It's good to be back in leopard territory. I have so much regard for these animals. They make very little noise. Yeah sure, there is communication between family members, as well as those warning growls... and if you've ever heard one without seeing the cat itself it's a spine tingling experience. I've experienced warnings from big cats I will never forget. Even the leopard Asa from a young age would do his best to make it clear what his demands were, sometimes that was quite amusing listening to his vocalizations. At other times, being in the jungle alone when a tiger or a leopard warns you, it is not amusing... give them their space or else.
A top predator is a highly evolved killer. In real nature for a predator to survive something has to die. Forget your pets or zoo animals, real nature is a different world. It's tough. Leopards don't have conferences or workshops, they don't have apps or psychologists. A wild leopard doesn't have someone bringing their food. As a cub they have a short window of time to learn and hone their skills, then they're out there, surviving the best they can. Evolution has made them into astonishing athletes, with stealth and cunning few species can match.
The challenge for the leopard now is to adapt to an ever changing world forced on them by humans. The challenge for the conservationist is to help them achieve that. Yes, there has to be a lot of words to keep evolving strategy, find new ways to combat poaching, help mitigate human/leopard conflict, to try and create understanding in people as to why the leopard is so important to us. None of this is easy, in fact there are times when you understand you are in a tiny minority trying to achieve this. It's at those times I close my eyes and think what the leopard has taught me, stay focused, concentrate with a clear mind on the task. I think of those days when I'm in the jungle and cannot see the leopard I but I know it can see me, the perfection of its blending into real nature, with no noise, no words... just with the pure silence of understanding as it acts to survive. I respect that very much. In that regard the leopard is a perfect being, no words, just action...
We humans by nature use many more words. But if we don't follow them with action, those words are nothing. A few days ago here in Nepal another man was killed by a leopard and a few days before that another leopard skin was seized. It is a complex relationship that needs continual work. So bye for now...
