The Brazilian government has inaugurated on Monday a condom factory that is aimed at providing livelihood to hundreds of Brazilian rubber tappers and at the same time help preserve the Amazon rain forest. In a statement, Brazil's Health Ministry said the factory in Xapuri, in the northwestern part of the capital Sao Paulo, has the capacity to produce 100 million condoms a year.

After being chased by villagers and rescued atop a tree, a pregnant tigress was returned to the Sunderbans yesterday, a protected area along the coast of the Bay of Bengal, and one of the few remaining tiger habitats in India. Atanu Raha, West Bengal's chief conservator of forest, said although the tigress received some injuries while being tranquilized and caught, she was treated and found fit to be released in the reserve area.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Chiang Mai University are conducting a workshop in Thailand about insect consumption, collection, harvest, processing and marketing. The workshop aims to impart to forest managers the knowledge on insects and insect management possessed by traditional forest dwellers and forest-dependent people. It also aims to provide income and jobs in rural areas for people who capture, rear, process, transport and market edible insects.

More than three hundred parrots were rescued after Belarus border patrol intercepted a man who tried to smuggle the exotic birds out of the country onboard his bike. Border guards claim they intercepted the man just outside the border of Ukraine. However, the still unidentified would-be-smuggler jumped out of his bike and fled to a nearby forest when the border guards tried stopping him.

A photographer from Kent has come up with other uses for his groceries other than eating them - use them as art materials. Using vegetables, meat, fish and dairy products, Carl Warner has come up with amazing pieces of artistic photos, which included a Broccoli Forest, Salmon Sea and Mushroom Field among others.