Big cat sign telling stories, #leopard, #tiger coexistence...

This post is at Facebook (along with other updates not at this blog site) if you wish to comment.

A hundred times a year I get asked how big is a leopard's territory. There's a simple answer. It varies. It varies because there are so many variables. One of those variables is the presence of other top predators, such as tiger.
While on my rounds today I found sign of both leopard and tiger, about three kilometres apart but heading towards each other. The tiger pug marks were interesting because it looked like a male and female were spending time together. Leopards avoid tigers as much as they can and a pair of stripeys romancing spells double trouble for the spotted cat. Every day I attempt to piece together coexistence clues. Here in Bardia there is every indication that the larger and growing tiger population has pushed leopard to the fringes, this can of course mean that leopards are more likely to be living closer to human settlements, which they do.
But it's important not to generalize with big cats. Known behaviour of panthera species as a whole can help guide a situation but another one of those variables is the individual characteristics of any given leopard or tiger.
Pug marks to me are fodder for info collection but also fodder for the soul, I just like seeing them. I don't need to see the cat itself, (although I do have visual contact with them quite a lot I guess), I just need to know they are there, I'd rather not disturb them to be honest. There are of course those times in serious conflict situations when pug marks are part of a tragic story, sometimes that can actually be a little bit chilling, seeing those footprints.
Today though was more about learning about an area and the big cat movement in it, just how much time a leopard I am tracking spends in denser tiger territory, this stuff is important as we understand how this affects our own coexistence with these animals...

Big cats - Our own examination...

Just now as going through images I need for a presentation/report I have to give, a friend Ankit Tivrekar sent me a clip about a lion which possibly remembered a wrong doing and looked to take revenge. I replied to Ankit, that if he hasn't already he must read The Tiger by John Vaillant, something I tweet to followers at least once or twice a year. The book, based on a true story, gives a real examination of human-wildlife coexistence with the issues of disturbance, invasion of space and basic morality looked at closely. In my own life where I daily attempt to see things through the eyes of different species these issues come into play. As I ready myself for time in an area where serious conflict between the leopard and people is occurring, I think of John's book which has themes which test the common beliefs of why a big cat turns maneater and I think of these themes often when in these regions, trying to make head and tail of the situation. We have a lot to learn...

Different jungles ahead, so like the #leopard there is the need to adapt...

Many thanks to those who have followed these posts as well as other updates at my Facebook page.

Please follow @WildTigerNews and Living with Leopards

Updated as there have been more children killed by leopards in far western Nepal.

This morning in the jungle while looking for leopard sign in the region of the Leopard Transit Area, I was thinking about the different jungle areas I'll be in over the coming months.  Here on the Terai the terrain is not as steep as the middle hills and Himalaya proper but it still has its challenges with flooding and the various coexistence issues with wild animals.  We're preparing for the soft release of the leopard Dipnani, she's in good condition and I'm happy with the behaviour she's showing, I think she has a strong chance of surviving in the wild.

Unfortunately I'll soon be back in a highly affected area in far west Nepal on the Indian border where sadly there have been several children killed by leopards.  We're working on mitigation strategies there plus improving capacity to capture maneaters if necessary. Recent deaths have the locals living in fear and there is a police team deployed to kill the leopard, it's a bad situation.

The image below is a valley I'll be spending time in during the winter.  I'm working with a community in the Annapurna mountains, Project Mountain Tiger is something I'll expand on later in the year but it's an exciting and innovative conservation initiative, based around the leopard but essentially for the good of people, wildlife and habitat.

I'll also spend time in Asa territory.  The image below is from one of the last times I photographed him from up close, the then sub adult leopard at that stage had decided he was ready to fully live alone and fend for himself, the aim of the project.  Asa has been captured on remote fixed cameras since and has stayed out of conflict situations, a pleasing result.

There will also be time in concrete jungles (not too much I hope) as the effort continues to get full protection status for the leopard here in Nepal.  Perceptions of these remarkable cats have to keep improving to positive with more understanding required by governments, big org conservation groups and the public at large, both here and internationally, as to the importance of these big cats.  Full protection status will be a major step forward.

