Tag: animal

Grant Museum Of Zoology

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Grant Museum Of Zoology, Grant Museum, UCL, Zoology, museum, london, red brick, euston, london museum, animals, taxidermy, skeleton,Grant Museum Of Zoology, Grant Museum, UCL, Zoology, museum, london, red brick, euston, london museum, animals, taxidermy, skeleton,Grant Museum Of Zoology, Grant Museum, UCL, Zoology, museum, london, red brick, euston, london museum, animals, taxidermy, skeleton,Grant Museum Of Zoology, Grant Museum, UCL, Zoology, museum, london, red brick, euston, london museum, animals, taxidermy, skeleton,Grant Museum Of Zoology, Grant Museum, UCL, Zoology, museum, london, red brick, euston, london museum, animals, taxidermy, skeleton, koalaGrant Museum Of Zoology, Grant Museum, UCL, Zoology, museum, london, red brick, euston, london museum, animals, taxidermy, skeleton, thylacineThe Grant Museum of Zoology is one of my favourites in London. The building is very near the Euston UCL campus, which to my mind is about as quintessential as London university buildings get (although my own alma meter, Goldsmiths, looked nothing like this!). Anyway, as we know, I love animals and I am passionate about animal rights so the Museums slant on ecology and biodiversity is perfect for me.

One of the most emotive exhibits is on extinct animals which includes the fur and skeleton of a thylacine – otherwise known as the Tasmanian Tiger. This animal went in extinct in the 1930s and remarkably we have video footage which I’ve linked below. I remember first seeing this short video when I was about 16 and basically weeping for hours; I was so moved to be seeing an animal that simply no longer existed and will never walk the earth again. I find it so upsetting to think of how many thousands of years it takes for each species of animal to evolve, and in the short time we’ve been around we are just watching species die. It’s those thoughts that enforce my resolve to try and live in a green and ethical way.

I was also really interested in the wall of slides. As the description said there are tons and tons of creatures that are too small to house in a cabinet so a slide makes more sense; in practise the wall of slides is overwhelming to look at! The slide that stuck out most to me was this one of “helobdella stagnalis”. It’s a species of leech so not the most instagrammable, but I was weirdly moved by the mother leech and her babies on the slide alongside the description that babies were “carried”.

On a side note, these images are the first featuring my new lens! I also just wanted to mention my readers blog survey – if you haven’t taken part there’s just one week left to tell me what you think and I’d be so grateful!

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Animal Kingdom – Casela

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giant tortoise tortoises Casela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoise
Casela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoise
Casela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoisegiant tortoise tortoises Casela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoiseCasela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoisegiant tortoise tortoises Casela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoise
Casela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoiseCasela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoisezebra Casela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoiseCasela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoiseFor some reason I forgot to post these with the rest of my Mauritius posts last month! I went to Casela Nature Reserve on the penultimate day of my trip to Mauritius and as I LOVE animals I was completely in my element.

It’s been two years since I last visited and most of my thoughts are the same. The enclosures at Casela are huge which I think is brilliant. The larger animals (tigers, rhinos, zebras etc) share a huge safari style enclosure, and you’re not guaranteed a glimpse as there’s loads of spaces the animals can run off and avoid the visitors if they wish, which I think is great (although some people were complaining).

I was particularly emotional about seeing the rhinos; an entire species of animal which will almost certainly be extinct within our lifetimes. 3 subspecies were declared extinct in 2011, and poaching numbers are increasing by almost 50% each year. There are less than 100 individual Javan and Sumatran rhinos and just 3 individual White rhinos left in the entire world, which is heartbreaking.

The animals have a lot of space to wander around and the fences and dividers between the smaller enclosures seemed almost non-existent this trip. I really like this aspect of the Park, as instead of seeing one animal per enclosure it was more like a free-for-all with animals roaming around between different areas. I saw lemurs hanging out with the tortoises, peacocks with the giraffes and a pet pig hanging out with the baby goats.

There were also random wild animals; we saw wild monkeys stealing food from the giraffes, lizards in the rabbit enclosure, and even a cheeky mongoose in with the giant tortoises. Talk about animal kingdom! Overall I think Casela is a great animal and nature reserve and I haven’t seen one that better typifies what a zoo should “be”, in my opinion. Where should I check out next?Casela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoiseCasela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoise
rhinocerous Casela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoise
Casela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoise
giant tortoise tortoises Casela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoiseostrich Casela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoiseCasela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoisegiraffe Casela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoise
Casela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoiseCasela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoiseCasela Nature Wildlife Reserve Mauritius day out tourism animals tapeparade safari birds tortoise

Casela

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IMG_6631a IMG_6667a IMG_6827a IMG_6677a IMG_6632a IMG_6607a IMG_6845a IMG_6809a IMG_6806a IMG_6840aIMG_6668aIMG_6841a IMG_6615a
James and the Giant Tortoise (caption of the century)IMG_6619a IMG_6630a
We spent our last afternoon in Mauritius at Casela Nature & Leisure Park. I have very conflicting feelings about animals being kept in captivity.  Whilst breeding programmes and the opportunity to study endangered species can be good, captivity is stressful for the animals and can cause all kinds of medical problems: particularly animals originally from hotter or colder environments. However, how can zoos afford to run conservation programmes without funding from ticket sales? Additionally some zoos provide shelter for rehabilitated animals who have left horrific lives performing in shows and have no chance of readjusting to the wild.

