Don’t miss this!

On Tuesday and Wednesday, 18 and 19 December 2018, don’t miss the opportunity to see Gordon Buchanan as he re-habilitates six orphaned grizzly bears into the Russian wilderness.

The programme is called Grizzly Bear Cubs and Me and it’s at 9pm on BBC2 and it should be absolutely amazing.

Gordon joins the Pazhetnovs, a family of biologists, who work to re-habilitate orphaned baby cubs.

There are over 100,000 grizzlies in Russia but there is increasing conflict with humans as people encroach into the wilderness.  Cubs are abandoned every year as their mothers are disturbed in their dens.

The Pazhetnovs have been helping bears for 30 years and when Gordon arrives in February, they have rescued 6 cubs. 

They are five weeks old and weigh less than a bag of sugar each.  Two of them were dumped in a bin in Moscow.  Two were found outside a vets in a box in St Petersburg.  Two were handed in by loggers who scared their mum away.

So the task at hand is to introduce the cubs to the wild in nine months.   Will Gordon succeed?

The second episode shows the bears going through a training programme, learning how to forage and how to swim.  They also have to put on enough weight to make it through the Russian winter.

And what’s more, there’s a test at the end to see if they are ready to survive in the wild.   Will they all make it?

Visit the Grizzly Bear Cubs and Me’s website – there are some clips from the episodes you can watch if you can’t wait. 

PS You can meet a bear at Dartmoor Zoo in Devon with a Bear Encounter for Two - Virgin Experience Days have a gift experience for two people for £129.00.   This is a great chance to meet Hayley the bear, watch a training session and provide food and enrichment for her.  Find out more here from Virgin Experience Days

Bear Encounter for Two at Dartmoor Zoo
from Virgin Experience Days

Looking through the newsletter from the NAWT (the National Animal Welfare Trust), it had a very helpful cut out and keep guide to rabbit winter care.

The NAWT operates 6 re-homing centres across the south of England in Berkshire, Bedfordshire, Cornwall, Essex, Hertfordshire and Somerset.  As well as cats, dogs, birds and field animals, they also have rabbits and guinea pigs looking for homes.  

At the time of writing this,
Snowy was looking for a new home
Look at the rabbits and guinea pigs wanting a home here

I hope they won’t mind but I’ve put some of their tips on winter bunny care which featured in the newsletter here:

• Watch the weather – make sure you’ve got blankets at the ready to safely cover the hutch if we have another cold snap
• Check the inside of the hutch for signs of leaks
• Move the hutch so a sheltered position where there’s protection from the elements
• Keep it off the ground to stop damp and cold
• Make sure it’s the winter run is secure – foxes get hungrier in winter
• Line the bottom of the hutch with blankets or newspapers in cold spells – you could even use a rabbit-safe heat pad for the colder times
• Check bedding for damp patches so that the hutch stays dry
• Watch your rabbit’s water bottles – they can freeze in cold weather.  Keep spares at the ready just in case.
• Ask your vet if your bunny needs bigger portions in the winter months.

If you get a chance, do hop off to visit the NAWT’s website. 

There’s lots of helpful information there and also details on what to do if you or you & your company want to volunteer!   

What's more, they've got some very helpful advice for young people who want to do something to help and really volunteer, which is great - there's lots of things that young people can do.

They have some great products in their shop, including those fabulous cards from the Little Dog Laughed range – I love those, they are so clever.

And if you’re looking for meaningful gifts for an animal lover, they have Animal Sponsorships – you can sponsor an animal for a year, feed an animal for a year and provide animal training and enrichment training for a year. 

The Shire is one of Britain's rare breeds and the beautiful Shire horses above live at the Wimpole Estate in Cambridgeshire.

They are busy doing carriage rides, experience days and ridden work, such as musical ride displays. 

This is Lady at Wimpole Estate

They spend their days in the field or working, or on display at the farm, so visitors can say hello.  The plan is to expand their work into agricultural jobs such as harrowing and ploughing.

This is Queenie

Visitors love them, and the National Trust needs your help to care for them.  They all reuqire food, bedding, dental visits, vaccinations and new shoes to keep them happy and well. 

This is Murphy at Wimpole Estate

So if you're looking for a gift for a horse lover, why not consider sponsoring one of the Shire Horses or donating to the Estate's Heavy Horse Appeal?  

Here's Jasper at Wimpole Estate

and Harry (who loves a good gallop)

So the weather has really been very changeable here in Sussex - either so boiling hot that I didn't want to move, or very wet and windy indeed. 

If you don't feel like doing anything because of the heat or you just feel like lazing about as the rain lashes against the window, here's a word search - Spot the wildlife! 

There are 22 animals to find. 

I hope you enjoy it, though you'll need to print the word search off to do it.  

Spot the wildlife in this word search! 

The international charity have produced this delightful video with advice on how to Beat the Heat like a Moon Bear...

Animals Asia's mission is to end the farming of bears for bile in Vietnam and China. to provide sanctuary for bears, end the suffering of wild animals in captivity and to ensure the humane treatment of cats and dogs.

There's plenty you can do to help them in their mission, from donating to volunteering, attending events and spreading awareness. 