So there are many jungles ahead and like the leopard, I will have to quickly adapt to the different environments to be effective.

Working within the realms of #coexistence, #rehabilitation and #AntiTrafficking I listen to a lot of different thoughts and emotions, especially from those living with leopards. Many cut to the core of our existence, what is sacred to one may not be the same to another. As I get closer to finishing my piece on the plight of the leopard I've realized that there are many blurred lines, cloudy skies when it comes to perceptions and beliefs regarding "protected areas" ... in that it means different things to different people. This is a challenge because until we are all more on the same page about protection status for lands and species, it means ecosystems are under constant threat...

As promised earlier I'm going to start using the many hours of footage I have to publish videos to help in the understanding of the leopard, the people living with them and the challenges of coexistence. From steamy lowland jungles to high altitude forests, I hope these videos can help form a better path forward for this mysterious cat... This first video is just a teaser. Many thanks to those who follow, support and care...

And thirdly, as the mountains draw nearer again, some serious questions...

This is the third in 3 short posts while I've been writing a longer document on the plight of the leopard which will go elsewhere. Many thanks to those who read these posts, those who care about such matters.

When you spend a lot of time in wild places, where wild animals live, both the complexity and simplicity of nature enters your being. You realize that the man made constructs of protected areas as against non protected areas, the protected status of a species, the perception of that species, our own labeling of whether that species is "conservation dependent" or not, all these things start to blow in the face of what nature is really all about.

Politics, economics and agendas have made these constructs flawed, our relationship and connection with nature has been disturbed accordingly. It's about time more questions were asked about the management of these constructs, these are serious questions, ecosystems and lives of sentient beings depend on them...

A good meeting with Park officials yesterday gave me positive energy as the Leopard Transit Area enters its next phase, the discussion added a little soothing to the bites and cuts on my body, the aching muscles. Soon I'll be back in mountains where a part of me already is, I guess I'll have a chance to revisit myself in a way... but only with quiet breath because in these critical times for wildlife, for persecuted animals like the leopard, introspection must be kept short, in its place, just a part of things...
Please follow @WildTigerNews and Living with Leopards

Panthera pardus - as important as tiger and snow leopard...

Following on briefly from my post yesterday, one of the most pressing issues for panthera pardus is the lack of recognition, even in the conservation science community, of local and/or ecological extinction. While the leopard may be relatively abundant in some areas, its numbers are seriously declining or have zeroed out in others thus resulting in trophic cascade and other ecosystem breakdowns. Panthera pardus survives and adapts from sea level to well over 4500m making it far more adaptable than charisma species such as tiger and snow leopard. The importance of the leopard is seriously under rated, this has to change. The apathy from governments, the conservation sector and the public is matched by the lack of understanding. The leopard is a hard sell, it's reputation as a conflict animal (unfortunately resulting in many human fatalities) and its secretive nature belie its importance in the food chain. A solid population of leopards in one place means nothing if the animal is regionally extinct in another where the ecosystems suffer as a consequence. Friend and colleague geneticist Prajwol Manandhar and I call panthera pardus the "Super Cat"... we need a lot more people to truly understand why... I've realized one of the great challenges now is to "sell" this understanding...

Convincing people of the leopard's ecological importance may be the only chance it has...

Studying and protecting the leopard is also very much about people, those living with leopards but also a wider mass. I'm in the process of finishing some words on the plight of the leopard to go on our currently updating online platforms, I'll go into this whole issue there... for those interested and I wish more were.

But this whole issue is not just about the leopard, in many ways this much persecuted cat is a metaphor for many things going wrong in the human approach to the crisis we have man made regarding wildlife. I spend a lot of time trying to see the situation through the leopard's eyes, there's no doubt living with one in the mountains helped me in that process but as I work in the realms of coexistence strategy. rehabilitation and anti-trafficking I have found brick walls of blindness, denial and worst of all, lack of care.