Though very few of the animals we saw at Casela are indigenous to Mauritius, the climate and habitat are identical to their home environment and they have a lot of space where natural activities (digging, burrowing etc) are encouraged unlike in some zoos. On safari (pictures below) we saw so many animals including a baby ostrich. The first tortoise we met had hijacked the food laid out for the ostriches; you can see them watching him confusedly but he seemed pretty happy! Bonus animals were the incredibly shy black pigs; they’re very endangered due to wild boar consumption.

In the nature park (pictures above) there were many species of bird wandering around free of cages. James and I shared a tender moment with the beautiful giant tortoises who are now endangered; when I first visited Mauritius at the age of 18 months these animals were still native and we have numerous photos of me playing with them, so it was bittersweet to see them. We also saw a tiny baby macaque (about the size of my hand) being cuddled and passed around the elders and the adorable lovebirds huddled together. My favourite new friend was this lemur. I scratched her back through the railings and she immediately turned round and spread herself out to be stroked, just like a cat.

What are your thoughts on animals in captivity?IMG_6791a IMG_6718a IMG_6700a IMG_6702a IMG_6775a IMG_6798a IMG_6800a IMG_6730a Casela Nature Leisure Park Laila Woozeer Mauritius 2013 animals safari wildlife

Horniman

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ImageImageImageWhilst in Forest Hill (one of my favourite areas) last Friday, I decided to visit one of my top London museums, the Horniman. Lorisidae have been in my dreams of late and my primary goal was to find a specimen. I’ve explored the musical instruments and anthropology collections numerous times before whilst living in nearby New Cross, but my favourite gallery at the moment is the natural history section. They have some hugely informative displays comparing brain sizes and skeletons of different animals but I decided against any squeamish pictures. I’m going through a primate phase at the moment and am always awed by the gorilla skeletons (below) as at first glance it looks like a display of mismatched human skeletons.ImageImageImage If Wes Anderson were to curate a museum gallery it would surely be the Horniman natural history collection. The thoughtfully laid out displays, pastel backgrounds and gratuitous use of ‘Futura’ font lend the gallery a certain Anderson aesthetic. Without my sketch book I happily wandered around taking photographs and scribbling notes on which animals to further research. There was such a feeling of tranquility and calm in the upstairs gallery especially and I spent about an hour alone, just me and the exhibits. After, I sat in the medicine garden listening to the wind chimes and thinking about all the thousands and thousands of creatures in the world, and how at one time we were all the same.ImageImageImage

Foxes

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I live in a countryside area of north Surrey by a river, and regularly encounter foxes, badgers, swans, geese and ducks. James is very much a badger guy but I am particularly fond of the foxes: the beautiful colour of their fur, the elegant way they move and their crafty reputation. I smile whenever I drive past them. At the moment there’s lots of young foxes in the streets near my house, sometimes when I head home I catch them playing.

I am upset whenever I see a dead fox on the road – up to 50% of the UK fox population are killed by cars! They are not vermin and pose very little threat to humans, and frequent calls to instigate a fox cull are spurred on by sensationalist and impartial media reports. Did you know for every one attack on humans by a fox, there are over 5,000 from domestic (i.e. trained) dogs?

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So here is my fox t-shirt – I bought this from Aubin & Wills (as well as a matching fox mug) shortly before they closed in January and everything was about 85% off (hallelujah). I made the skirt with my Mum: the fabric is covered in African animals and was originally bought by my Grandma in 1960s Ethiopia! (and some bows here). Lastly my new necklace is from my recent trip to Liverpool, found in Little Red Vintage.

Do you have a favourite fox? I’m partial to Mr Tod from the Beatrix Potter books as well as the Janacek opera The Cunning Little Vixen (incidentally that animated version is amazing) and whatever the fox in Farthing Wood was called. Possibly he was just called Fox. For more on foxes read here.

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Image  (Credit PETA)

Perils

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Laila DEvon washing-line R&C tour touring west country family affairs pinafore
Laila family affairs dress Devon outside exterior bike shed yardsfamily affairs pinafore outside exeter devon west country laila girl tan tights white accordion pleat blouse new yorkSaturday night saw us staying back at The Yarde Cafe in Devon. It is beautiful there! There was live music courtesy of a local musician and I was asked to play something by both my theatrical cohorts and the owner of the venue. It’s such an amazing feeling when somebody connects with something you’ve created, especially in such an unexpected and unfamiliar setting.

Sunday the boys were off rehearsing, so I spent the day exploring the area (predominantly fields and woodland trials) and practising.

family affairs pinafore outside exeter devon west country laila girl tan tights white accordion pleat blouse new yorkfamily affairs pinafore outside exeter devon west country laila girl tan tights white accordion pleat blouse new york