We left Canada with plans to do so many things during our short three week visit and while there I felt like we didn’t get every thing done. But now that I am home, I am having trouble deciding what story to tell first. We did so much!
Typically I would write what happened in chronological order but I think I am going to write what I ” feel ” like writing, when I feel like writing it.
Of course going to visit Socio-Economic And Environmental Development Solutions (SEEDS) in Mongu, Barotseland, Zambia is supposed to be work. But….
My philosophy in life is that in order to do great work, you have to enjoy the ride with those around you and live each moment in the present so you don’t miss any queues of what to do a long the way.
There are no coincidences in life and if things are not going as you planned, that is the way it is supposed to be and you will find out the reason why things happened the way they did, eventually!
The is not to say that you do not have “intent” and the way you think and how you deal with each circumstance cannot have different out comes. Accept that there are certain things you cannot control and relax into the now.
Having said all of that, you are probably wondering where this is all going. Me too!
I guess one of the many amazing things that happened is we saw the rare Pangolin.
I think Eilish didn’t believe me when I said that I was one of those people whom, if there was an animal to see, I would see it. I am lucky that way! We have always seen the hard to see animals on every safaris I have been on.
Fraser, our guide from Makambi Lodge, Kafue NP, was so thrilled. He had been working there as a safaris guide for 12 years and this was only his second time seeing a Pangolin.
With its armoured shell and peculiar gait, the humble pangolin looks more like an anteater prepped for medieval battle than an animal under threat. Illegal trade in South Asia, however, has now rendered the scaly mammals the most trafficked animal on earth, with some estimates claiming that sales now account for up to 20 per cent of the entire wildlife black market.
In response to the pangolin’s plight, numerous campaigns have been launched to raise awareness, including the SavePangolins organisation and an app, Roll with the Pangolins, which was endorsed by Prince William in his role as President of United for Wildlife. What’s more, in 2012 Sir David Attenborough chose the Sunda pangolin, a species distributed throughout South East Asia, as one of his ten favourite species he would ‘save’ from extinction.
Pangolin do not have teeth and are unable to chew, however, so use their sticky tongues to collect insects – up to 70 million a year – which are ground up by stones and keratinous spines inside their stomachs.
When threatened, pangolins defend themselves by rolling up in a ball and, if needed, lashing out with their tale – the scales on which can easily cut a predator’s skin. In addition they are also able to emit a noxious-smelling acid from glands near the anus, similar to the that of a skunk, though pangolins are unable to spray the liquid.
Millions have been traded and killed in the last decade
It is estimated that 100,000 pangolins are captured every year from across Africa and Asia, with most shipped to China and Vietnam, where their meat and scales are sold. As a result, all eight species of pangolin now feature on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of animals threatened with extinction.
For more information go to:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/wildlife/11374800/Pangolins-13-facts-about-the-worlds-most-hunted-animal.html
I feel awful spreading the word about another threatened species but we all need to know as we are the cause of their demise.
Help an animal you love!
Thank you!
