SERIES: Fun Facts

A collection of facts to add to the larger collection of facts one carries around in one's head. Take 'em or leave 'em, they mean something to someone somewhere....
  • Apr 19, 2018. King Mswati III of Swaziland announced he was renaming the country "the Kingdom of eSwatini". The monarch announced the official change in a stadium during celebrations for the 50th anniversary of Swazi independence. ...
    The new name, eSwatini, means "land of the Swazis".
  • Apr 30, 2015. Pangolins are the most trafficked mammals in the world with one taken from the wild by poachers every five minutes. 
  • The Cape or ground pangolin is one of four pangolin species found in eastern and southern Africa. On the black market, pangolin scales (considered to have healing qualities by traditional Chinese medicine) are valued at about R3000 or US$ 200 per kg, pangolin meat at R300 / US$20 per kg, and live pangolines at R14800 or US$992. Zoonosis -- transmission of infectious diseases from animals to humans and humans to animals -- appears to be at the root of the current coronavirus pandemics, Covid 19. Poached, trafficked, and mistreated pangolins are a suspected transmission vectors.
  • According to the US National Academy of Sciences, four percent of the mammals in the world are wild animals. Thirty-six percent are human beings and 60 percent are farm animals.
  • Approximately 80 percent of the decline in global biological diversity is caused by habitat destruction. Wildlife habitat in the world is being destroyed at a rate of approximately 5,760 acres per day or 240 acres per hour. (African Conservancy stat.)

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