A leopard lives, a leopard dies...

This post (as well as other updates) is at Facebook if you wish to comment.

LIVE THE LIFE, Never give up... I write these posts to bring some reality, the good,the bad and the ugly. Obviously there is not time to update on everything going on plus there is stuff that has to stay behind closed doors.

The leopard in the image died a couple of hours after the photo was taken. You can see her lifting her head but had she been ok she would never had let me get that close without attacking the side of the cage. She died of internal injuries caused by severe blows. I'm about to see another leopard, he is on his last legs, he won't last much longer, his eyes tell a tragic story. Later I'll be in the transit zone to check cameras monitoring the leopard Dipnani, they will hopefully show progress as I indicated in the post on Facebook (I've appended that post below on this page). I don't know how many dead or dying leopards I have seen now, it's a lot, I have to clear the mind, I have the tools to do that but...

There will be the day's data, how many leopards (reported incidents) have died in the last 48 hours or so. More leopards die every day in South Asia than tigers,rhinos and elephants put together. As I mentioned yesterday,a colleague doing work in Africa is coming up with equally grim data, it goes well beyond trophy hunting.

Deep inside I know we can turn this thing round but I am tired of the politics, the promises, the lack of overall care. We're working hard to have measures to sustain the fight so that those three factors have less effect.

Regarding all this someone once said to me "Live the Life" ... it is a very Nepali expression because life for so many here is a real struggle. Her words have stuck with me, essentially it means do what you can for what you really believe in, the sacrifices are just part of that. Never give up and good can happen. Asis, bro, we can win this thing... Jai Chituwa.

The post below (referenced above) was posted on Facebook a couple of days ago talking about the rehab of the leopard Dipnani:

LEOPARD IN TRANSIT

LEOPARD IN TRANSIT... This image brings me great joy. It's one of a series from fixed cameras watching the leopard Dipnani during her rehab. We have an information protocol and I'm soon to give a report to the Chief Warden but just quickly, Dipnani is in good physical condition, her awareness levels high, her aggression levels strong. It is now her behaviour I am monitoring intently but in a non invasive way using cameras watching her three zones. Only Game Scout Dhaman Thapa and I go into the perimeter for the feeding process and camera check but we do not see the cat directly unless there is an emergency, that is how I have things set up. It has been a lot of work getting to this point, Dipnani has had a difficult start losing her mother so young and I virtually had to build the facility around her, which was not easy in these conditions. In the image Dipnani is checking out a small hunting area. Facilitating a leopard to hunt is an ...er... um..."organic" experience... but not in the way a vegan goes vegetable shopping.

There is progress. We are learning. Reintroduction for ecosystem rebuilding is the goal. There are no guarantees but you can be rest assured the effort is going in.
I want to dedicate this image to two people today, firstly Dr Asis Gurung, he and I spent hundreds and hundreds of hours working out these programs. We have both made big sacrifices. It will all work out in the end but "bro, you are right here in this and everything you have done has made a difference, we keep going forward despite everything..."
The second person is Debbie, and she will kick me for this, but there is no one on the planet who understands and works harder to combat the trade in tiger parts than she does. But Deb works hard for the leopard within that, she treats the trade as the big cat trade, she understands my deep concerns with what is happening to the leopard, so on Global Tiger Day, I salute you mate.
I wear my heart on my sleeve with this stuff. Yes I have been disappointed in the drop off in support since the Asa project. I busted my gut on that mountain and I thought doing so it was for his species. But leopards have had a raw deal from the masses.
"Wild Leopard", (2 posts back) honey from Nepal is helping slowly change that. Poverty alleviation so people can live more safely in leopard conflict hotspots thus less retaliation is one element, the other is that it can help fund our projects. Sometimes you have to think outside the square, do what you have to do. But look at Dipnani, it's worth it.
Today being Global Tiger Day there will be a lot of noise, big orgs will milk it for every dollar. Fair enough. I am optimistic for the tiger. I believe the figure of 4000 can get to about 6000, there is enough habitat within protected areas through the range, there is a lot of effort going in.
But the leopard faces huge challenges because of its habitat use, particularly in non PAs. Already in India there has been talk of the leopard going extinct before the tiger.
The leopard needs loyal supporters. Watch this space too...