Nature created a masterpiece in the leopard, it created an ecosystem engineer without peer, the result of thousands of years of evolution. Unless we can convince people of the importance and relevance of that, we are facing yet another situation of nature's hard work being undone...

Hidden, growling #leopard puzzle solved :)

4 days ago I posted a small story about an adult leopard that gave me a few warning growls in the jungle, not far from the leopard transit area. Today I caught up with Daman, a government game scout helping me, he'd just arrived back after his wife had given birth to a baby boy. Daman told me that just before he left he rescued a chital (spotted deer) which had been attacked by dogs. He knew it wouldn't survive so put it in a holding pen with the idea the corpse would be fed to the leopard Dipnani. But an adult leopard, probably the Boss, arrived on the scene and took the chital. The leopard took the kill past Dipnani's area in thick jungle, I must have arrived on the scene several hours after... and well, that's when that story began.

Daman and I had a good laugh about the whole thing, yet another leopard episode in our world here of coexistence. I've got a million leopard stories, some of them crazy, some of them tragic, this one at least had no serious issues, even if I was a little wary of a hidden, growling leopard feeding about 50 metres away from where I worked :)

#HumanWildlifeConflict #leopard #elephant #people - How one simple object can save lives... (and update at end of post)

There's a positive update at the bottom of this post which is also at Facebook (along with other posts not shown on this blog page) if you wish to comment.

Poverty sucks, it really does. You see, it's so often people living in unsafe conditions who suffer the most tragic losses in conflict with wild animals. Then who can blame them for retaliating?

The hardest question I have to ask when a child is taken by a leopard is how long before the cries and screams of the little one stop. I'm not going to go into details here, out of respect for victim's loved ones but in so many instances the leopard could not be located straight after the incident because the family, neighbours, the community in general do not have decent torchlight.

Three times of late when elephants have been in very close proximity, in the act of smashing buildings or close jungle encounters, we've shown that powerful light, preferably more than one good torch, can deter the powerful tuskers. There are no guarantees with any mitigation strategy, as I've written before it has to be a multi pronged approach but the key is having the right tools available. Even strong light won't drive elephants away from a distance but a powerful beam directed at the eyes can work when the animal is dangerously close.

As part of everything within the structure of the Leopard Task Force I'm going to make sure there is funding for good quality torches.. A big thanks to Bernd for the ones he has supplied from Germany. Sometimes this whole thing makes me shake my head, just wondering what could be achieved if the world worked better. A colleague in Africa wrote the same thing to me, he has been researching how much funding in the conservation sector is wasted on airfares and meetings. Imagine how many torches could already be out there... then lives are saved and retaliation is reduced...

LIFE SAVING PHONES ON THEIR WAY... Well may Manju (Anjel) smile, I've just messaged her that the incredible Bernd has collected over 80 phones in Germany so we are now pledged over 100. This is fantastic, a big boost for the program. Manju will coordinate it at community level here on the western Terai as part of the 'Living with Leopards' program and work in with Nirajanand the Rapid Response Team particularly in regard to the coexistence challenges we have here with elephants. Those of you who follow my posts will know we already have the first SMS early warning system in operation. I will be focusing more on the leopard issues mainly in the middle hills where there are serious challenges for both people and these "spotted tigers". These phones make a difference and there has been a couple of messages re torches since my post this morning. The key to all this is having dedicated, trustworthy people, that means a lot to me... #progress.

'Living with Leopards' - Tree planting, football, crocodile and tiger...

This post is at Facebook (where there are also other updates not shown here) if you wish to comment.

It was the first tree planting session for the 'Living with Leopards' crew yesterday, another great turnout. The theme for the day was RESPECT for all living creatures and before the tree planting we had the eagerly awaited and early contested Boys v Girls football match. Before the game I had the boys yell out three times "GIRLS CAN PLAY FOOTBALL TOO!"

