It’s pretty much been the least pleasant Christmas break since “the year of the flu” in 1995, sickness-wise. But I’ve not been ill. And that’s the most frustrating thing. For a few weeks, I’ve been suffering from a bad cough and a bit of a sinus thing, but it’s the sort of cough and sinus thing that has rendered me sleepless for its duration. I’ve not had a temperature, or aches and pains, no sore thoat, nothing but an irritating cough and sinus explosions. Some of the sinus episodes have been dramatic, resulting in much nasal blood-loss, the biggest eruption being at 8am on New Year’s Day… all over the duvet cover. If the police should happen to examine the contents of my bin, they’d find enough evidence to convict me of the brutal slaughter of an O neg dwarf.

Accompanying the cough and the snot/blood has been agony from pulled muscles in my shoulder and hip. So, not only was sleep compromised from coughing, I’ve not even been able to find a comfortable position to sit, stand, or lie for a week.

In spite of lack of real illness, the lack of sleep has been so draining. And so it was that I was awoken near lunchtime today by a phonecall. At its conclusion, I was still unable to deal with the prospect of engaging with the day, so took myself back to bed with a cup of coffee and BBC iPlayer on the tellybox. And then I saw it: Tigers about the house: what happened next.

A tiger expert from Australia Zoo in Queensland took his wife and young son to Indonesia and Sumatra to see the work of the conservationists there. You see, despite Sumatran tigers – indeed tigers in general – being one of the most majestic creatures on the planet, idiot humans destroy their habitats and poach them for a) because they’re complete cocks, b) “traditional” medicine, c) because some people think it’s cool, it shows how fantastic they are, if they display the skins of these animals in their homes. Caught up in the trade for tigers are: tigers; elephants; monkeys; orang-utan; tapirs… and countless other beings who should just be left alone to live as they’re meant to in the wild.

It was upsetting to watch. You just know that so many wonderful species will be extinct in the wild in a matter of decades and the conservationists are fighting a losing battle unless thousands’ year old cultures can be educated. Or wiped out.

The programme made me search for others in the series. Giles Clark, the head tiger man, was passionate about the welfare of tigers that are kept in captivity. The philosophy of Australia Zoo is to have a hands-on approach with many of their animals, including tigers, so that the animals can feel more comfortable in their environments and with their handlers. In a previous series, Giles was shown hand-rearing two tiger cubs for four months in his family home: oh to be part of that family during that time. The little fellers were Spot (Hunter) and Stripe (Clarence) and both thrived in their environment.

In this world of seven billion people, humans strive for their own survival above all else. Maybe they shouldn’t. We’re not the be all and end all when it comes to this planet, yet our one species overruns and controls and destroys all but the deepest oceans. We are woeful custodians of our home.

I’d actually like the humans to face a catastrophic illness that wipes them all out so that all the deserving species are given a chance to enjoy the remnants of this earth. They are despicable creatures. But this being unlikely, the best the rest of us can do take care of what we have, and help save the tigers. Because if we save the tigers, we save the world.

You can read more about Giles Clark and the work to help save the tigers here.