On 16 May, the UK’s Daily Telegraph brought news of an amazing secret operation to dehorn hundreds of African rhinos.

They are all threatened by increased poaching during the pandemic.

Over the next two weeks, up to 400 black and white rhinos will have their horns removed to protect them from poachers.  About 70 have been dehorned so far 

The rhinos are dehorned with electric saws.  They are sedated.  The horns grow back in about 3 years.   

The exact location in Africa is secret at the moment.  There is an enormous risk to the team of vets and rangers and the last thing anyone wants is for poachers to find out their whereabouts, for the safety of all concerned, people and animals.

The Aspinall Foundation and rescue organisation Rhino 911 are involved.   

Rhino horn can trade for tens of thousands of pounds a kilo.  It is used in medicine and as a status symbol.

This really is a last resort;  because tourists have stopped visiting as the coronavirus brought lockdown into being, poachers have stepped up to do more poaching.  

De-horning is a last resort but the situation is critical for rhinos

Once removed, the horns are photographed and taken by armed guard to a secure vault where they are categorised.

Never should we look back and say "I should have helpd them when I had the chance." 

Unknown (from Rhino 911's website)

Visit Rhino 911’s website here. 

You can donate to Rhino 911 to help.  Donations help in three ways:

1. Treating rhinos and transporting them if they  have injuries or need surgery; 
2. De-horning rhinos, which has been shown to be one of the most effective ways to deter poachers from harming and killing rhinos; 
3. Rescuing rhinos;  many are treated for injuries and airlifted to one of many rhino orphanages that Rhino 911 works with.  Plus, of course donations are given to the orphanages so that they can buy the special formula milk every growing rhino needs!
   
   

There’s a video you can watch at but carries a warning that some parts of it may be disturbing to some viewers.

Visit Rhino 911’s facebook page

Keep safe, everyone involved.

Images copyright to Rhino 911

Pangolins need all our help. 

I’ve had an email from SumOfUs.org about a petition for pangolin lovers.  They have some really good campaigns on SumOfUs and are achieving some great results

Pangolins  they need our voice, and our signature to tell Facebook "to increase  the enforcement of wildlife trafficking policy and make sure that no threatened or endangered species’ parts are sold on your platform."

Pangolins are the most trafficked animal on the planet.  Up to 2.7 million of them are killed by poachers every year.  Poachers want to sell their parts to traditional medicine shops.

A new report says that Facebook it worse, because they are letting traffickers sell pangolin parts on their platform!  Report investigators searched translations of pangolin in different languages, and there was listing after listing, even though Facebook has already signed an international coalition to stop this sort of thing! They just need to enforce their own rules.

Click to tell Facebook to shut down its disturbing pangolin trade

On the 9^th May 2020 (and 10 October 2020), it’s World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD for short). 

It’s a global campaign  and it’s dedicated to raising awareness of migratory birds and the need for countries around the world to co-operate in their efforts to save them.

This year, the theme is “Birds Connect Our World”.

It was picked to highlight how important it is to conserve and restore the ecological connectivity and integrity of ecosystems which support the natural cycles that are essential for migratory birds to survive and thrive.

The day gives us all an opportunity to discover more about migratory birds and be in awe at their amazing feats.

Migratory birds need networks with stops

Migratory birds travel far.  They need to be able to stop to rest and feed and breed. If you like, you could liken it as a journey along a motorway system and every so often, they need to stop for a break to fill their tummies and have a break.

Birds need networks of sites

They need a network of sites along these routes to breed, to feed, to rest and spend the winter.  They need different sites and habitats, irrelevant of which country they are in. They can cross incredible distances and over impossible terrains such as deserts and open seas.  They cross national borders and soar above any national agenda.  What they do need is for countries to co-operate to ensure their routes are kept open and safe for them. 

Examples of migratory birds’ routes

The East Asian – Australasian Flyway goes from the Russian Far East and Alaska through East Asia and South-East Asia, down to Australia and New Zealand – 22 countries in all.  The Flyway is home to over 50 million migratory waterbirds from over 250 different populations.   They need a system of wetlands to rest, feed and build up the energy they need for the next part of their journey. 

Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust has an example of swan’s migrating from Slimbridge up to their tundra breeding grounds in the Russian Arctic. 

RSPB has information about the Arctic tern who travels a rather amazing 22,000 miles a year – the longest migration of all – as they move continually between the Arctic summer and the Antarctic summer.  

Swifts breed throughout Europe as far north as Lapland and the Arctic Circle, reaching east across Asia to China.

So you can see how important it is that countries work together to give these birds the flight paths they need, with all the facilities along the way.