Time to say WTF... 2 media pieces leaving me shaking my head...

This post is a bit of a hard hitter because the heart is on the sleeve.I can be more gentle and at Facebook you will find other updates that are that way,some positive stuff.  This post is at Facebook if you do wish to comment.

 I really don't know. Ok,into it.The first one, "No leopard sighted in Valley in last 10 months" pertains to the Kathmandu Valley,this is the link https://thehimalayantimes.com/…/no-leopard-sighted-in-vall…/ but "increased prey species" ... really? Very keen to see the data on that! And "because of monsoon" ... um...really again? My understanding is monsoon only started in the valley a few weeks ago. Once again,this whole thing smacks of denial with regard to the plight of the leopard. Could it be that there are less leopards? You bet your ass it could be that, a global issue,not just limited to Nepal. By the way,in case you didn't know,the leopard is not a protected species in Nepal...yet!
The second article "Predator X: Inside sick Facebook group where hunters post photos of trophy kills" link http://www.dailystar.co.uk/…/Predator-X-Facebook-group-hunt… well, the image and headline say it all.
I have a colleague working in Africa researching what is really going on in several countries there re pseudo conservation. He has asked me to spend some time with him investigating trophy hunting, I will when the time is right, too much to do here at the moment but he emailed me recently saying there is more money spent on airfares by "new wave conservationists" than is hitting the ground (pun intended,because the whole bloody thing is a plane crash) and the hundreds of NGOs plus tenuous links to trophy hunting makes for disturbing reading.
Ok,you go back to your tigers,elephants,rhinos and other rock stars,I've got more to do today for a big cat getting ignored and obliterated...

Teaching "The Leopards" about leopards... but many problems exist...

This post (as well as other different updates) is at Facebook if you wish to comment.  I also posted at Facebook today re our efforts to develop an early warning system to help mitigate conflict with elephants in our area.  A lot of destruction and sadly human fatalities have resulted, we have a lot to do.  I thank those who take interest in our work.  Our integrated website wildtiger.org - wildleopard.net is currently being updated.  Today's main post is below these images.

This is just a quick post because time is at a premium right now but it was great to have over 40 children at the first "Living with Leopards" class yesterday. I'll explain more about this soon but essentially it's about learning about wildlife and coexistence as well as other components such as improving english language skills. The football team "The Leopards" made up the bulk of the first class but we will get as many kids from the community involved as possible.

School attendance is something we will really push as well, this is a problem in the area. It is linked to the lack of development, with basic infrastructure such as roads, electricity etc way behind the eight ball. Not having good internet and telecommunications makes it very difficult to implement early warning systems when dangerous bull elephants approach. Some families do not even have a phone.

Poverty is real and while we can do our best to educate and encourage young minds, coexistence with robust and often dangerous wildlife is seriously challenging. I am even feeling the pressure myself now with this elephant situation and more recent deaths, children taken by leopards, a real South Asian problem, make me ask myself daily, why are we not getting more help?

My thanks to the team and the kids yesterday, bless you all, we'll have another class on Saturday.

Leopards in crisis - my comment on Pragati's article

My piece below is reference to the article written for Onward Nepal by senior environment journalist, researcher, colleague and friend, Pragati Shahi. Click on the title to read the article, go to Facebook if you wish to comment.

Leopards: Poached, Trafficked, In Conflict with Humans, Ignored

The article from Pragati pretty much sums it up but there's a couple of key elements that need to be added. In the main she has written what I've been saying for months, Pragati and I have spent a lot of time discussing it and she has accompanied me on call outs, conflict situations, she has a good understanding. So I write this as someone on the ground, someone who is investing time and money into these issues, someone who tracks leopards, digs holes, wires cages together, spends time with people seriously affected by the conflict, and devotes a big chunk of my life towards rehabilitation.

