The image is from a camera trap, one of the last that caught the leopard Asa and I together. We had met at a place on the territorial grid I had set up for the young leopard. We did have a few more meetings after this date, now as many of you know the young leopard is flying solo.
Tigers, leopards, snow leopards are primarily solo creatures but they rely on the functioning of the ecosystem they live in. Yes, they are key to sustaining those environments but they are far from the only players, the whole food chain needs to be working.
I remember when I was in my solo mountaineering phase (what the hell was I thinking?!) muttering to myself, well, here I am up here all alone but I really hope the guy who shaped these ice axes was having a good day when he made them because mate, I need them to be strong right now. It's all connected.
Here in Nepal the Constitution was promulgated two days ago. Since then it's been a mixture of celebration and protest, unfortunately the latter still pretty heavy. The incredible ethnic diversity of this country is an attraction but right now it is once again being a curse. As I've mentioned over the last weeks many lives, including innocent children, have been lost.
What I'd give to live in a world where personal agendas are secondary and the spirit of cooperation was paramount. The thing is I see it in the mountains, the jungles, those places strip away ego, kick you hard if you don't show respect and work with them not against them. It doesn't matter how solo one is we are all dependent on the web of life.
Many thanks to those who read these blogs as well as supporting WildTiger. I'm nearly at the end of a couple of weeks in Kathmandu, heading to the Terai and then back to the mountains soon. I've made progress but it's not easy operating in an environment with an uncertain future. Yes, those big cats I mentioned are solo creatures but now they have a dependency on us...