Visit Animals Asia here - and beat the heat like a moon bear!

So the temperatures are rocketing in England and Wales this week.  Just looking at a newspaper, there's talk of 31 degrees in the south east of England by next weekend.

The RSPCA is urging pet owners and farmers to keep their pets cool as temperatures rise, and please let's not forget wildlife and make sure we fill bird baths and create opportunities for thisty widllife to have a drink. 

Keeping cool at the RSPCA Block Fen Animal Centre in Cambridgeshire

Top tips from the RSPCA:

1. Ensure all your animals have access to shade and fresh drinking water - don't forget the sun moves and so will the shade during the day.
2. Keep fish tanks out of direct sunlight 
3. Top up pond water levels.  
4. Watch for wildlife when you're using lawnmowers and strimmers
5. Keep pesticides out of reach of animals
6. Wrap an ice pack or a frozen water bottle in a tea towel for your pet to lie on
7. Use cold treats from the fridge for added moisture or make an ice lolly from pet-friendly ingredients
8. Avoid exercising pets in very hot weather - do it when it's cooler.  Pavements can get very hot in warm weather - if it's too hot to touch wtih your hand, it's too hot for a dog's paws.
9. Don't transport in hot weather unless absolutely necessary
10. Make sure buildings animals are housed in are adequately ventilated and monitored regularly
11. Check daily for flystrike
12. Don't let your pet get sunburnt - use a pet-safe sun cream.  Some colours are more apt to suffer in the sun than others e.g. white cat
    
    

If it's hot for your hand, imagine what it will feel like to your dog's paws.  Leave walkies until it's cooled down.

Remember, your pet cannot turn a tap on (unless they have taught themselves) so always ensure you've left your pet plenty of water - they should have a fresh change of water daily. 

If you're out and about with your dog, don't forget he or she will get thirsty as well so take some water for them and something to put it in with you.

If you're away overnight, get someone responsible to check on any pets at home - guinea pigs and rabbits can quickly run out of water for instance.

Keep an eye on elderly pets, the young and pets with special needs or medical conditions.  Older dogs may need much shorter walks for instance or they may not want a walk at all.

Never, ever, ever, ever, leave your pet in a car in hot weather.

If you see a dog in a hot car, click here.  It's always worth printing out these instructions or linking to this from your mobile so that if you see a dog in a hot car while you're out and about, you know what to do. 

Seen a dog in a hot car?  CLICK HERE

Images ©RSPCA

A lot has been written about the benefits of gardening but what happens for people who have disabilities, ill health or who are disadvantaged, vulnerable or isolated?

Well, there’s an amazing charity called Thrive.   They use gardening to bring about positive changes through social and therapeutic horticulture.

They help people work with plants to improve their physical and psychological health, as well as communication and thinking skills.

Gardens are very restful places to be in terms of the peace and quiet they offer people seeking recovery.                                                            

Thrive is always looking for volunteers to help. 

Visit Thrive’s website to find out more. 

There's a new documentary series called Big Cats About the House on BBC2 at 8pm tonight (Thursday 22nd March 2018).

It follows the work of big cat expert Giles Clark.

He's working to turn a The Big Cat Sanctuary in Kent into a centre of excellence for conservation.   There are 50 big cats there, many of whom have been rescued - some from circuses.  Others belong to an international breeding programme to act as an insurance policy against extinction.

Giles takes in a tiny jaguar cub tonight called Maya - she wasn't thriving with her mother.

©Big Cat Sanctuary

Adapt Maya from the Big Cat Sanctuary

Crucially, the programme doesn't shy away from important conservation issues.   In the last 100 years, some big cat species have declined by over 90% and many experts think some big cats could disappear completely in the next decade.

Visit BBC2 for more info.

Jaguar conservation

Here are some links to jaguar conservation initiatives:

The Jaguar Corridor Initiative, Panthera

Chaco Jaguar Conservation Project between Bolivia and Argentina

Information on jaguars from IUCN

Jaguar conservation in Costa Rica - Volunteer!

10% off Giles Clark's Big Cats Afternoon Tea and Tour for Two in Kent
available from Red Letter Days

There's a very inspiring story on the BBC website this morning which comes from the Canadian city of Toronto.

The good people of Toronto have been working hard to make their buildings safer for birds.  The city sits on a major route for migratory birds - and many of those birds are flying into buildings and a good number of them are killed doing so.  They get confused by the glass and its reflections. 

So they city has come up with five ways in which to make the windows safer for birds.  Since 2010, developers have had to meet bird safety standards. 

1. Have less glass in new buildings (which also helps insulate the buildings better)
2. Put markings on the glass so that birds can see it
3. Recess windows to stop reflections
4. Use shutters or sun-shades to hide glass
5. Switch off lights so that birds aren't drawn to them

Some older buildings have been made more bird safe as well.  In one case, 100 birds had been found to have died at a building.  Markers were put up to show the glass to the birds and since then, just 1 or 2 a year have been found, so it has made a difference.

The more birds who make it to the northern forests to breed, the better for birdlife and for all of us. 

Click here to fly away to the BBC's website to watch the video.