The first point is where is the public support on this? It's all very well continually blaming governments etc but the public, globally, have not given this animal a fair deal compared to so many other species. Believe me, as one of the small group of leopard conservationists around the world, we are pulling our hair out, wondering what we have to do make this wake up call happen while tigers, elephants, dolphins, orcas, rhinos etc get millions thrown at them. Oh there are a lot of promises from big orgs, individuals, lots of people with nice hair sitting behind desks, yes, it would be nice to have a dollar for every promise. As I mentioned recently it's been over a year since the plight of the leopard was made public after extensive research globally re habitat loss... and the response has been pathetic.

The second issue is this. Where is the word ecosystem from the nice hair people? I have banged on about this so much but the reference in the article to having protected areas misses the point. Ecosystems exist far beyond protected areas and the leopard is totally different from the tiger in that it is far more adaptable, the leopard is in fact one of nature's finest ecosystem engineers, as an apex predator it is an ecological masterpiece. It is not a National Park animal for tourists, it is much much more than that.

On International Day of the Leopard, Vidya Athreya will tell you why the leopard is so important. Vidya is in my opinion South Asia's leading expert, perhaps globally. There will be others having their say re wildlife crime, you will find out what is being done, how hard some people are really trying with minimal support. I hope the people with nice hair will finally listen...

I am close to finishing Phase 2 in the Leopard Rehab Zone (digging holes, tying wire, dealing with a very aggressive leopard) and then I will be in the middle hills investigating a man eater. I hope we can have things set up soon so we can extract man eaters and bring them to the rehab zone, then retaliation killings will decrease. People need to feel safe and by the same token leopards need help...

#Coexistence - Living with wild animals... and love marriage...

"Something lurks in the night, I don't know what..." Actually a lot of the time I do, especially when elephants come this close. You can see by the date that Messi has been depriving us of sleep for a while now. With leopards, it's a little different and with a cat as big as the Boss it can be disconcerting when you check equipment and realize he was there not much earlier. It's all about food, with elephants you don't want to be in the way if they come shopping, with leopards you simply don't want to be the food...
Leopards are courageous but risk averse. Each leopard has a different way of operating, in the forest and near human structures. Nothing can ever be taken for granted, the learning is ongoing. I often get asked about leopard behaviour, the most common question being how big is their range? Well that's a bit like one Martian asking another Martian what do humans eat? It varies. There are so many variables in the way a leopard behaves, works its range, we still know so little.
Data helps tell the story, some of the time but it's important not to generalize. Sadly, some info we can make a sweeping statement on is something I touched on a few days ago, how leopards don't trigger the same response (interest) as the "hotshot" species. Today, after digging holes in the rehab zone I got back to some info re keyword response, and yep, it just confirms it, out there you're just not as interested in protecting the spotted cat as you are other animals. More on this soon, pray I'll be subtle, I may not be.
That is what it is, we get on with it, deal with it. I don't dwell on it when I'm in the jungle where due to the nature of my work I am often alone. So when I get back to base and have conversations with others of my species, well, being from a different culture, I get asked many things.
One topic that frequently comes up is arranged marriages which in Nepal are still the norm. There are more and more love marriages but it's interesting, the divorce rate here is very low. I often get asked what I think about arranged marriages v love marriages.

My standard response is "to me, both are quite dangerous."

:)

Anyway, it's been a long time since I wore a wedding band (probably sold it to buy equipment for my work) so I'm far from an expert, probably know more about leopards (safer?) and I still have so much to learn about the great cat.
But all coexistence has challenges... that much I do know...

Tragedy in last few days as lives lost on both sides...

This post (as well as other updates not at this blog) is at Facebook if you wish to comment.

It's never ending. A couple of districts away a leopard dragged a 13 year old girl out of bed while she was asleep next to her mother. The leopard managed to get in as the door was open because it was a hot night. A screen door or electricity and a ceiling fan, perhaps the little girl would still be alive. That is the price of poverty. I’ve attended too many cases where poverty has been a factor in where children have lost their lives to leopards.

