I'll have more soon on Hemant's (left) role in the increased anti-poaching work as the crisis makes this essential and also how WildTiger is stepping up involvement as a whole. I'm not going to put any roses on this, things are not good here and even if there was a complete resolution now politically (unlikely) it will take a long time to recover. Sadly, there is also a reality check needed for many, the endearing trait of "it will be ok" is actually counter productive, it is holding back action and is simply a bystander to the empty promises continually dished out at authority levels.
I'm in Kathmandu now (survived a nasty scare on bus trip here - see facebook) for some meetings that I pray will be productive. A couple of people very kindly reacted with contributions when they saw my post (facebook) this morning describing how Chiran is getting warm clothes and a few sports items to the school in Simjung. To be honest, every rupee counts, a business partner and I have funded internally for months now, my pockets are virtually empty. I haven't had time to fundraise by pushing the sale of images, plus I really wanted to see how things played out here. I've developed new strategy starting 1 January but honestly it's like working two fulltime jobs. Two private photo exhibitions showed the possibilities, those people will go to leopard heaven as well, thank you.
The Leopard Rewilding Program has been affected by all this, one of the main reasons I'm in Kathmandu. So much effort and resource has gone into this, we have to keep going.
It's a battle, it really is. I know it's worth every effort, this country is so important as I've mentioned several times before. I thank those who are helping, you do make a difference...
