A beaming Chiran Pokharel as he says goodbye to Tika and Ram as the isolation phase enters full swing. Chiran is the Program Coordinator and Senior Conservation officer at the Biodiversity Conservation Centre (BCC) at Chitwan National Park. The BCC is an integral part of the work of the National Trust for Nature Conservation. Chiran has studied the tiger and leopard at PhD level and I'll be posting more about his work and that of his team at Chitwan as well as other identities here in the conservation community.
I'll be basing here at Chitwan for the project but also will be busy travelling into big cat habitat including back into Asa's territory, where it all began in what seems a long time ago. Asa, the Leopard of Hope, is doing well and I'm looking forward to checking camera trap images of him in about two days. It is many hours from here to get to his territory but it is worth every effort for what he is teaching us. We owe that leopard a lot... and everyone involved will continue to work for his species and other big cats. Jai Bagh...
...and already young Ram adapts to his surroundings...