Cheetahs are shy and fragile creatures not at all like their more robust cousins such as lions or leopards. They face many challenges to survive especially conflicts and exploitation with humans. Sought after in the Middle East as pets for wealthy Arabs the stolen cubs often die and fail to thrive in captivity. That this beautiful cat is threatened with extinction is indisputable with their population having plummeted to around 4,000 from 100,00 in just 100 years thanks to persecution and loss of habitat. Many of the cubs are killed by other big cats and all cheetahs would rather run away from a conflict than fight simply because they aren't built for it. Their long legs and a body purpose made for legendary speed is their greatest attribute but they also need a huge territory to live in. With expanding human populations this is a great problem for the survival of the Cheetah but the least that can be done is to crack down hard on the traffickers who steal the vulnerable animals from the wild almost assigning them to a certain death. 

It's a frightening thought that without bees humanity could only survive about 4 years. That is the prediction made by Sir David Attenborough. These industrious little creatures pollinate and give life to our food sources and without them we would starve and die and yet the statistics of bee populations globally show their numbers have dropped by a third. What has caused this ? Well it's our human activities such as the overuse of pesticides that is largely responsible. Sometimes bees are exhausted and look like they are dying and I know that I have seen them on our deck. David Attenborough suggests that we can revive these little hard working creatures with sugar and water so next time you see one stop and help him out. I know I will.

It shouldn't come as any surprise that the US has more tigers kept in captivity as pets than there are in the wild, almost impossible to count the real numbers since there are no requirements to register them. That it represents a problem is clear I think. So many of these animals kept in roadside zoos for human entertainment are kept in awful conditions and not fed properly leading to health problems because of inadequate exercise and nutrition. America seems to have some general attitude of having the right to do what they want but owning big, essentially wild animals is dangerous self gratification that has very serious implications to the welfare of these beautiful creatures that should only live in the wild.

Despite Wedge-tail Eagles being a protected bird in Australia there still remains misunderstanding about them and continued persecution mainly by farmers who are protecting their livestock from predation The report that 136 of these majestic raptors have been found dead from deliberate poisoning on a farm in the Eastern Gippsland shows that ignorance can be devastating. Communities where sheep are farmed show the greatest incidence of death in the great birds which is very worrying in an age where all of us should be trying to live with nature not annihilate it because it gets in your way. A lot of these birds are blamed for deaths not caused by them which is even more worrying. I hope the people who killed these beautiful kings of the sky will be handed jail time for what is thought to be the worst mass killing of native animals ever seen. As officers comb the area it's thought that there could be more found. What a tragedy.

 Long overdue but welcome that finally the US is getting serious about the private ownership of big cats. It wasn't that long ago I read that there are more tigers kept in captivity in the US than there are in the wild which is a truly depressing and sad fact. So much suffering for these magnificent animals that are so unsuitable for confined living. They belong in the wild. It seems incredible to me that laws have not been put in place banning the ownership of big cats long before now so I hope the bill being put forward in the Senate actually comes to fruition. It would mean that no one can own and keep big cats captive without special permits granted only to those who qualify for either educational purposes or can offer them a suitable environment to live in such as a wildlife park. The shocking statistics estimate that upwards of 10,000 big cats like tigers, lions and cougars are kept captive in the U.S. by private owners. The exact number is a mystery because few records are kept. It is inhumane cruel.