Fact Attack: Endangered Species No. 113 – The Asiatic Lion

Mungai and the Goa Constrictor

“Living wild species are like a library of books still unread. Our heedless destruction of them is akin to burning the library without ever having read its books”
John Dingell

Possibly one of the most persecuted animals in history, this majestic and noble creature has suffered a shocking catalogue of violence and abuse over the past two millennia or more.

It has been used as a weapon, killed for sport and entertainment, stolen for zoo exhibits, graced the floors and trophy rooms of the unconcerned, been poisoned and electrocuted by villagers protecting their cattle, drowned in open-pit wells and is now, in the face of dwindling tiger numbers, being hunted for body parts for use in Chinese Traditional medicine and other applications.

Populations were first dramatically and critically depleted, and in some areas wiped out, in Roman times.  Had you lived as a Christian in ancient Rome, you might…

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Fact Attack: Endangered Species No. 112 – The Polar Bear

Mungai and the Goa Constrictor

“Global warming is no longer a philosophical threat, no longer a future threat, no longer a threat at all.  It’s our reality”
Bill McKibben

Global warming – Is it really a myth or an absolute reality? Is it part of the natural climatic cycle or a panic situation created by scientists, climate experts, industrialists and meteorologists; aided and abetted by self-serving politicians?

This increasingly important issue has been debated for decades – with many conflicting opinions being aired globally, especially by those with a vested interest in delaying any action to address it.  But whichever camp you have a foot in, there is no doubt the Arctic ice cap IS receding, and if we don’t do something about it soon, we WILL lose the terrifyingly beautiful polar bears forever.  Sixty to one hundred years is the predicted time left for these spectacular animals, and the world will be a lesser place…

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Fact Attack: Endangered Species No. 111 – Dorcas Gazelle

Mungai and the Goa Constrictor

“We cannot have peace among men whose hearts delight in killing any living creature. By every act that glorifies or even tolerates such moronic delight in killing we set back the progress of humanity”
Rachel Carson

The small and graceful Dorcas gazelle continuously falls prey to what is left of the indigenous four-legged occupants of North Africa and the Middle East. Natural hunters such as lion, caracal, Arabian wolves, cheetah and leopard. But, the efforts of all these predators combined are no match for humans and the havoc they have wreaked upon the species. Little surprise to most, of course, since this seems to be the prevailing cause of decline in ninety-eight per cent of all wildlife today.

Although the Dorcas gazelle has long been, and still is, subjected to traditional hunting for meat, hides and horns, the killers have now upped the ante.

Current, uncontrolled pursuance of…

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Earth Hour – 29 March 2014

Mungai and the Goa Constrictor

Today, Saturday 29th March 2014, billions of peoplein over one hundred and fifty countries (that means over seven thousand cities) will turn out the lights. A World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) initiative, dating back to 2007, has once again united the world in an effort to bring attention to energy consumption, sustainability and climate change issues.

This remarkable annual global occurrence takes place between 8.30 pm and 9.30 pm (YOUR) local time.  Starting in New Zealand and ending in Tahiti, lights of some of the world’s most iconic monuments, landmarks and skylines will be switched off. Many will also turn off their televisions, computers, Xboxes and PlayStations, and any other power-driven gadgets they have.  

This is undoubtedly the largest ever collaboration to help safeguard the planet, and numbers of participants are growing every year. The hour has, in many places, evolved into something much longer. Environmental projects are taking…

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Fact Attack: Endangered Species No. 110 – Przewalski’s Horse

Mungai and the Goa Constrictor

“A horse is a thing of such beauty. . .none will tire of looking at him as long as he displays himself in his splendor”
Xenophon

By the early part of the twentieth century, huge numbers of Przewalski’s foals had been captured by exotic animal traders, the most going to a German merchant named Carl Hagenbeck. They were shipped to Asian and European zoos and private collectors. The horse had been described by Colonel Nikolai Mikhaylovich Przewalski,  a Russian geographer, only twenty years earlier. Once word was out, they all wanted one.

Carl Hagenbeck, almost single-handedly, managed to decimate most of the herds of the world’s only extant species of truly wild horse.  Although Przewalski’s horse had been over-hunted for centuries, the species had never before experienced this sort of devastation. Very few foals survived capture and the arduous journeys they were forced to make. And the methods…

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Fact Attack: Endangered Species No. 109 – The Philippine Eagle

Mungai and the Goa Constrictor

“To cherish what remains of the Earth and to foster its renewal is our only legitimate hope of survival”
Wendell Berry

I always think of the mythical Phoenix when I see this beautiful and critically endangered bird. Not in as much as its story has any real bearing on the bird of the mythologies of the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, et cetera – though it would be marvellous if numbers could rise anew from the kaingin ashes – but because its stunning, elongated crest feathers, resembling a war-like headdress, its huge wings and its long tail more-or-less fulfil my visual expectations of the legendary, sacred firebird.

But the majestic Philippine eagle is far from mythical, although in some parts it may seem so. Formerly known as the monkey-eating eagle, it was once abundant in the Philippines. Now it exists on only four of the Philippine islands: Luzon in the north…

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