These posts are also at Facebook (along with other updates) should you wish to comment
#Being judged because of your skin colour is never easy. Those who have experienced it know what I mean. Having rhino skin is not even enough armour because racism also separates real friendships from the pseudo, they can be tough moments. My book will tell more...
The positive I try to take is that it teaches you a lot about the marginalized. Being at the bottom of the social heap, as occurs in some cultures by traditions based on beliefs, in others by the economic divide, can mean a victimization that leads to some dangerous consequences, for man and animal. Interviewing a person who has lost a child in a leopard attack brings that home. Seeing the fear in a leopard during a rescue brings that home.
It's at those moments that to truly understand one can take past experiences and realize what a marginalized person or animal is going through. A true conservationist has to show compassion for both people and wildlife. It can sometimes mean tough love because yes, poachers and wildlife dealers do need punishment in many cases but victims of wildlife conflict and wildlife crime are marginalized in a way where they had no choice.
Unfortunately there are those in the conservation community and outside it who don't understand this. That needs to change...