What can be done at a national/international level:

• Increase action globally via environment treaties such as the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and the Africa-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA).  These are vital to protect migratory birds on their international flight paths.
• Creating habitat corridors which are protected and which go across boundaries would really help animals who migrate and fly over national boundaries. 
• Networks of crucial sites which are imperative to migration needs must be safeguarded and managed properly.  Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas as described by BirdLife International give migratory birds all they need during their long flights - necessary feeding, breeding, nesting and sheltering grounds.

What individuals like you & me can do:

• Have a bird-friendly garden with safe shelters and a bird bath.  Give them bird food. Put feeders out of reach of cats.   
• Spread the word about how important it is to protect migratory birds. 
• Download and use birding apps – it’s a great way to connect to like-minded bird lovers.
• Find out more about migratory birds.  There are resources on the WMBD website so fly off and nest and rest there a while and peck at all the information you can.

 This day is held twice a year , on 9 May and 10 October so you could prepare an event or attend an October event.

Visit BirdLife International and the WMBD’s site here

If you’re a tiger or lion lover, take a look at AD International.

One of the things AD International does is to rescue animals from circuses. 

But years of confinement, deprivation and physical abuse has left a mark on the animals they rescue, sometimes for months, or years.

These animals need looking after, of course.  They need food, and veterinary care, often surgery, medicines and vitamin/mineral supplements to give them the quality of life they now deserve.

The ADI Wildlife Sanctuary in South Africa is now home to 42 ex-circus lions and tigers from Guatemala, Peru and Columbia, and one lion from a zoo.  They have more space and freedom than ever before.  Staff at the sanctuary are committed to giving these wonderful big cats the care they need to enjoy the rest of their lives.

An example of rescuing the animals was in Guatemala. 

The use of animals in circuses was banned there in April 2017 and the government invited ADI to help enforce the law 12 months later, because some circuses were defying the new law.

ADI launched Operation Liberty in May 2018 and established a Temporary Rescue Centre to look after the rescued animals until they could go to their new homes.

15 tigers and 6 lions were rescued;  tigers Max, Simba and Kimba went to their forever home at Big Cat Rescue in November 2019. 

17 lions and tigers went to the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary in South Africa, arriving in January.

They need long term care – and you can help! 

One way is simply to donate.  Another is to Adopt a Big Cat.

All donations to go the care of the animals.

Please support the long-term care for the animals at the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary home

And you can help stop circus suffering here. 

Good news for those of you who don’t like mowing your lawn and would love a really good reason not to bother.

Well, mowing the lawn could attract 10 x the number of bees that you would usually get!

Give bees a Super Lawn!

Lawns cut every four weeks are being called “super lawns” and it’s reckoned that they attract 4,000 bees a day on average.

However, those cut regularly to keep them neat and tidy bring in just an average of 400 bees a day.

This is a HUGE difference. 

Take part in a citizen science project:  Every Flower Counts!

This has all been worked out by charity Plantlife.   They’ve got an Every Flower Counts survey.  Nearly 2,000 households were asked how often they mow their lawns; and then they were asked to count the number of wild flowers in one squared patches.

Daisies were most abundant on lawns, followed by white clover and the violet coloured selfheal.

Asking those surveyed to count 24 different wildflowers, Plantlife could work out how much nectar the whole garden produced – and how many bees that could support.

And that’s where they discovered that one in five lawns called super lawns would entice ten times more bees.

Let your lawn grow

So Plantlife advise that we keep sections of our lawn long so that we can support wild flowers such as oxeye daisy, field scabious, knapweed and even orchids.   Daisies and white clover are short stemmed wild plants – they produce more flowers if cut back once a month.

So some parts of your lawn should have a monthly cut to boost short plants.  And we should all put aside an area for longer grass – what Plantlife call a Mohican haircut!

Bees and butterflies need different sorts of flowers.  Combine them, and the lawns in the survey produced 50lb of nectar a day – and that’s enough to support over 2 million honeybees.

Count your flowers and report in 

So our task is to work out which parts of the lawn to short cut, which to leave long, and then to put the kettle on and settle down with a cuppa and listen to the birdsong!  

And one final thing to do....

Count the flowers on your lawn and find out how many bees it can support!  The more flowers in your lawn, and the more types of flowers you've got, the more bees you'll be able to support.

Every Flower Counts takes palce from 23rd to 31st May 2020 so let Plantlife know your results!

From your results, Plantlife can calculate a National Nectar Index to show how lawns in Britain are helping to feed pollinators.  And they'll show you how you can increase the number of flowers in your lawn! 

#NoMowMay