It's been an incredibly rough nearly four weeks for Nepal. Earthquakes have shaken a country to be on its knees. Personally I've felt like a caffeine overloaded nomad as I've rushed from project to project. Today I allowed myself a smile...
As I alluded to in previous posts there is some really good news re Asa, the leopard I've been attempting to rewild in a project now lasting over fifteen months. The data and Asa's behaviour indicate that Asa has chosen to fully separate from me meaning he is confident enough to have full independence. He has chosen not to contact me when I have been in his area, the grid territory I set up and camera trap images such as the one here are showing he is still occupying the zone. This is a major breakthrough, hence the smile you can see in the second image, plus Bindu's as she immediately understood the ramifications and situation as I started to explain to her. Bindu played a critical role in Asa's medical care when he was a young cub. Asa has been living completely free for many months now and the fact he has chosen to separate, at a time when I hoped he would, is extremely pleasing.
I will explain more soon. I'm heading into his territory in a few hours to get more information. R2A (see our website www.wildtiger.org) means there is all that to be contending with right now as well with more medical supplies going in plus the building of shelters to help earthquake survivors through the monsoon. Those who have been following these blogs will know we are using Asa's success to give hope and now we can add even more value to that. The area we are helping in is leopard habitat as well so we will be studying the overall effect on the area.
This thing still has a lot to play out. Asa's territory being in a disturbed area plus the planned Rescue and Rewilding Centre which has obviously been delayed in progress because of the earthquake are still key factors. I'm in a position now to start working with the next leopard(s), more on that shortly and yeah, it's a busy time but we must take the positive and keep working as hard as possible. On that note I better keep the coffee buzz going... cheers Jack.
