FEAST OR FAMINE

  Opposite the entrance gate of the Paris Garden of Plants ( Jardin des Plantes ) is the snake fountain. Actually, it is called the Cuvier Fountain in memory of Georges Cuvier, a French naturalist and zoologist.     On the corner of Rue Cuvier in the Latin Quarter of Paris, the site was formally the prison of the Abbey of Saint-Victor which had a fountain called the Alexander Fountain or the Brush Fountain. The prison, including the fountain, was demolished in 1840.   French architect Alphonse Vigoureux (1802-1853) was the water inspector for the city of Paris. He created the snake fountain from 1840-1846 to pay respect to Georges Cuvier (1769-1832) to replace the Alexander Fountain. Jean Leopold Nicolas Frederic – Baron Cuvier – is best known as the “father of paleontology” and establishing that species extinction was a fact in his work  Essay on the Theory of the Earth  (1813). The French government listed it as a historical monument in 1984.   ...

   

A multi-million dollar site is part of the Indonesian government's plans to boost tourism in the Komodo National Park. However, environmentalists are concerned about the impact on the famed Komodo Dragons, the world's largest lizards. Officials said no dragons, or other reptiles, had been harmed and their safety was paramount.   Komodo Dragons are only found in the wild on a handful of Indonesian islands where they are estimated to have roamed for millions of years. They draw visitors from around the world and in recent years authorities have grappled with how to manage conservation and tourism in the Komodo National Park.   Officials unveiled plans for a mass tourism development on neighbouring Rinca Island, which is home to the second-largest population of Komodo Dragons. The project has been nicknamed "Jurassic Park" after the dinosaur film franchise. The development, scheduled for completion by the end of 2021, is expected to include a tourist information centre a...

All photographs by Martina Nicolls     MARTINA NICOLLS Website Martinasblogs Publications Facebook Paris Website Animal Website Flower Website SUBSCRIBE TO MARTINA NICOLLS FOR NEWS AND UPDATES    MARTINA NICOLLS  is an international aid and development consultant, and the  author   of:  The Paris Residences of James Joyce   (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).