I sometimes joke that being a vegetarian was the hardest twenty-eight minutes of my life. I don't feel like joking at the moment. Yesterday in the jungle I was thinking like a carnivore as I was trying to track a leopard that had been straying very close to human settlement.. There was no sign of this particular female, that concerned me but I accepted that her territory is still being established, she seems to be a recent visitor unlike an older male leopard which seems to have disappeared.
I found yesterday hard but first of all I thank those who actually read these blogs, not just "like" pretty pictures but if that is all you do, at least look into the eyes of this leopard and feel something. I'll come to my concern for the safety of leopards soon but there were other events yesterday which left me deep in thought. When I'm in a place with decent signal I'll activate data access on my phone just in case there are any important emails. While in the forest yesterday I got a message from WildTiger supporter Kate Walton. It was about several matters but Kate's reference to a post by wildlife activist Paul Watson had me curious because I hadn't seen it. I spent the rupees to run Watson's post and the image of the slaughtered polar bear (I shared the post on my Facebook page soon after) along with his words regarding the hypocrisy of Greenpeace and WWF once again left me shaking my head. Watson may be controversial (he's a maverick and I can relate to that) but he has courage, a lot of it. I had brief messages with him later in the day, he was, as always, succinct. He made it clear that these large organizations are not on our side.
Sometimes I wonder if the policy makers of these large organizations have ever actually looked a wild animal in the eyes, made a natural connection. Of course it's not just Greenpeace and WWF soaking up huge funds in order to act out these counter wildlife measures. There are hundreds of smaller organizations involved in bullshit. As I mentioned in a comment yesterday I have no sympathy for donors who are misdirecting their funds to these people, it's 2016, people can find out easily if there is good ground level work being done. But people still get sucked in by rhetoric, celebrity, whatever, I don't know, that stuff is beyond me, I'm just a ground level shit kicker.
One organization I trust is Panthera and when they released their report yesterday (also shared on Facebook and linked at @WildTigerNews) that the leopard had lost seventy five percent of its range I felt a moments disgust for humanity. I wondered who would react to this. I wondered who understood we are all responsible. I wondered how many have truly connected to nature by looking in the eyes of a wild animal...
We're in the sixth major extinction period but not many understand that, let alone fully realize that we are in the main responsible. The study of our fellow vertebrates, their behaviour, their relationship with us, this is my passion and my concern. In the last one hundred years we should have lost a few but instead we have lost hundreds. This is because of us and I wonder who really understands that, or worse, I wonder who really cares.
Everyone should care, the ramifications are huge. There are vast areas of habitat we can still protect, we will. However I've changed my thinking about who is involved in this, who has the courage of conviction to fight for this, whether it be in hardcore wildlife protection or baking a cake to sell to raise funds for organizations actually acting at ground level.
Hopefully in an hour when I'm back in the forest searching for leopard sign, I'll have let these thoughts go. However I'll be concerned about these leopards, there's been many forest fires of late and some have been lit to drive wildlife to places where they can be easily caught. This is the result of poverty (lack of education is often a result of poverty) but also often greed in a consumer society where we've learnt to blame everyone else for this mess and yet leave it up to others to clean it up. The leopard is a species which is entirely representative of our actions. These animals are adapting to a new world altered by us, their future is uncertain because of us. Panthera's report explains it. There's also another tiny leopard cub in care right now, it may not survive but that's another story. Politics before reason, that's our world. That can be very upsetting when lives are lost because of it.
I thank those who support WildTiger. I come from a country which recognizes sentient beings as having rights but nature is harsh, it's a tough life for carnivore and prey. It is however the way it is supposed to be, the functioning of ecosystems which give not only health to all beings including us but also give that sense of wonder at the sheer beauty of it all. I thank those who want to see it continue because at least you understand it has to be that way or we are leaving the children of humanity with a struggle they don't deserve. Surely that in itself is enough to make some people care even if they've never looked into the eyes of a wild animal...
