Animals and Plants

Africa's critically endangered gorillas are to receive a welcome conservation boost with the announcement by the United Nations that 2009 is the Year of the Gorilla.

South Africa’s Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town has joined 500 zoos and aquariums around the world, in the biggest collaborative effort in the history of these institutions, to raise awareness of the plight of amphibians – animals which serve as the canaries in the mine of the world’s environment.

The rich potential of African plants to produce new medicines – and create profitable agricultural businesses – was a key part of discussion at the fourth World Congress on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, held in Cape Town in November.

With global warming is set to have a grave impact on South Africa's wildlife in particular, a new addition to the arid Namaqua National Park will help animals keep their cool, and preserve delicate ecosystems.

South Africa’s Laohu Valley Reserve in the Free State province was the scene of conservation history when Madonna, a South China tigress, gave birth to two cubs under completely natural conditions, a first for the project.

Eastern Cape-based botanist Professor Richard Cowling has been admitted to the prestigious US National Academy of Sciences, becoming one of only 350 non-Americans ever to be granted this honour in the academy’s 145-year history.

The fifth title in the BBC’s Unforgettable series focuses on thirty of the most beautiful walks from around the world. Two of these – the Oystercatcher and Tierkloof trails – are located in South Africa.