The number of giraffes is becoming smaller across Africa, according to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation. The total population has dropped by 40 percent in the last 15 years. Surprisingly, even scientists haven’t given much attention to giraffes. We are learning more about their ecology(生态), but what we know is still way behind what we know about other species. “It’s a silent extinction,” said Dr. Julian Fennessy, a wildlife scientist.

“The main reason for the smaller number of giraffes is their loss of living places,” said Fennessy, “as an increasing part of land is used for farming. But hunting also has a big influence.” “You might wonder why hunters would focus on giraffes. First of all, once a giraffe is brought down, there is lots of meat with a small amount of effort. Besides, there is another thing encouraging the hunting. In Tanzania, Fennessy says, the latest word on the street is that eating giraffe meat could cure AIDS. Fresh giraffe heads and bones can be sold at prices of up to $140 per piece.

Another widespread misconception about giraffes is that they are everywhere. Look at kids’ books which are full of giraffes. They are always in zoo collections. They can be seen easily, so you don’t think we have to worry about them. But the truth is that they are in danger of extinction. There is a lack of right and true data.

Fennessy and other researchers are now pulling together the data needed to improve the situation of the entire giraffe species and all nine subspecies(亚种). The information will be used to change the giraffe’s listing on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red list, which now lists the species as of “least concern” but two subspecies as “endangered”. “It’s a lot of work to gather the necessary information,” Fennessy says. “And several other giraffe subspecies will be recommended for endangered listings next year or the year after.” He hopes that the world will finally start to take notice of how endangered these beloved animals have become.

Bees and France have a long history together. In the 1800s, Napoleon Bonaparte chose the bee to stand for France. In the same century, in 1845, the beekeeping school of Luxembourg Gardens in Paris was started. At that time there were around 2, 000 beehives (蜂箱) in the city. After that the numbers went down for some time, but beekeeping has become popular again recently. Now there are over 700 hives in Paris, which are actually on the roofs of famous Parisian buildings and hotels and restaurants.

City bees make three to five times more honey than country bees. This may be because there are no pesticides (杀虫剂) in the parks and gardens in Paris. French beekeepers in the countryside lose up to 40 percent of their hives each year because of disease, pesticides, and other causes. However, beekeepers in the city lose less than five percent.

“That’s interesting,” you might be thinking, “but isn’t there a lot of pollution in Paris?” In fact, pollution does not seem to influence the honey. Parisian honey was tested for 30 kinds of pollution and none were found.

As for the taste, Parisian bees have many kinds of flowers and plants to choose from. In the countryside, however, there is usually only one type of plant. The flowers in Paris give the honey a special taste. But Parisian honey is quite expensive. One pound costs about USD 65.

Beekeepers in Paris face some small problems. For example, if there are too many hives in one area, the bees might not have enough food. So beekeepers must work together and spread out their hives. Another problem is bees in restaurants. One beekeeper had to take his hives away from the roof of a restaurant after his bees started drinking from the flowers indoors. However, technology can be used to check on the hives, with cameras and microphones.

When people think of working animals，what often comes to mind are dogs that watch sheep，horses that work on farms and animals that perform in movies.But there are lots of other jobs animals have had over the years.

Dogs have greater sense of smell than humans.This made dogs the traditional hunting partners，making their owners able to follow foxes and other animals.Police departments have taken advantage of this skill to help find missing people and escaped criminals.Recently，dogs have been trained to find drugs and explosives (爆炸物).

The honey－guide lives in the southeast African nation of Mozambique.It has developed a win－win relationship with a group called the Yao.If a Yao member makes a certain sound，the honey－guide will fly from tree to tree directing him to a hidden bee box.Once the box is discovered，the person breaks open the box for honey，and the honey－guide could enjoy the honey，too.

Ferrets (雪貂) are cute and furry animals that are from 1.5 to 4 pounds.People   have taken advantage of a ferret’s natural ability to run through tiny space.Ferrets wear a special harness(甲胄) that makes them able to pull a string through hundreds of feet of tiny space，which is then used to pull computer wires through tiny space.

Baby flies are called maggots.The job of a maggot is to eat and grow until it turns into a fly.This is similar to how a caterpillar eats and grows until it becomes a butterfly.However，there is a big difference between these insects.Caterpillars feed on plants，while maggots eat meat.Actually，they only enjoy bad meat.Maggots are used with patients who get serious infections that can’t be treated with antibiotics (抗生素).The maggots are used to the infected area for a number of days.They eat the dead part but leave the living part alone，thereby helping patients recover from the infection.