Ida-May Jones

The past few months have had a rough effect on the UK Wildlife. With ongoing arguments between the government, farmers and the animal loving community over the badger cull fiasco I decided to attend, and film, a rally against the cull taking place in Bristol. 

The story is blasting it's way around our internet as we speak, Melissa Bachman - a US TV presenter who stars in a series called Winchester Deadly Passion - has been bombarded with accusations and angry comments after posting a picture of herself next to a lion she has just shot and killed. A public petition has been created to ban her from South Africa stating: "She is an absolute contradiction to the culture of conservation this country prides itself on." But don't people know that this is an event that happens continuously in South Africa? Don't ban the girl, ban the sport! 

This is a quote from 18 year old Boyan Slat talking on Ted Talks last year. He has a major concern - something that I wasn't even aware of until this week (thanks to a talk from UWE's biology lecturer Mark Steer) but should be shouted out far and wide: Plastics are getting into our rivers, waterways and eventually making it out into our oceans. In fact our oceans are so overloaded with plastics that a clean-up has been deemed virtually impossible... It's not just the big pieces, but over time these plastics are broken down into what is called "microplastic" - microscopic pieces that are causing irreversible damage to the environment. 

Have you heard of the Ross Sea? If not read on. It's also known as The Last Ocean, the most pristine ocean in the world today. That is, it was, until in 1996 a single fishing boat from New Zealand was sent down to check out the grounds as a location for fishing. With the discovery of the Antarctic Toothfish fleets of fishing boats from across the globe descended and began to destroy the last untouched ocean on our precious planet. Now that we are beginning to see the effects on the ecosystem can we convince enough people that it is worth saving? 

 I realised that I have been writing this blog for the past three months and ranting about various wildlife issues I haven't really set down WHY it means so much to me, and why I believe that one of the most important tasks ahead of the human race is to save and protect our wildlife.