WildLife [Live]

A tiger (Panthera tigris)
Wildlife traditionally refers to undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife can be found in all ecosystems. Deserts, forests, rain forests, plains, grasslands and other areas including the most developed urban areas, all have distinct forms of wildlife. While the term in popular culture usually refers to animals that are untouched by human factors, most scientists agree that much wildlife is affected by human activities.

Animals are multicellular eukaryotic organisms that form the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and grow from a hollow sphere of cells, the blastula, during embryonic development.

Humans have historically tended to separate civilization from wildlife in a number of ways including the legal, social, and moral sense. Some animals, however, have adapted to suburban environments. This includes such animals as domesticated cats, dogs, mice, and gerbils. Some religions declare certain animals to be sacred, and in modern times concern for the natural environment has provoked activists to protest against the exploitation of wildlife for human benefit or entertainment.

But when I met pangolins for the first time in real life, what surprised me most was their personalities. Tamuda was bold and stubborn. Luleko was shy and sweet. Both had been rescued from the illegal wildlife trade in Zimbabwe and were recovering in the care of the Tikki Hywood Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to wildlife rescue and conservation. Pangolins are among the most widely poached mammals—their scales are in demand for use in traditional Chinese medicine.

When I looked into their eyes, it seemed that they were thinking no less about me than I about them.