Nature's A Bitch

This post was not one that I ever wanted to write, but sadly I felt I needed to.

We all know that nature is cruel, to those who don't think that, just consider that  only half of the new born gazelles born in Africa will survive their first year of life, or that many bird species have 2 chicks and leave the one that hatches second to die from starvation as that chick was only a back up (I saw this in the Galapagos Islands).

Knowing nature is cruel seems to just come with the territory but having sad news twice recently made me wish to tell you all.

Firstly 2 of the baby vervet monkey babies that I was following when in South Africa have died. I am so thankful not to have been there to discover this, because, from following them every day, you fall in love with their little personalities. It is not known what happened or when, just that one morning 2 were missing.

The more heartbreaking news is that on Tuesday afternoon our baby East Africa Rhino calf Fara at Chester Zoo also passed away.


Everything was done to try and save her when she started appearing ill in the morning but sadly there was nothing the team could do.

I am unbelievably honored to have been able to see such a rare part of nature, however sad at the outcome. From  the day that Fara was born until we were told the sad news, she brought a smile to everyone and excitement to many that have never gotten to see something so amazing and small.

Knowing that there really was nothing that anyone could have done to help her makes it harder in some ways, but, nature is a bitch and even a birth in captivity does not mean that the baby will survive.

image from ChesterZoo.org

To all those who sadly never got to see little Fara, its a great shame, but, it just means that we all need to work harder at preserving these species in the wild so that maybe in the future, you can be seeing them where they belong!

Love