Tomorrow I start loading images again onto MountainTiger Photography as a way of raising funds for our work. It's been a long drawn out process, several legal issues to get through and it's been stressful. Persistence usually pays off. I'll be using several platforms, including Twitter, to make the images available. Any amount to help us is appreciated.
The image gallery will be based around Asa, the Leopard of Hope, the young cat I lived with in the rewilding program. Right now two other leopards, Tika and Ram, are doing very well under the watchful (and hard working) eyes of their handlers from NTNC-BCC in a program in collaboration with WildTiger and National Park authorities. That is a positive among a raft of issues great cats are facing now and those who have just seen my latest post on Facebook (Statement of Concern by Tiger Biologists) will understand that tiger along leopard and snow leopard (among many other species) need honesty, integrity, support and hard work more than ever right now.
My own focus, as I prepare to relocate to the challenging west of Nepal (extremely hot!) is now on anti-poaching (technology implementation) and human/wildlife conflict with emphasis on leopard behaviour. Big cats have taken a lot of hits in the west lately, this is of great concern in an area which has the potential to become one of the great protected habitats for tiger, as important if not more, than anywhere else on earth.
The WildTiger Journal overview will be out soon. Having the right type of people involved in this is of particular emphasis and as will be stated, I'm really happy with the outcome in that regard. I thank sincerely the true supporters. This is a tough gig, not many truly understand how tough. There are days I just want to be in a quiet place talking to my family but due to all this I haven't seen them in a long time, that is not easy. Potshots and attempted manipulations are part and parcel in big cat conservation, I feel sorry for people who think they have the right to do that, their lives must be lacking in certain ways. At ground level there is no time for that, I look for strength of character, the ability to take some hits, in the people we need to help secure the future for wildlife. The great cats of Asia, as part of that fabric, deserve no less...
