Ingham’s World 11th December-Cinderella the tiger!

Britain may not have the lions of Africa or the grizzlies of orth America, but it does have outstanding wildlife.  Some of our most special species are among the smallest islands.  These wildlife heroes include the world’s oldest creature and a beetle that farms its own food.  All are rare and being helped by National Park rangers and volunteers.  Among them is the mountain or bilberry bumble bee which hums away in the heathers of Northumberland National Park.  This tough invertabrate survives snow, howling winds and lots more awful wheather.  Also, there’s the extremely rare tadpole shrimp of the New Forest NP.  With its horshoe shaped shell it has been around for 220 million years which makes it the oldest living animals in the world!  Its amazing eggs are so tough they can survive for 27 years in dried out ponds before coming back to life when the water returns.

How snakes manage to slither across the land without limbs has been a mystery for ages.  But now scientists are starting to think that they are able to glide along beacause of the thick layer of fat on their bodys.

Snuggling under a Korean Pine in the snow is a sighn that conversation is at work.  This big Siberian tiger is Cinderella and she was rescued as a starving orphan in 2012 when her mother had probably been poached.  When the tigress recovered she was released into a national park in the Russian Far East which hadn’t seen a tiger in 40 years.  Camera trap images show that her mate  has walked through and this amazing image shows her with two cubs.  Unfortunately there is only thought to be around 350 Siberian tigers left in the wild, but with conservation help they still have hope.