In the images Hemant Acharya, Nirajan Chhetri, Hirasingh Tharu and me tend to a planting Hemant made a little while back for the memory of the late Ellen Ammerman, a dear friend and great WildTiger supporter. Hemant remarked that with the new year just a couple of days away the tree is a symbol of a new beginning. I know for a fact that Ellen would have liked to hear him say that.
A couple of days later and now the new year is here. This last one was unforgettable. Many people lost their lives in earthquakes as well as other tragedies. There was political turmoil which resulted in civil conflict, resulting in more deaths... and let's not pretend for a second the ramifications of these events have left us, things are still very difficult here.
The Leopard Rewilding Program continues, this is proving to be something special. As I've mentioned before there will be a report at the appropriate time but so far so good. I feel very protective of big cats, very protective. To me every single one is precious, especially now as the populations continue to be on precipices. My posts yesterday reflected my feelings on the games some are playing, there is so much to be done, big cat protection will require infinite vigilance.
Soon I'll be making Bardia my main base as part of a program in conjunction with the various elements involved with anti-poaching including the park authorities, military, community and law enforcement. While my main role will be training and implementation of technical aids with regard to anti-poaching and human/wildlife conflict mitigation there is also scope for my passion of understanding leopard behaviour including the relationship that species has with other wildlife including tiger as well as of course the relationship with people. I have a long connection with Bardia and while I didn't expect to be basing there at this stage it's important to be flexible here if the best effectiveness is to be achieved.
Hemant has really impressed me of late with his dedication. Many of you know that his father was killed by an elephant a few years ago, at a spot just a couple of hundred metres away from where these images were taken. The recent surge in big cat poaching has strengthened Hemant's resolve, we had a very direct talk about that three days ago and a phone call last night gave me heart.
I guess what I've found out in a very difficult year is who the dedicated ones really are, who can go the distance, who is prepared to sacrifice. This has been interesting as some real passion has come through while others have fallen by the wayside. Big cat protection requires the strength to take hits on many levels. Some can do this, some can't. Sometimes the sheer brutal honesty is too much and I've been intrigued to see who does what under these circumstances. At ground level personal agendas get in the way of progress so that in itself requires a certain type of action.
So I thank those with the total dedication. This thing has a long way to play out and I'm looking forward to our new improved ways of bringing news, I've mentioned this of late, some good strong people are getting involved. This gives me real optimism and even though there is global apathy towards issues such as big cat conservation I believe there are enough good people to continue the fight and be effective. It's not going to be easy but everyone knows that...
