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Conservation With Kate

I wrote a post entitled China Bans Ivory Trade (see here) right at the end of 2016 when China announced they were going to ban Ivory Trade in China in 2017 (starting in March). This was really exciting news for Africa's elephants, and over here in the UK, people were rejoicing. My Facebook/ Twitter/ Instagram timelines were all filled with the excitement of people sharing the news. Overall, there was lots of positivity towards this change, and it felt like people really supported China. 

However, Britain is sadly one of the largest consumers of Ivory. We buy it for ornaments and such like. This needs to end. We need to work with China on killing the Ivory market. So I am calling all readers, especially British citizens, to sign the following petition:

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/165905


In the UK, petitions of this nature that receive 100,000 signatures are debated by parliament. At the time I am sharing this with you, there are 93,965. Therefore, a little over 6,000 more and parliament have to debate it. That's so achievable in the next few days, and so I urge you all to sign it. Join this exciting movement to protect elephants, and share it with all your friends! 

That is all I wanted to say today! Happy Wednesday, and get signing! 


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I can't believe it is 2017. I realised that if I don't do a masters of pHd, then 2017 is the last year I will be in full time education... and I can't get my head around that. 

2016 was a year of up and downs, both for the world and for me. I hope you all had a safe and wonderful Christmas, for those who celebrate it, and a Happy New Year. I was at home for christmas and New Year's and both were lovely.





Some pictures from NYE.










I don't believe in New Year's Resolutions because I don't like to set rules for myself. If I do, I'll inevitably break them (don't we all) and so it was pointless in the first place. So, New Year's Resolutions are not for me. Having said all that, I do like to set goals for the year. For example, in 2015 I aimed to get into University (nailed it) and 2016 I wanted to start this blog and pass my first year. I'm sure there were more but I can't remember...  2017 is no different, and my goals for the year are: *drum role*

  • Fundraise the full amount for my trip to South Africa in June! This is a HUGE goal, and if I'm honest I'm not sure how plausible it will be to raise the full amount, but I'm aiming high and am going to work at raising as much as possible! Any help is greatly appreciated... (click here)
  • Continue blogging! I started this blog in March, and it was a bit of a risk for me. I didn't know how it was going to go, and if anyone would read it/enjoy it, or even how I would find it! But.. I have absolutely loved it, and I'm really proud of how it's gone. I want to thank absolutely everyone who has read it, and particularly anyone who has reached out to me to say something about what I've written; it means the world to me to hear people are reading my content and enjoying it or learning another side to conservation! I hope it continues to grow in 2017. I want to learn to balance uni work and blogging better as I did struggle a bit (exhibit A: November) so any advice will be appreciated as always! Of course I will be blogging my big trip to South Africa beginning in June which I cannot wait for, and I hope it makes for interesting reading.. 
  • Obviously, I'm aiming to get as high as marks as possible in my second year, and going into third year, of university. 
  • I want to meet more people in conservation this year. I have a few plans, but I want to continue building up contacts, and meeting interesting people so I can keep learning. 

I'm sure there are more but that's all I've got for now! I am so excited for the summer. I can't wait to be studying rhinos as part of my degree! I'm also so excited to be staying somewhere where there are elephants for the first time since Kenya in 2013! Elephants have been my favourite animal for my whole life and I could watch them for hours, and so I'm hoping for some good sightings while in the field. 

Above: Christmas Dinner (taken by my Dad)
Below: Me on Christmas Day next to our wonderful tree.


I wanted this to be my first post of 2017 but my Little Princess Trust hair cut was exciting and new and I wanted to share it with you, so all these photos are with my long hair. Happy New Year one and all, and I hope 2017 is a great year for you, and the natural world. 
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In October my sister cut 11 inches off her hair to donate to the Little Princess Trust. For those who don't know, this is a charity that makes wigs for young boys and girls who are battling cancer, and have lost their hair from chemotherapy. I have always had long hair, and so I decided to do the same. It's been on my bucket list for years, and today I finally did it. 


I thought about this since the summer, but ran out of time to cut my hair then and so decided I would wait until now so it could grow even longer. I know several others who have donated their hair, and I know what an incredible gift it would be. 

To do this, the hair I was donating was tied into a plait and then cut off while dry. Then to even the rest out, it was washed and cut like any other hair cut. As soon as the plait was gone, it felt instantly lighter. It will take a lot of time for me to get used to it, but I'm pleased with my decision. 

Since everything in my life is somewhat rhino-related, I saw some parallels between donating my hair to the Little Princess Trust, and legalising rhino horn trade. As we know, hair and rhino horn are basically the same material: keratin. Cutting my hair is less daunting for me, as I know it will grow back, and I've always been lucky with the speed in which my hair grows.  Rhino horn also grows back, and a lot faster than you think! Breeders who de-horn have to do this roughly every 2 years due to the rate of growth of the horn (obviously it does not grow to full size every 2 years, but enough to be too risky for poachers)! However, the big difference is rhino horn is used in medicine for cancer patients, when it does not possess any medicinal value and so does not help them. Hopefully my hair will actually help a brave young person facing this horrible illness, in the only way hair can. I hope it brings them confidence and improves their day, even a little bit - they deserve it! 

Before and After!
When I see my plait, I can't help but think how many rhinos die a year for the same thing; and how many people are diagnosed with cancer every year. It's heartbreaking to think of, and yet it happens every day. 

The Little Princess Trust is a wonderful charity. If there's anyone out there considering donating their hair, I think it's a great idea (and it's not as scary as you think...) This is something very close to my heart, and I hope from the bottom of my heart, whoever ends up with my hair, will continue their heroic fight, and will soon have their own back! 
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