How can there be any legitimate argument to support canned hunting ? I can't think of anything more inhumane cruel or gutless than to shoot a captive animal. What kind of people are they that can engage in such appalling behaviour that gives an animal no chance whatsoever ? My only conclusion is that they are people who have serious psychopathic personalities and that canned hunting gives them the freedom to express this. That a well respected US hunting organisation The Dallas Safari Club has come out and criticised the practice speaks volumes about the awfulness of it all. Their argument that it deprives the concept of hunting of a fair and level playing field does little for me however. All hunting is an atrocious pastime that has no value on any level I can see. We as humans can surely find it in our hearts and minds the respect that animals deserve by treating them more like we would expect to be treated ourselves and not as a form of murderous entertainment.

Good news from Zimbabwee that the new president Emmerson Mnangagwa has banned the live trade in baby elephants and also made truly positive commitments to protect other wildlife that has seriously suffered under the Mugabe regime. A lot of work will need to be done to put right 30 years of suffering created by Robert Mugabe who had no interest in working with conservation organisations or doing anything to protect the precious wildlife of Zimbabwee now there is definite hope.

Great news just in that a major player in the smuggling racket involving ivory and body parts of African animals has been arrested in Thailand. It's a huge event catching these people especially the ones at the top of chain and Boonchai Bach is a ringleader of a major smuggling syndicate known to authorities. He has been active for at least 10 years in the poaching and supply of animal parts into South East Asia. This is wonderful news and a further step towards a safer world for animals without trash like this poacher predating and getting rich off the numerous animals that have died for nothing. 

There is no doubt that the environment and the wildlife within America will suffer at the hands of Trump who clearly doesn't care about it. Yet more news of his dismantling of protection for animals and this time it's removing the Canada lynx from the endangered list. Anyone watching this president would have no doubts about his sentiments to the natural world, he quite simply doesn't think it has any value which shouldn't come as any surprise, all he cares about is money and his own enormous ego. I only hope that his term as president is short. The fragile wildlife of American faces just so many problems in surviving, mining exploration, busy roads, lack of protection and of course the appalling hunting groups notorious for their total disregard for animals. How the people of America voted this disgrace of a man as their president totally mystifies me when he had so clearly shown not just a disregard for wildlife but women and disadvantaged groups as well. A man so clearly out of touch with so many important issues in the world impacting on environments and the wild world, when he could do so much and chooses not to. It makes me feel incredibly sad that so much of the good work of conservationists that was supported by Obama is just being dismantled and eroded. 

An interesting experiment with a mirror in the Gabon forest shows two leopards investigating. The cub far more curious than the mother but their behaviour makes me ponder the intelligence of animals. How do we guage that ?