A few hours ago the Facebook page "Living with Leopards" was launched. This coincides with the integration of our two websites wildtiger.org (the org parent site) and wildleopard.net into one site, with pages being published and/or updated through this month.
On a personal note I have huge concerns with many things happening with the way big cats are perceived, conservation strategies, I guess our understanding and treatment of wildlife in general. As one who dedicates his life to human-wildlife coexistence I am constantly reminded, daily, how little I really know. And often questions like these come to mind;
I wonder how many tourists (and for that matter many photographers and scientists) really understand the effects they are having when they parade round in jeeps in wildlife domain? Do they realize the way they may be altering the behaviour of predators putting innocent villagers at risk in the future? Prey base such as deer being disturbed, do people know this can affect the day to day functioning of the ecosystem? And for those who live with wild animals, how much understanding is there about how the chopping down of one tree is affecting so many organisms in the web of life? On that last questions, if it is being asked by a conservationist, just what alternatives is that tree cutter being given regarding livelihood?
These are just examples, I could jot down hundreds of these questions and every single one makes me examine my own way of doing things closely. In the end it comes down to, just as I mentioned in my post yesterday on increased militarization in conservation, the right tools being in the right hands and just what is fair.
Last night I saw many wildlife orgs shamelessly using Valentines Day to increase donations. It was the humanization aspect coming in once again, applying completely inappropriate emotional brands to wildlife. It made me wonder how some of the people I've spent time with lately, those who have lost family members in human-wildlife conflict, would feel about these tactics... but then again, many of them are too poor to have the resources to see these tactics anyway. Then that begs the question, again, where exactly does the money raised by these tactics go?
We live in a seriously imbalanced world where the marginalized, both wildlife and people, have struggles that many others either don't realize or genuinely care about. The "Living with Leopards" concept will bring the truths of the situation because all parties involved really are living with raw truths. Those outside the situation will maybe help more in the right places once they truly understand. About the only thing I know for sure is that the next decade or two will pretty much decide the future for many species... as well as those living with them...
