Thanks to those who took the time to read the previous posts (here and at Facebook) today on tiger farming. A big thanks to the team at EIA for coordinating the gang of 45 to speak out on this. It's another step. We all keep going.
In Nepal the world tiger often refers to any of the wild cat species including of course leopard and snow leopard. In many ways that is really appropriate because the plight of the tiger is the plight of many species. It's a complex problem. The issues of livelihood, poverty, education, politics, ego and the very big one of corruption add to the overall problem. I have to admit there are days waking up I shudder at the scale of the problem but it never takes long to remember that all effort is worth it.
Apathy and denial are also major issues. And another one, misunderstanding. This one worries me. When I hear and see some of the anti-human sentiment out there I realize a lot is going wrong with our perceptions. There is this belief that because of our population numbers we are not in danger. Nothing could be further from the truth, we lose the "tiger" and we are in big, big trouble, it is another sign our ecosystems are failing and we are failing our ecosystems.
The people who live among big cats play the most vital role. I'll blog again in a week or so re my own work in trying to mitigate human - leopard conflict, an issue that is creating tragic consequences and once again, is misunderstood by the wider public.
A lot to do, once again I thank those who have the courage to care... there is hope if we keep going.