A crocodile swimming in the river nearby made things interesting especially when the ball rolled down the bank into the water. The successful retriever of the ball was always accompanied by a lot of yelling, screaming... and laughing. A couple of weeks ago the boys were playing when a tiger crossed the river so you can imagine the scene:

1) Boys playing football

2) Tiger is spotted crossing the river

3) Boys stop game for 10 minutes and watch

4) Boys start playing football again as if nothing had happened

Bardia, yep, this is the stuff that goes on :)

So yeah, RESPECT. Before yesterday's game (and it was the first time a girls team had ever been formed here, they loved it), I told the kids about my encounter with the adult leopard a couple of days ago (see post 2 back) and how all these animals must be given their space, shown complete respect. Environmental ethics are the seeds we are trying to sew (the kids are a bit young yet for me to be banging on about environmental law but by god I will!), something which has been lost on previous and current generations globally but coexistence depends on it. The 'Living with Leopards' concept is based on this, there's a long way to go but these young ones are being receptive... I just wish the football didn't go in the river quite so much, the trees being planted may help stop that a bit. That crocodile wasn't small...

#Coexistence - This morning, caught between two leopards...

This post is at Facebook (where there are also other updates not shown here) if you wish to comment.

Very interesting situation early morning in the Leopard Transit Area. I hadn't been there long and there was a huge growl... and it wasn't Dipnani. It was definitely an adult leopard, maybe the Boss and most likely on a kill. I checked things out and yeah, the warning growls, a low saw like rumble came again about 60 metres away from the LTA. A soldier had told me last night of a lot of leopard noise, he thought it was Dipnani, the young cat was not happy about the excessive rain but suddenly it all made sense. A lot of deer has stayed on this side of the river after the floods so a predator like the Boss would obviously take advantage of the situation.
So there I was, a snarling Dipnani who could see me (but I not her if she wanted to hide) on one side and not far away in really thick vegetation a much bigger leopard.
I had promised the leopard in the image, many times, I would try as hard as I can for his species, I would always do my very best. So I carried on working. The floods have meant I have to get a few things set up in case it happens again and we still have maybe two more months of rainy season in this area. I worked quickly in humid conditions, keeping my senses on alert. I never disturb a big cat after warnings so I hoped the unseen leopard could pay me the same respect. Dipnani showed moderate tolerance and did show herself, giving me the chance to check her from a distance, with a barrier between us. My cameras took a beating during the floods so it was good to get that visual of Dipnani. The fun and games of monsoon, yeah right. The next couple of months are crucial for the program but as I promised another leopard, the effort will always go in...

Community at work, a bit of joy as early warning system starts... #HumanElephantCoexistence

The posts for this blog are also at Facebook (if you wish to comment) along with other updates I don't post here.

Ram's (Rojan) smile says it all. As I briefly posted lasted night the big bull elephant came into our area, there was a quick appraisal of the situation, the call was made to send out the mass SMS to the group on Manju's (Anjel) phone... and within seconds virtually the whole village was alerted to the situation. There were then SMS and phone calls with questions and thanks, people were happy we had things moving.
There's a bit of refining to be done so that all the parties that need to be involved are on the same page, that includes the army, park authorities and the Rapid Response Team (RRT). Nirajan had the RRT mobilized quickly, the army were already on their way and in the end the situation was neutralized after a fair amount of early fear especially at the Hatisar which backs onto where I sleep.
As I've mentioned before there are cross over dynamics with the conflicts between humans and two main species involved, elephants and leopards but there are also considerable fundamental differences, something I'll write about soon. I'm coming into a critical two month period with the leopard rehab, the floods have upset things and today was difficult. One of the biggest factors in this is the huge amount of loyalty to elephants compared to leopards, there's some obvious reasons why but also some darker ones. More on that soon...

Some positive #wildlife news...

Speaking to Park authorities this morning it seems the impact of the floods on megafauna was minimal here in Bardia, this is good news especially regarding the rhino in the Babai Valley.  I'll update in a couple of days.

The posts for this blog are also at Facebook (if you wish to comment) along with other updates I don't post here.

#NepalFloods - Water, water everywhere but best not to drink it (unless you're an elephant)...

