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Scientists in the U.K. are warning that both the partridge and the turtle dove face imminent extinction if immediate action isn’t taken. The latest wild bird statistics, released Thursday, show that the turtle dove population in Britain dropped by 60 percent between 2005 and 2010, while the partridge saw a 30-percent population decrease over the same period.
“These two icons of Christmas are telling us that wildlife is in crisis,” said Mark Eaton, a scientist with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. “We are urging the government to take urgent action to save these species from becoming just memories within 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' festive classic.”
As for the rest: gold finches/gold rings—depends on your interpretation—are flourishing, colly birds, French hens, and swans are doing well enough, geese are still laying, milking maids have been replaced by machines, ladies continue to dance, pipers’ pipes and drummers’ drums are seldom used anymore, and lords still do leap because we’re talking about politics here and politics will never die.
Via The Guardian
