I was up past 1am testing a flashlight system to deter a leopard that had entered the village last night. It was cold as I entered the jungle this morning to clear cameras and now it's off to check for sign. I'm a few days out from heading to a mountain area where conflict with leopards is more prevalent with the onset of winter.
The leopard is a hard sell. There is so much focus on tiger, elephant and rhino, even snow leopard, these guys are the rock stars and worthy of support but don't give me this umbrella species bullshit, panthera pardus has habitat, challenging terrain in non and minimal protected areas far away from the icon species.
Getting protected status for the leopard here will be a breakthrough but only another step, that protection will have to be enforced. A couple of days ago while checking the leopard Dipnani I thought of that but the motivation came from her eyes, the message that every single of these cats is precious and being in a tiny minority group loyal to these animals doesn't matter. An incredible email from a friend and colleague helped me a lot, Marty understands the concept of different frequency planes, the different cognitive energies of species and how we are not superior to them, a long way off in fact. If more people understood that every leopard is just as important as every tiger, every elephant and every rhino then support would be comparable. In the meantime it's a case of battling on until that realization happens. I thank those who are truly loyal to the leopard. We are few in number but it takes courage to be different..
UPDATE: I've just tracked the leopard to this goat shed in a favourite part of the village for me, a peaceful place not far from my base. A dog was taken by leopard here a couple of nights ago but there was no livestock loss last night, this shed and a couple of others like it doing a good job.
So what did this leopard eat? Where did it go? With a tiger marking territory nearby the squeeze is on the spotted cat. I am presenting a report to the community when I am back from the mountains, there'll be plenty to discuss including if the proposed thinking on night safari is the right idea. I'm very much for keeping people right away from jungles at night, predators have to have every chance to do their thing undisturbed. There may be some compromise, let's see...
So what did this leopard eat? Where did it go? With a tiger marking territory nearby the squeeze is on the spotted cat. I am presenting a report to the community when I am back from the mountains, there'll be plenty to discuss including if the proposed thinking on night safari is the right idea. I'm very much for keeping people right away from jungles at night, predators have to have every chance to do their thing undisturbed. There may be some compromise, let's see...
