm stopping these! So let's get started!

This month, things are meant to be getting hotter. In the later days, birds that Summer (Northern hemisphere) or Winter (Southern hemisphere) in your country might well be arriving. So keep your eyes peeled for them.

The mating season is in full swing. Many birds in the Northern hemisphere would have laid their eggs by now, with some beginning to hatch. Mammals, also, would have cubs, pups, or whatever they're called in that certain species.

If you have any photos, please send them in via the usual address. I haven't actually received any at all, unfortunately.

Nevertheless, keep spotting!

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