The image is a camera trap test at a mid point between the village and Leopard Camp. I'd just been checking another camera in an area already leech infested due to quite a lot of rain recently. So just here I'm about to change from rubber boots into the new leathers and get camera gear ready before I go to find Asa somewhere in the jungle.
And find him I did, after making a food drop in another valley. The meat in the drum weighed something between 15 and 20 kilos so that will keep the young leopard going for a few days. Thank you so much for the support in response to the last few posts, I'll hopefully get more photos and emails out over the next couple of days and there'll be a couple of additions to www.mountaintiger.photography soon.
The concept of funding these projects by asking people to buy and download images, print and hang them, spread the word... well, it's starting to work well. The core supporter group is expanding and the new subscription system will kick in soon. Online and physical exhibitions are the next stage.
I find this a pure way of doing things and the fact that people are embracing it is pleasing because guess what? It's working... a healthy young leopard is living free and despite all the issues of late Asa was in spectacular form this morning, leaping from tree to tree, doing everything right. I didn't want to leave him, it was if we had rebonded after the caging incident which in many ways left us both confused about who we could trust.
But that was then and this is now, we keep moving forward. Hemant is doing excellent work in the west and the vision of a Rescue and Rewilding Centre is clear and active. As long as I can get accurate information from this point then we can continue to progress during this transition period before final relocation. The physical effort of this morning to get food to Asa in a safe part of the jungle was worth it just to see him wild and free, that is of course what it is all about. Nothing is easy doing a project like this here, it's been one challenge after another but my heart tells me the right thing is being done.
I thank those who support that...
Cheers Jack
