There’ll be more about the non-ganja influenced tiger
sighting I was told about soon and thanks for the concern re my health in the
previous post, don’t worry, I am very conscious of my proximity to Asa, there’s
usually no problem except at feeding time and just sometimes I get close to
observe and photograph because the zoom is interrupted by foliage etc. Camera traps are such an important part of
these projects, here’s just a few images from the last three days. Setting them in the right places as well as
making sure they are configured properly is labour intensive, not to mention
the analysis of hundreds of images, something I’ll be doing during my down day
today.
As you can see, Asa is in great condition. I’ve mentioned before that I know every
meeting could be the last and to be honest that is as much because of the
threats to him as is full separation. In
saying that, at now about a year old Asa is showing great survival skills up
there and in age is over a major hump.
The fact he has claimed the territory he is in speaks volumes. Little is still known about the female leopard
in the area, these things take time.
Territory is key for many reasons, I’ll elaborate on this
soon but essentially my long term vision that part of the valley leading to the
high peaks gets UNESCO status also means that it becomes a more effective
wildlife sanctuary. This is easier said
than done, there are many issues and complexities. The criteria is strict as it should be and
sadly a lot of the obstacles are internationally driven, through
stupidity. There’s going to be some
decent serves in my book, mark my words, some foreigners with really no
conservation background pushing projects for gains of ego and dollars. This will be stopped here and the model
implemented beyond. I am bloody
determined about this.
At a local level there is a growing understanding as
education improves. A Nepalese friend
last year described the country as a victim of kindness and this is true to an
extent. It is easy to hold out one’s hand,
it is better to get that hand working and reap the rewards. An attitude change is needed, corruption
needs to be stamped on hard but these things are happening. Last night a long message conservation with an
anti-poaching veteran, a hard but fair man, left us both optimistic... but
that’s another chapter, hey I can’t tell you everything here, I’ve got bloody
work to do! The most important thing is
that there are some excellent conservationists here, they just need to be
resourced. They are well aware of the
mistakes the West has made and that some of the intact habitat here offers the
last chance for many species, particularly mountain biodiversity.
This is a cause well worth fighting for, worth climbing
steep slopes for, worth trekking hundreds of kilometres for...
Thanks for the support, hopefully a blog around Christmas
time but be rest assured the young leopard is playing his part in making things
happen. Asa means “Hope”... yes, that’s
true and hope leading to action means conservation success. Cheers Jack.
