The magnificent Royal Bengal Tiger. Sadly, only 3,000 tigers survive in the wild today. Just 3,000. Image courtesy of anekoho / FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
‘I’m not a cat person because I’ve never been bitten by a radioactive cat,’ said Ed Byrne, speaking at last night’s ZSL London Zoo ‘Roar with Laughter’ charity comedy gig. The event was hosted at Hammersmith Apollo Theatre in London, with top comedians Phill Jupitus, Andy Parsons, Jon Richardson, Sarah Kendall, Richard Herring, Ed Byrne, Lucy Porter and Greg Burns who all generously donated their time to make us roar with laughter and help ZSL to save the tiger.
The fundraiser for tigers was a lovely night out with Emily and Drew. We enjoyed the comedians and wearing our free tiger masks! I had booked the tickets weeks ago to celebrate the end of a challenging year of beekeeping. The London Zoo comedy was a poignant reminder that honeybees are not the only creatures who are disappearing.
So this week’s post is dedicated to two stripy species in need of SOS! Tigers and bees – sorry, no lions.
Save our stripes
The tiger is my favourite wild cat, so it makes me sad that these beautiful animals are endangered and may soon vanish from our forests. Only 3,000 tigers survive in the wild today and just 300 wild Sumatran tigers remain in Indonesia. Tiger populations are threatened by deforestation as humans push further into tiger territory, which has shrunk to an estimated 7% of its former size. Tigers also face threats from poaching for medicine, magic and souvenirs.
I met this lovely Sumatran tiger at ZSL London Zoo earlier this year. While I would dearly love to see tigers living free in the wild, sometimes the wild is not there.
ZSL is raising money to help save the Sumatran tiger through conservation activities in natural habitats as well as building a new Tiger Territory at London Zoo. The exhibit is due to open in spring 2013 and will cost £3.6 million to build.
If you would like to find out more about ZSL’s field conservation work in key tiger ranges including Russia, Bangladesh and Indonesia, the new Tiger Territory and how to help support the tiger SOS, visit ZSL Sumatran tiger campaign.
‘With just 300 Sumatran tigers left in the wild,’ says ZSL ‘[We want] to take action to ensure this vulnerable sub-species does not face the same fate as the Bali, Caspian and Javan tigers, now lost to the world forever.’
Bee lovely and help save the bees
A lovely bee that I saw munching on pink flowers in Regent’s Park this summer.
Loss of habitat and human activities also threaten the honeybee as well as many other bee species and insect pollinators. So I was very pleased to hear that Neal’s Yard Remedies (NYR) has re-launched the Bee Lovely Campaign to raise awareness for the plight of the bee. The campaign urges people to sign the petition to ban the use of powerful pesticides, neonictinoids (neonics), in the UK.
‘Using new technology, neonics penetrate the plant and attack the nervous system of insects that feed off them – posing a deadly threat to all pollinators. Neonics are 7000 times more toxic than DDT, a chemical pesticide the UK government banned in 1984,’ says NYR in their press release for the campaign.
The petition will be taken to Downing Street when it reaches 100,000 signatures. Last year it was signed by over 92,000 people worldwide, so please ‘bee lovely’ and spread the word! Supporters can sign the petition at NYR stores nationwide or online, click here. The petition closing date is 30 November 2012.
Tiger-bee! Orangey and stripy!
The campaign also features a beautiful range of bee-inspired products that blend organic honey with divine orange and mandarin essential oils. The Bee Lovely range includes: Bee Lovely Busy Bee Balm, Bee Lovely Bath & Shower Gel, Bee Lovely Handwash and Bee Lovely Body Lotion. A beautiful book about bees accompanies the Bee Lovely Campaign when you buy a product in store!
To find out more about NYR’s Bee Lovely Campaign, click here. I will be posting NYR’s blogger badge on my blog, so please share it too!
Related links
ZSL London Zoo ‘Keeper for a Day’: dreams do come true
Disappearing bees – countdown to catastrophe or one to watch?
Mrs Apis Mellifera 
Lovely post, as always!
Thanks, Amy! Lovely animals. The comedy night had a tiger mascot in fetching tiger suit – Emily and I are thinking whether we could do beekeeping in tiger suits! 😉
brill post enjoy your sunday
Thank you, Linda. It has been another animal-themed day. Hope you had a great weekend too. 🙂
My heart sinks when I read of the plight of tigers. We can only hope that people start coming to their senses and seeing this world exists for all creatures.
Me too, Donna. I hope people realise that they can share the world with others (other people and animals) in the near future.
Great post. I think it is a great campaign, everyone loves bees and perhaps through them more people will become aware of the problems of pesticides and intensive agricultural techniques, not only for the bees. People cannot afford organic fruit and vegetables but they can afford all the expensive trappings of modern life. Nowadays the cost of food seems to be the first thing people want to economise on.
I couldn’t have said it better. It is sad that everyone wants more and more, faster and faster, but are not able to see the real cost. Just a little makes a difference, like sharing a part of your garden with wildlife. These neonic pesticides are now a proven problem for insect pollinators so I hope the government sees the sense in banning neonics against the cost of losing the honeybee for the UK economy!
Have a bit of a thing about tigers. One of the most touching, romantic love scenes I have ever seen was between two tigers in a documentary. Because they are so solitary, their approaches to each other are so tentative and surprisingly playful. Ahhh.
Aw, I share your thing for tigers! They are the most magnificent animals and tiger cubs are among the cutest things in the world. I wish people would realise that habitat loss is a major problem for wildlife across the world. If we continue to take the wild away from wild animals, where will they live except in zoos and safari parks? 😦
I signed the petition. I hope the less than environmentally friendly UK government listens to this important petition.
Thank you, every voice makes a difference! I wish the UK government would take the plight of bees, and other native species/our environment, and put it higher on the agenda. How are plans to get your bees next year?
I am doing the ground work by reading up on the subject, and will soon join my local beekeeping group. I am looking at various locations for the bees.
Autumn and winter is a great time for beekeepers to read, there are so many good bee books. The BBKA have a helpful reading list and many associations often have a library for members to borrow books: http://www.bbka.org.uk/members/education__training/bee_books1
Awesome, thank you for the link. Winter to me is a time of reflection and planning. As nature sleeps I prepare for when it awakens again.
Beautiful!