THE TRADE in endangered species is second only in value to the drugs trade, and is driving animals such as the tiger to extinction. There are fewer than 5,000 left in the wild, more than half in India, down from 80,000 at the turn of the last century. Although population growth and development projects are eroding the tiger's habitat, poaching and the trade in tiger parts are what might push nature's supreme predator over the edge.

FROM THE outside, a chilly street in one of the older parts of Tokyo, there is nothing remarkable about the premises of Mr Shinano the apothecary. Below it, on the ground floor is a shoe shop; opposite, a row of cheap restaurants. But mount the narrow stairs, step through the frosted glass door, and you find yourself in a different world, a world in which Macbeth's witches would not feelout of place.

The stigma these days is to have had an ordinary upbringing. After all, as Hester Lacey knows, Marmite and `Blue Peter' don't make for great dinner-party conversation

Frank Furedi on the implications of last week's report on mental illness in the young

Sir, The discovery that HIV comes from chimpanzees (report, 1 February) is further evidence of the dangers of Africa's escalating trade in meat from wild animals - known as bush meat. Now that the link with HIV has been established, more pressure than ever should be applied to ensure that governments throughout west and central Africa take action to control the timber trade and prevent the widespread killing of protected species.

MORE THAN 30 props from the film Titanic have been confiscated because they are made from endangered species. Among them is the tortoiseshell hair clip worn by Kate Winslet in her nude modelling scene with Leonardo DiCaprio.

WITH CORE subjects exerting a big squeeze on the curriculum, art and music are something of an endangered species on the average school timetable. While there is no substitute for splashing about real paint or scratching out "Little Brown Jug" on a violin, computers can pick up some of the creative slack by offering different ways for children to express themselves - and hone their IT skills at the same time.

`The peasants might have been wearing their Sunday best but they had come armed with legislative pitch-forks and were looking for blue blood'

Teresa Poole meets the pioneering environment campaigners who face hostility from corrupt officials and death threats from loggers and illegal hunters

Last week saw a rare conjunction. Two landmark series running at the same time: The Life of Birds (BBC1, Wednesdays) and Earth Story (BBC2, Sundays). Landmarks are series that claim direct descent from Lord Clark's Civilisation and Jacob Bronowski's The Ascent of Man, the twins who founded factual television. Their common format involves a single eminent presenter developing an argument over a number of weeks. The aim is identifiably lofty: to familiarise the viewer with one or other of the structural elements of the edifice of human knowledge.

NEITHER THE "homosexual marriage" nor still less "the end of the family" were mentioned in the first version of the proposed Pacs legislation, contrary to the nervous twitchings of the right. It was originally supposed only to be a simple fiscal convention - practical for some but devoid of any social symbolism. This balance is probably now threatened.

Sir: During the past six weeks mink have been released in large numbers from two mink farms, one in Hampshire and one in Staffordshire ("The mink are back... and this time they're angry", 18 September). Such acts are illegal and the perpetrators should be dealt with appropriately, but before condemning these events we should question the motives of those responsible.

IT SEEMS an unlikely haven for an endangered species but the drought- stricken and heavily militarised island of Cyprus is the scene of a reprieve for turtles facing extinction.

Sir: We find it difficult to believe that anyone can justify the $22m cost of potentially freeing Keiko, the orca of Free Willy fame ("The $14 million epic adventure to free Willy - into an unknown future", 9 September).