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If you're into fluffy cute stuff don't read these blogs - this is more of a place for people who want to know raw reality. Some of you may have seen the post yesterday at our Twitter feed @WildTigerNews regarding leopard skin seizures in the far west. Those of you who follow more closely (I mean actually read posts) will know there's been a spate of seizures, big cat bones and skins. Not every seizure gets reported in the media because that can hinder investigations. And of course, as I've mentioned several times before, there's the frightening fact that for every seizure made there's a lot of illegal trade in big cat body parts that slips through the net.
Illegal Wildlife Trade is a multi billion dollar problem. Although China and the USA stand out as the main destination points for both live and dead wildlife, the problem is global, every nation is involved. I guess it's an indictment of our fucked up attitude to wildlife, we cage, we kill, we both love and hate it to death.
The situation here in Nepal is a microcosm because the link between the trade and economic factors is in your face. Poaching is at all levels, whether it's to make a bit of money from bush meat to trade in the high ticket items such as big cat body parts. There's no doubt that the economic downturn in an already struggling country is a major factor in the poaching spike, the earthquakes and border blockades badly affecting tourism as well as causing so much hardship. I wrote how these events would threaten wildlife security and well, I don't want to say I told you so but I told you so.
We live in an age now of "awareness spreading" and endless meetings. Meanwhile, at the pointy end, ground level, we are under resourced. The link between human/wildlife conflict and poaching/illegal trade is becoming a greater tangible, especially in the case of the leopard. From my own point of view this has forced the changes we are making at WildTiger and where we place our emphasis because one thing the years have taught me is that humans are much more reactive than proactive... and this trait is a cost to wildlife, a big bad cost. Human/wildlife conflict mitigation and anti-poaching have to be taken more seriously in an active sense, just showing a sad face about it achieves nothing...
I'll be in the west in just over a week after finalizing a few things here in the Kaski where we have many leopard conflict issues. The issues I've been posting about recently lead to long days. When there is time to reflect I can only shake my head and wonder how the world has let it come to this.
