But BEWARE of any tour company that guarantees that you will see particular wildlife. In real nature, there are no guarantees.

As you can imagine, it is not easy to find wildlife when we travel in large noisy groups or when we only have a little bit of time to wait. Also, there are not as many animals and birds as there used to be. The biggest reason is, of course, that we have taken away their homes. People have built so many houses, shopping centers, roads, golf courses, and agricultural fields...right in the middle of the nature homes of these animals. The animals have left or stopped reproducing.

Our pollution has cut down many populations of birds and fish. Our shopping and eating habits of wildlife products have seriously reduced some of the most magnificent creatures on earth. You probably are aware that many of these animal species have been on earth for over 60,000,000 years and yet have been quickly disappearing in the last 30 years. This is because of the efficient technology that we have for capturing and killing wild creatures.

Also, because there are so many more people on earth, there are more consumers. There are more people seeking high social status, buying expensive items, such as spotted cat fur coats and reptile fashion accessories, tiger bone and rhino horn medicines, or gourmet dishes of exotic wild animals. They are buying ivory carvings or artwork made of shells or butterflies, or adding to their personal collections of parrots, wild orchids and cactus, and tropical fish.