In the image the leopard was electrocuted possibly after climbing the power pole after being chased by a mob, that is what is being investigated. Leopards inspire fear for many people, once again mostly people who don’t have the resources to be safe.

The image is macabre but I see so much stuff like this I hardly bat an eyelid now. That’s not to say that the deaths of children and of leopards don’t move me, they do, it’s just that it happens so much. We’ve done analysis on the reaction to the image on social media, pitting the story against those where icon species had their plight shown. Needless to say the leopard story stimulated the least reaction. Fodder for my book I can tell you. The death of yet another child won’t bring a flood of messages either.

Back late yesterday afternoon after working in the leopard rehab zone I had to follow up two separate cases of leopard skin seizures in the last 48 hours, both along our latitude of terrain. Illegal wildlife trade, the trafficking of skins and other leopard body parts remains a constant threat. Once again, the anti-poaching effort and emphasis for other species gets support for these efforts much stronger compared to what the leopard and the people living with them receive. Overall human-wildlife conflict mitigation is deemed a much lower priority than anti-poaching, this is wrong, anti-poaching is sexy in the public eyes and many have been duped by ineffective programs. I write these facts from a little village fringing jungle, not a nice office or from a conference or lecture hall. I write these facts from the ground.

I need coffee, the bull elephant did not appear last night but we had to take it in shifts through the night to keep watch, Guruji, Manju, Ram and I, all bleary eyed and watchful. That’s the reality of human-wildlife coexistence. So that’s it from me for now, have to finish reports and then it’s off to dig more holes, twist more wire, build more enclosures… leopards and the people living with them can be protected, it just requires more effort.

#Coexistence - Working together for a better world...

This post (along with different updates) is at Facebook if you wish to comment.

I'll explain more at a later date about the effort needed to get shots like this (dodging crocodiles, thank you Ram Shahi and family for the use of boat) but the dynamics of this herd of elephants are very important when it comes to the behaviour of the bull elephant which has been part of serious problems. The herd keeps the bull away in the main and are generally more passive. The people who are most affected by the bull are scared and hardly sleeping, it's a tricky situation and I have still not managed to test the tiger audio with a degree of safety.
The local elections have been taking place here, there have been divisions in a country which already suffers from that, it slows development dramatically. Fortunately there was very little violence and there are signs of more unity... but there's a long, long way to go before that translates into real progress. It can happen however, this country which is so important from an ecological angle, has the potential to build into something great, if there is more cooperation like the family group in the photograph.
I'm about to go to the rehab leopard, one of a species which is the epitome of marginalization, I feel deeply for these cats, they must wonder what the hell is going on. Surely the right of the leopard to coexist is exactly the same as the elephants in the image?... but the human world has become very selective on these issues.
Respect for all living beings can lead to a better world but we must all work properly for that...

Many thanks to those following "Living with Leopards" and other platforms...

This post is at Facebook (as well as other updates) if you wish to comment.

Many thanks to those following Living with Leopards and other platforms (don't forget @WildTigerNews). As was posted there yesterday the INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE LEOPARD is making advances and there will be an announcement in a couple of weeks.
Those of you who follow my posts (and I thank you) know that there is serious concern for the lack of understanding and support regarding leopard issues in general. This has to change for the sake of the species. The leopard, by its very secretive nature, will never have the rock star status of species like elephant, rhino or tiger but there is hope that by targeting key people (Friends of the Leopard is another upcoming development) and particularly getting children involved that the future can be brighter for the spotted cat and those living in leopard habitats. A key to this is getting young ones to really understand ecosystems, something which is sadly lost on older generations.
My own days are busy within the elements of rehabilitation (including rewilding, reintroduction), coexistence and wildlife crime so I can't always reply to messages immediately but I always get there in the end, I just ask for patience.
I thank those who care, this is an extremely challenging time for many wildlife species but for severely persecuted animals like the leopard it's that much harder. They cohabit this planet with us, they have that right and the simple fact that as one of the great ecosystem engineers, we need them...
#ScienceWillWin #JaiChituwa #WeCanCoexist