Happy 2013, may it be a year for conservation and common sense.

As 2012 draws to a close, what have we learned?  How do we go forward in 2013 in a way that is beneficial to not just us humans but to the world in which we inhabit.  When we hear of many countries wanting to exploit coal reserves and pump more Co2 in to the air, do we give up the ideals of reducing our own carbon footprint?  Do we go ahead and plunder the ice of the arctic in the ever urgent quest of oil, when we already have problems maintaining oil rigs safely in areas far less dangerous?  I know it won't happen but in my ideal scenario, us, the ones with the buying power would boycott those that don't give a damn about the earth and her many beautiful creatures.

And about those creatures?  I would dearly love to see a concerted effort by the governments of the world to actually push for conservation more.  We are still loosing UK wildflowers at an astonishing rate, bees are declining and our birds too.  We in the UK have one native feline predator on the brink of extinction.  Where are the adverts for it?  Why are we pushing for the survival of say Tigers and Pandas' when most people in this country have never heard of let alone seen a scottish wildcat.  Is it so ludicrous to want to save one of our native species?  It was once feared to be at less than 400, latest estimates put it at a dire 35.  What are you going to do about this?  Are you prepared to get involved and push for the survival of this species and the re-wilding of Great Britain?

We need to be strong in 2013, we need to stay the course and change courses of animals and plants and find a balance that redresses the fact that anthropogenic change has caused considerable damage.  We have one earth, we need to look after her and all her inhabitants.

With that, I wish you all a happy new year, and pledge that as a resolution I will continue to do all I personally can to push for the conservation of species here in the UK whilst raising awareness of other species world wide.

First posting

So this is my first blog on here.  I've been out of the blogging sphere for quite some time..  but here goes nothing!

Today on a well known social networking site I came across a picture of two orang-utans, presumably mother and infant.  The infant was kissing the mother who appeared to be smiling.  It struck a chord.
I have recently been reading lots of literature after studying a module on mammalogy (which was hard work!).  The more I read and learn the more I find myself questioning the use of primates in animal testing.  I understand the need for animal testing to a degree, and understand that primates naturally are closer in their genetic makeup to us than say a rabbit.  But, I wonder, how much do these primates such as chimpanzees, orang-utans etc suffer for the greater good of us Homo sapiens.
Why is it okay to test on innocent primates?  Why is the choice not offered to those that are serving life sentences?  There isn't an easy answer.
People may even question that why should any animal be tested; what makes a primate worse to test on than the humble rat?
I myself as a training scientist have collected and killed various insects so that I may study them and their distribution better.  Some might argue that this is no better than testing on animals.  However, for me a short death by an invertebrate that doesn't have a brain and the complexity of a mammal or bird and is available in their millions is somewhat different to inflicting sometimes deliberate suffering on a mammal.  As a scientist it is one of the features of science I find a bitter pill to swallow.  It is one that I hope one day we can move on from, and employ better methods of testing the suitability of medicines and cosmetics.