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"Leopards have vanished from at least 49 percent of their historic range in Africa and 84 percent of their historic range in Eurasia"
"Leopards have vanished from at least 49 percent of their historic range in Africa and 84 percent of their historic range in Eurasia"
Getting more understanding and support re the plight of the leopard is a major challenge. The apathy is frustrating. I was thinking about this earlier this morning when we were in an interesting situation in the jungle. We were close to where a tiger was on a kill and although we couldn't clearly see what was going on we could certainly hear it. But our main observation was the behaviour of the chital (spotted deer) close by, there were quite a few and it was interesting to see their proximity to the predator over the kill. My mind flicked to the fact that the male leopard I am monitoring in that area has not been around very much. Tiger activity in that part of the jungle has increased as dispersal has taken place. The overall rise of the tiger population here means new challenges for leopards, already marginalized and without anywhere near the protection status as the tiger. I wondered how many people really cared, beyond posting a crybaby emoji that is.
Two more leopard skins were seized in Ktm yesterday (see article here) for every seizure there are any number of poaching and trade incidents that will never be known about.
So the leopard cops it on all fronts, reduced habitat, poaching and not enough emphasis on the situation. Well, I've said my piece, now for the rest of the day I've got a leopard to rehabilitate and rewild... because no matter what anyone thinks, the simple fact is every one is precious...
Via @WildTigerNews -
