April 15. “Button, I came across a brand new term today.”

“Tell me.”

It’s a phrase experts have coined called the empty forest syndrome to describe the gaping holes in biodiversity. There are lots of forests where there are no big animals left. South East Asia is being systematically drained of wildlife to meet a booming demand for exotic pets in Europe and Japan and traditional medicines in China is posing an even bigger threat to many species than habitat loss or global warming.”

“What animals are these?”

“There’s the seahorse, geckos, pangolins, butterflies, exotic fish, leopards, birds, macaques and many more.”

“Shocking.”

“Can you believe that 35 million animals were legally exported in the past decade!

“Can I see what a seahorse looks like?”

“Come.”