Pygmy elephants in Borneo are under threat because of the loss of their natural habitat. There are currently only around 1,000 of the elephants left in Sabah which is much less than previously thought. The elephants depend of the forest for their survival but over the past forty years 40% of the forest cover has been lost due to logging and human settlements. Environmentalists are calling for measures to save the elephants remaining habitat.

Its good news for the black footed ferret, North Americas most endangered mammal. A key population that had only five individuals in 1997 has now grown to more than 220. This massive rise is attributed to the large prairie dog population in Wyoming which is the ferret’s main source of food.

A homeowner who awoke to find a burglar in his house could be arrested after the burglar fell from a window. Patrick Walsh startled the burglar who fell out a top floor window and later died. It is not yet clear whether the home owner will face any charges. Stories like this make me rather angry, yes its unfortunate the burglar fell and died but he really should not have been in the house in the first place. It seems we should welcome burglars into our house and make sure they are safe whilst they are stealing our hard earned possessions. After all burglars have rights too. In my opinion A burglar gives up all his rights when he enters a property illegally and the home owner should have every right to defend themselves from this kind of intrusion.

There seem to be a lot of stories at the moment where animals have been hurt and in some cases killed by airguns. The latest story is about Fergus the cat (pictured) who was targeted with an air gun. The pellet narrowly missed his spine. Fergus is lucky not be hurt more seriously. He is currently recovering from his injury.

I read this article where a leading environmentalist suggests walking to the shops can actually damage the environment more than if you were to use your car. His calculations are based on the fact that with food production being so energy intensive more carbon is emitted providing a person with enough calories to walk to the shop than if you were to take a car over the same distance. I find this article a little silly. People need to eat whether they walk to the shop or not. I eat the same amount every day regardless of whether I walk or do other exercise. If I were to require more food for my walk to the shop, perhaps he might have a case. Either way, I will continue to walk and leave the car at home.

It never fails to amaze me how stupid some people can be. This latest story shows that some people just don’t think about the consequences of their actions. It involves a teenager who threw methylated spirits onto a barbecue. The liquid then exploded setting fire to himself and to a nearby washing line. The teenager then ran into the house setting the hallway and stair alight as well. He and another man who tries to help him put out the fire are now in hospital with serious injuries. The teenager's condition is currently critical.

Scientists looking for a rare Chinese river have concluded after a six week search that it is likely to be extinct. The last time the dolphins were counted was in 2006 when only 17 individuals were found. This time when scientists looked for the dolphins they found none at all. If the dolphin is now extinct it will be the first large vertebrate to become extinct for 50 years. Scientists had hoped to find some Yangtze river dolphin’s to transfer them to a protected breeding program but it appears they are too late.

A tiger census to see how many wild tigers there are in India has suggested that there are now only between 1,300 and 1,500 left, that’s half the amount there was in 2002. Among the problems facing tigers is that whilst they do well in protected reserves, they do not appear to do so well in other forest areas. This survey suggests that efforts should now be concentrated on the tigers that currently live within unprotected areas.

I read this interesting article about the top 100 travel websites. It lists everything from where to stay, sites that give you inside information, holiday bargins and travel essentials. It's certainly worth checking out some of the websites it mentions.

A man who found a Christ-like image in a piece of concrete has sold it on Ebay for £500. The image was caused by a smudge of sealant and to me just looks like a smudge of sealant. It’s interesting the places these “divine” images pop up.

Is it Christ? You Decide.

The recent wet weather in the UK has managed to fool a zoo’s population of tawny frogmouths that it is monsoon season. As a result both of the zoos female birds laid eggs. The birds are from Australia and lay their eggs directly after the rainy season to ensure there is enough food for their chicks. Both eggs have now hatched to produce some cute fluffy chicks named Thunder and Storm.

I read this article about a class of junior school children that were told to copy out The Call to Prayer for handwriting practice. The Muslim text was chosen despite the fact that none of the class was Muslim. It makes me wonder how Muslims would feel about their children copying out a page from the bible. I think in today’s environment there would be outcry if the situation were reversed.

Environmentalists are concerned about a vulnerable colony of porbeagle sharks after a fisherman caught 60 in a day. The sharks, although rare are currently not a protected species. A catch of this size could be enough to wipe out a whole colony due to the fact it would be likely to contain most of the colonies breeding females. The decline of this species is likely to continue until they are listed as a protected species. If this doesn’t happen soon it may be too late.

Jersey’s population of Agile Frogs has just been given a large boost due a captive breeding programme. The programme was started to try and stop the decline of the frog which was facing extinction in Jersey. 800 frogs have now been released into the wild with a further batch due for release as soon as a suitable site can be found.

When I get an insect bite, I always seem to get a bad reaction. In the past I have been known to have weird growths the size of tennis balls appear a couple of days after being bitten. They do eventually go down but it is always very painful for a few weeks. I woke up today to find that an insect had bitten me on finger and that it was in the early stages of swelling up, so thought I would take a picture of it. Here it is below. Currently I am unable to bend the finger and it is very inflamed and itchy.

The mixture of the wet weather we have had here in the UK recently, followed by a period of warm weather has created the perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes. Experts have warned that we could see the insects arriving in large numbers within the next few weeks. As someone who has gets an allergic reaction to insect bites, I am not looking forward to a summer of swollen and itchy arms and legs.

Futher to my post yesterday about putting kitty on a diet, here is a picture of my fat cat Oscar. Oscar unlike most fat cats is a very active cat, he is always jumping around and playing with his friends but he has always been a rather large cat.

Most UK residents know that swans are protected. It appears that new arrivals to country, however, are unaware there is a law protecting them and are catching them for food. Polish and Lithuanian immigrants have been seen dragging the birds away. The remains of swans have also been found along the towpath in Leighton Buzzard.  Luton Angling Club has now come up with a sign which they hope will make it clear that swans are not for eating. Killing a swan is currently subject to a £5,000 fine and six months in jail.

I usually like to do my research before trying out a new restaurant particularly if we are going into London because the extra expense of the train fare makes for a costly evening, so you don’t want to be disappointed by as bad restaurant. That’s why I look for reviews from people that have already been there. At www.trustedplaces.com you can look up a London restaurant and see opinions of people that have visited it recently. You can also leave your own opinions once you have been there. This site, helps take a lot of the guesswork out of finding a good restaurant and I will definitely be adding it to my favourites to use in the future.