This post is also at the Facebook page Living with Leopards
In the distance, as he crossed the river bed, we thought he was a tiger, a big cat with stripes. There is a sub adult male finding territory, we wondered if that cat was finding his way, as he now seems to have sperated from his tigress mum. The walk of this animal was languid but of a slightly shorter stride, ever so slightly hurried, like that of a young panthera tigris.
Closer examination (not too close) and we realized it was the Boss, a large male leopard whose behaviour I am slowly understanding. It was the first time I had seen him in open terrain and it wasn't long before his beat line took him into thicker jungle. It was a magnificent site and to a grizzled leopard conservationist who has encountered many leopards in different ways, it brought a great warming of the heart.
We were clearing cameras, part of a program I am conducting with the Rapid Response Team for anti-poaching and wildlife monitoring so although we had equipment not far away from where the Boss had gone, we decided to backtrack. We did not want to disturb this supreme predator, it was still early enough in the day for him to hunt although my mind was telling me the Boss was maybe heading for a favourite tree in which to rest for the day, a shady welcoming place to escape the jungle heat.
My mind was also working out when there had last been sign of the Boss in that area when we came across two groups of women who wished to forage in the jungle, they had crossed the river and were on their way in when we warned them of the Boss. Later that day we saw they had heeded our message, the women had worked an area close by where we saw them although one camera detected two women a little further in. The warning was not just for their safety although the Boss is a very big cat, it was so the leopard could have his space, it was his turn in that patch of jungle, it was his turn to scatter deer and other prey, do the work that nature intended.
The Tharu people are predominant in the community along many parts of the Terai and soon I will write of their practice of Animism, their connection with nature, with jungle beings. When one lives among big cats and especially such a mysterious animal as the leopard, it influences one's own being but I'm not talking about western fad "let's all become Buddhists or yogis" blah blah stuff, I'm talking about a very real energy which permeates very existence. For me personally, because the leopard dominates how I live my life, I feel something missing when I am away from their habitat, I don't need to see them, I have other tools to help me understand them but my respect for them is such I don't want to stop working for them.
So an encounter with the Boss was a wonderful privilege, something I would never take for granted. Later in the day I spent time with the captive conflict male leopard (Raj Kumar or RK), also a very big cat, I looked him in the eyes and promised him a bigger enclosure. Then it was time spent with the rehabilitation leopard, Dipnani, but only a few seconds during a feed monitoring, she is isolated. But my promise to her was also heartfelt, I would do my best that she would have freedom, the encounter with the Boss, seeing him be where he belongs, making sure he was not disturbed, influenced that promise... but as before, it comes from a very deep place anyway...
In the distance, as he crossed the river bed, we thought he was a tiger, a big cat with stripes. There is a sub adult male finding territory, we wondered if that cat was finding his way, as he now seems to have sperated from his tigress mum. The walk of this animal was languid but of a slightly shorter stride, ever so slightly hurried, like that of a young panthera tigris.
Closer examination (not too close) and we realized it was the Boss, a large male leopard whose behaviour I am slowly understanding. It was the first time I had seen him in open terrain and it wasn't long before his beat line took him into thicker jungle. It was a magnificent site and to a grizzled leopard conservationist who has encountered many leopards in different ways, it brought a great warming of the heart.
We were clearing cameras, part of a program I am conducting with the Rapid Response Team for anti-poaching and wildlife monitoring so although we had equipment not far away from where the Boss had gone, we decided to backtrack. We did not want to disturb this supreme predator, it was still early enough in the day for him to hunt although my mind was telling me the Boss was maybe heading for a favourite tree in which to rest for the day, a shady welcoming place to escape the jungle heat.
My mind was also working out when there had last been sign of the Boss in that area when we came across two groups of women who wished to forage in the jungle, they had crossed the river and were on their way in when we warned them of the Boss. Later that day we saw they had heeded our message, the women had worked an area close by where we saw them although one camera detected two women a little further in. The warning was not just for their safety although the Boss is a very big cat, it was so the leopard could have his space, it was his turn in that patch of jungle, it was his turn to scatter deer and other prey, do the work that nature intended.
The Tharu people are predominant in the community along many parts of the Terai and soon I will write of their practice of Animism, their connection with nature, with jungle beings. When one lives among big cats and especially such a mysterious animal as the leopard, it influences one's own being but I'm not talking about western fad "let's all become Buddhists or yogis" blah blah stuff, I'm talking about a very real energy which permeates very existence. For me personally, because the leopard dominates how I live my life, I feel something missing when I am away from their habitat, I don't need to see them, I have other tools to help me understand them but my respect for them is such I don't want to stop working for them.
So an encounter with the Boss was a wonderful privilege, something I would never take for granted. Later in the day I spent time with the captive conflict male leopard (Raj Kumar or RK), also a very big cat, I looked him in the eyes and promised him a bigger enclosure. Then it was time spent with the rehabilitation leopard, Dipnani, but only a few seconds during a feed monitoring, she is isolated. But my promise to her was also heartfelt, I would do my best that she would have freedom, the encounter with the Boss, seeing him be where he belongs, making sure he was not disturbed, influenced that promise... but as before, it comes from a very deep place anyway...
