The profitability of palm oil has fueled a global ago-industrial surge that has devastated vast areas of orangutan habitat in Asia. It now threatens great ape forests in Africa. I spoke to some of the world’s leading experts in conservation on whether there is a sustainable way to meet the popular demand of this crop.
November 7, 2012
The extraction of Guinea’s large mineral wealth by China is being used as a smoke screen for the illegal trafficking of great apes from the continent say UN conservationists. As China continues to push its economic development, precious resources in some of the most remote corners of Guinea are being pumped out of the country […]
June 6, 2011
They say good things come in small packages and one new species recently discovered is so small it weighs the same as just three cups of cereal. A feather-weight among primates, Berthe’s mouse lemur (Microcebus berthae), is 10cm long and weighs around 30g. This primate is so small it even trumps the pygmy marmoset (Cebuella […]
April 23, 2011
Flying while pregnant can be risky according to doctors. Flying to an exotic location without the necessary inoculations can also be risky. So if you’re a pregnant lemur due to jet off to the British Virgin Islands and haven’t had your jabs, don’t bother packing, you’re not going anywhere. Sir Richard Branson’s plans to import […]
April 19, 2011
Sir Richard Branson is used to making headlines. His maverick approach to business catapulted him into the big league and secured his status as one of the world’s most influential entrepreneurs. But his latest idea to help save the lemurs of Madagascar has sparked controversy. The British tycoon admits it’s “a radical idea” but wants […]
April 13, 2011
Over the last few weeks I’ve been trying very hard to get some revision in every day. My end of year exam is fast approaching and I don’t want to have to resort to my childhood technique of cramming the night before. I’m too old and I’ve lost too many brain cells through alcohol abuse to even […]
March 3, 2011
Photographing wildlife is no easy task. As soon as you pull out a moving or stills camera, the elusive buggers are nowhere to be seen. This is probably why natural history documentaries take so long to produce. I was very fortunate to film wild chimps in the forests of West Uganda last year, but there […]
September 23, 2013
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