This morning the river a hundred metres from my mosquito net and me had dropped to a manageable level but you can see that the domestic elephant still had to do a bit of snorkeling. She and the mahouts were getting fodder to feed the elephants at Hatisar. These elephants are primarily used for patrolling (anti-poaching) and sometimes rescue. In conditions like these elephant back is the only option to get to certain areas of the jungle.

The Terai, the country's food belt is cleaning up the mess after the flash floods. About 100 people are known to have died, we'll never know the exact figure. Another serious concern is crop damage in areas where food security is already an issue. With poverty a major factor this latest challenge from nature is yet another blow to Nepal's efforts to move into the category of 'developing country' by 2022, it is now looking doubtful that can happen. This country gets hit hard frequently and struggles to cope. Both internally and externally the support is lacking and from an environmentalist's point of view that is deadly serious because this is a key area on our planet with regard to biodiversity and ecological importance.

Where I am we still don't have electricity but a little sun has meant solar powered batteries have enough juice to send a few messages. Landline and cellular phone connections have been down and we are still cut off from main transport routes. It's not fun... even for elephants but at least they can drink the water...

NEPAL - #floods, #people, #wildlife, #habitat...

Quick post as I've found some solar backup (thanks Pramesh). Heavy rain last night but surface water not as bad as yesterday. We are cut off for for large parts of the day though and there won't be any electricity for who knows how long. Yesterday (sorry about image, it was all a bit tricky, later we were waist deep for several kilometers) we battled through to the Leopard Transit Area, "thank you Nirajan, your courage and reliability mean a lot to me" - I've logged up a lot of jungle time with this young Chetri, he's doing really well.

The leopard Dipnani is ok, not happy but safe in the high zone I built. Main concern now will be getting food to her over the rest of the monsoon period, I always knew that if she can just survive this crucial period this thing will have a decent shot. We can only try. May have to do the same trek again in a day or two, was hard going for several hours.

The second image is of a young one who gave me about 30 namastes at the end of a Living with Leopards class where we had over 100 bodies of all ages. Thank you all for being there and weather conditions permitting the program moves into other areas soon. It's all about education and respect. The other issues I've talked about recently won't matter once the young ones understand the true essence of real conservation and not politics, cute animals etc. I have a dream of a forestry college somewhere in this area, wouldn't that be something...

#WorldElephantDay - Species equality and is One Tusk and tiger audio keeping Messi away?

SPECIES EQUALITY... I was hoping to post a video of a leopard playing in a tree. Signal strength means I can't. Also hoping a projector does show up today for the Living with Leopards class, the theme is leopards and trees, I want to show some short clips. Nothing is easy here but really hope the device arrives. As i posted yesterday, it's the little things, I fantasize about hot water running out of a tap.
Working on the final draft for Code of Practice I've had a lot of correspondence with leopard conservationists around the world about why our species is so neglected. I'm even delving into the legality because protection status can dictate the fate of a sentient being. The general consensus is there is little understanding of the importance of some species because like it or not, some are keystone and their survival is imperative for the help of ecosystems. The icon species garner millions of dollars of support based on emotions even though these animals are often living in fragmented areas with an ecological value lower than other non protected areas where wildlife is being slaughtered. There is no better example of this than the leopard. More science needed, that combined with the right ethical approach can help win this thing. The INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE LEOPARD will have a strong theme based around why the leopard is so important.

#WorldElephantDay - Note the guy with one tusk, he's pretty famous round here. He gets up to mischief but is much more passive than Messi. He's older so Messi will stay away when he's around but they all move round a lot so it's never certain what is going on. Messi has not hassled us since I tested the tiger audio but he has caused destruction elsewhere.

A way forward for the #leopard, ecosystems... and "leeches are my friend" ...

This post is at Facebook (along with other updates that don't get posted on this blog) if you wish to comment.  There's a short update and image at the bottom of this post.

