From today, following 20 years of delays to implementation, the European Union finally is enforcing its ban on the sale of newly animal-tested cosmetic products and ingredients. In doing so, the EU becomes the largest cruelty-free cosmetics market, making its shops a no-go area for cosmetics tested on animals anywhere in the world.

Shark finning is a highly unsustainable practice. By discarding the body and just landing the fins, boats can catch many of the highly profitable shark fins at each outing. The practice threatens shark populations and jeopardises the balance of marine ecosystems.

It is difficult to understand why the government would pursue a policy which has been roundly discredited, which will make it extremely unpopular, and which will certainly be disastrous for the public image of farmers.

The tiger is one of the most iconic of wild animals. Sleek, magnificent and instantly recognisable, the tiger has become immortalised in the legends, values and lore of many human cultures. Works of William Blake, A.A. Milne and Walt Disney have established the tiger as an object of fascination and endearment.

Reports of "mad March hares", chasing each other and boxing, is always a welcome sign that spring is not far away. But don't let the sight of these animals cavorting in fields fool you, the hare population has decreased by 80% over the last century and it's about time that they were afforded the protection they truly deserve.

As we welcome in 2012, ironically the 20th anniversary of the 1992 Protection of Badgers Act, hard times loom for Britain's badgers.