I had an email from WWF Australia today.

There are 67 Javan Rhinos left in the world and they are fast running out of food.

The reason is that the aggressive Arenga palm is growing uncontrollably in vital rhino habitat in Java's Ujung Kulon National Park, the only habitat in the world where this rhino still exist.   The Arenga palm is blocking out the sun, so the smaller plants the Javan rhinos need to feed are dying. 

As a result, the rhinos are desperate and hungry.  They are moving further afield and having to compete with other animals for any food they can find. 

Click here to help the Javan rhino

The good news is that there is a solution.  

WWF-Indonesia’s team is working with the local community to hack the Arenga palm down and rehabilitate the area - they are planting grasses so that the rhinos can eat.  But this is expensive, and the team is fighting to compete against the palm which grows very quickly.

So WWF Australia are asking for donations to help carry out the following key tasks to help the rhinos:

• Clear the Arenga palm from 190 hectares of rhino habitat as an immediate priority;
• Rehabilitate the area by planting the grasses that rhinos eat;
• Continue to monitor and protect rhino habitat with community forest patrols.

You can go to WWF Australia here and make a donation to help them with their work to help the Javan rhino. 

There’s a lot of worldwide interest in the forthcoming marriage of Prince Harry to American actress Meghan Markle.

Could she encourage him to give up the horrible tradition the Royals have of killing wild animals?

Prince Harry and some of his friends reportedly killed 15 wild boar recently on a hunting trip in Germany. 

Sign this petition to ask the Royal Family to STOP participating in blood sports.

On Boxing Day, however, Prince Harry chose not to take part in the shoot with the rest of his family.  Apparently, Meghan had asked him not to do it. Could it be that she is trying to persuade him to change his ways and stop such actions?

Care2.com member Alexandra has started a petition asking The Royal Family to stop participating in bloodsports.

At the time of writing, the petition already has over 67,000 supporters – click here to add your support to it and to ask the Royal Family to stop participating in blood sports.

Calling all donkey lovers

Please sign Care2.com's petition to put pressure on African countries to STOP the donkey slaughter. 

Stop the Donkey Slaughter
 

The animals are crowded together in appalling conditions, where they are frightened, neglected and mistreated — and that's all before they are slaughtered for their skins and other body parts.  

100,000 donkeys were slaughtered in Kenya alone over the last year.   

Roughly 10 million animals are killed every year in this donkey trade. 

As donkey populations fall in China, so the market for them is turning to Africa to satisfy the need for donkey skins and body parts.

Botswana, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Ethiopia and Tanzania have now all banned the slaughter and export of donkeys.  However, Kenya and South Africa need persuading to do the right thing.  Both need the income from animal-loving international tourists - so our voices matter. 

Sign Care2.com's petition urging the prime minister of Kenya and president of South Africa to ban the export of donkey parts now.