Sometimes when working in the rain I do have little fantasies about things like hot water which runs out of taps and maybe a machine which washes clothes so I don't have to do it in a bucket. Then I remember what a colleague in Africa wrote to me recently about more conservation funding being spent on airfares than is hitting the ground. That is a story for another day but it does make me go "shut up Jack, just dig the hole. Leeches are my friend."

Using open top enclosures for leopards in transit is the way forward. The second image is representative, it is an enclosure for Amur leopards in another country and is being tested. Dr Asis Gurung and I have got the open top principle going here in Nepal, it is still evolving but the key is absolutely minimal human contact (except for infant cubs which need a handler) so the leopards can live and learn in an isolated natural way.

The Wildlife Act here now means there is provision to breed certain wildlife and I've shared my vision with a few people that barking deer would be a great species to reintroduce into hill areas, along with predators. Leopard Transit Zones, and I am confident there will be two of them in the country within the next year, are part of this overall thinking so it is much more than just rewilding, it is about other issues such as appraisal and placement of maneaters or other serious conflict leopards and how we can get leopards reintroduced in ecosystems where they are needed

Of course all this needs paying for and with Nepal having a very small protected species list (26) of which the leopard is not included it means there is limited internal priority for the spotted cat. International help is difficult, as I've said many times before and this is to the constant alarm of leopard conservationists, the leopard just does not have the respect and support from most governments, many parts of the conservation sector and the general public.

So as well as digging holes and building enclosures, studying leopard behaviour etc one has to be an entrepreneur and philanthropist. I've sold a lot of photos to make this happen, and there has been steadfast support from a couple of people as well as the research client aspect. "Wild Leopard" honey from Nepal is something that will help this situation as well as ultimately helping leopard projects in other countries because the leopard does not draw the big bucks like tiger, elephant, rhino etc.

While digging holes the text messages keep coming, leopard skin seizures are constant and of course no one knows how many are traded. While the #rehabilitation side of things is the most physical and in some ways the most stressful, the #AntiTrafficking side is never far away, in fact it is always on my mind, there is always plenty to do.

So when the #coexistence side brings a little respite like yesterday when I heard that kids from surrounding villages are saying please bring the "Living with Leopards" program to us, it gives me a bit of a smile, some progress. Of course it means more work but the fact that these kids are showing more interest in leopards than the other parties I have mentioned above, that tells a story in itself about the true importance of this animal...

WildTiger is ten years old this year. In a few days the websites have the content additions finished, timed with three months out from International Day of the Leopard. Selling images has been a huge part of keeping projects rolling, it is like working two jobs... or three or four. The whole ball game has changed in the last few years with photography, now there are millions of images being published every day, lots of huge lens everywhere, image theft, copyrights ignored etc.

So it's time to evolve and "Wild Leopard" Honey is going to be a big part of that, and yeah, that's ok, have to keep this gig going somehow.

This snow leopard image is special to me because of the support I was getting during a really difficult time with my work, there were a couple of people who really believed and well, you know who you are, you are forever in my heart...

"Touching the Mountain" - the story behind the image...

Just a quick post as a few people contacted me about an image I posted yesterday on Facebook, "The Leopard is Rising."  Yes, it was the same tree as "Touching the Mountain" and while I don't have time right now to explain the whole story, the image was in fact weeks in the making as I knew it could potentially happen, it's just that conditions needed to be right, and the leopard had to climb the tree.  I got many images in the lead up plus video, I will share the story one day soon, I thank those who are interested.

The "photoshoot" happened a few kilometres above Leopard Camp, they were tough days on that mountain but it was a time I will never forget and made me all the more determined to help protect this magnificent species, the leopard.

Strong response to call for phones for villagers in #HumanWildlifeConflict zones...

