THE words 'vermin' and 'pest' are used often to describe creatures capable of being a nuisance to us -- such as foxes for simply hunting for food or pigeons for leaving droppings on our buildings and carrying diseases.

We, on the other hand, pollute our seas repetitively with tons of crude oil from tankers (as recently near the Galapagos islands) which kills large amounts of marine life. We destroy rainforests and countryside which causes numerous species to be endangered.

The result is that these are then placed in zoos to be captive bred in an alien environment where some, such as pandas will not produce young. We then force them to produce young by artificial insemination and condemn their offspring to a life in captivity for the public's viewing.

Also, some of us keep the likes of parrots in a corner of our living room with clipped wings to stop them flying; other keep rabbits in hutches not much bigger than the rabbit itself. We then hear them say how they love their pets!

All the creatures of our world try to live as nature intended whereas we are constantly finding ways to defy it and destroy the world we live in.

Bluntly, the real vermin of our planet is our own species.

D FORSHAW (Mr), Peronne Crescent, Intack, Blackburn.