This post was also made at Facebook where you can comment.  There are also other updates there which do not appear on this blog site.  Anyone who would like to help with supplying used equipment (phones, torches etc) which is passed on to villagers in high conflict zones (leopard and elephant) can contact me at jk@wildtiger.org

Since my post yesterday (at Facebook) there's been a few people asking about supplying equipment (phones, torches etc) and Shelly Voigt just messaged to ask if smartphones are appropriate. Yes, absolutely. While the old style Nokia dumb phone will go to villagers who don't have phones, maybe never used one, the communication both within and between villages needs to improve so that people understand where potentially dangerous wildlife may be at any one time and plus have access to explanation pages and Apps. The old days of beating pots and pans, hurling fire sticks at elephants etc need to become just that, the past.
The first image is the type of camera I'm trying to implement as part of the early warning system, it uses cellular technology so that a message can be sent to a device once the motion activated sensors are triggered. More on this soon...

International Day of the Leopard - "The leopard is rising..."

The first INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE LEOPARD scheduled for mid November 2017 is a meeting of minds.  It is a web based event which will include a dedicated online site which will be the start of an ongoing effort to highlight leopard conservation as well as bringing information and updates.

The vast physical range of the leopard (over 70 countries have recorded leopard activity) means that there is a corresponding collection of issues facing conservationists.  The International Day of the Leopard is the first serious attempt to begin a process by which knowledge sharing can aid the species as a whole.  While the day will begin an ongoing effort to raise public awareness the main emphasis will be on how conservation scientists can work better and collectively to save the species.  There will be a strong focus on community empowerment  and how best to improve this as the challenges of human and leopard coexistence grow.

The first International Day of the Leopard will open with a series of videos from experts working in the field.  Why the leopard is such an important species will have particular emphasis.  The day will sow another seed in growing momentum as to why leopard conservation needs an overall stronger focus by the international community including governments, the conservation sector and the general public.

Please visit this page regularly for updates which you can also  alerted for at Twitter @WildTigerNews and Facebook Living with Leopards.  

www.wildleopard.net which is currently having content added will also have updates before the dedicated website opens.

Balance and Loyalty - The price of living with Tigers...

This article (plus updates not found here) is also at Facebook if you wish to comment.

The article below via @WildTigerNews touches on many of the raw realities and truths about living with wildlife in South Asia. I've always found it difficult to explain to people who don't live in these situations what it is really like. A visit can't do it, nor can google, it has to be lived and breathed...

Many thanks to those who have messaged and commented etc over various platforms in the last couple of weeks, I'm still behind in replies but will get there. Within the realms of #leopard #coexistence, #rehabilitation and #AntiTrafficking I've got a lot going on. There's also the elephant situation, not to mention the everyday realities of other wildlife issues. There were some nice responses to my post yesterday (at Facebook), thank you, the leopard and the people living with them need loyalty, in many ways this article explains that in the broader context of human-wildlife coexistence...

The price of living with Tigers

Coexistence is about balance, looking forward to tomorrow's "Living with Leopards" class...

Looking forward to tomorrow’s "Living with Leopards class," check out this great effort by Chitra, this leopard will be displayed proudly tomorrow. Some of the things we will be talking about will be: leopards and trees, the SMS system we are implementing to warn of elephants in the area, and starting our leopard forest.
I’ve mentioned before this is more than a wildlife class, it is really about the young ones developing coexistence strategies as there are only going to be growing challenges ahead. Later, when the program goes into highly affected areas, especially one place where many children have been killed by leopards, we will obviously have a modified presentation. Here in Bardia the kids grow up with wildlife in their faces but in the middle hills, where the leopard is the top predator, it is a different dynamic. The terrain is steep, leopards hide.
In the last few years I’ve read and heard some pretty nasty comments by wildlife activists about people living with wildlife, some of the incidents. One of the worst and most stupid things I hear is “humans are not threatened by extinction, these animals are, blah blah blah”... this is ignorant and achieves nothing, there is no balance to the argument. The people who say these things have never had a child taken by a leopard, one of the most horrific and traumatic things you can imagine. I've had to keep my emotions in check while sitting down with the families involved, their stories are raw and powerful. It is leopards being leopards and people living in fear but we have to modify OUR behaviour to cope.
Coexistence is about balance. If we keep people safe then retaliation is reduced. The jungle is not some wonderful vegan playground, it is a place of life and death. Coexistence strategy is about keeping the latter to a minimum, for all involved…