A new year starts in Nepal... #AntiPoaching #LeopardRewilding #HumanWildlifeConflict #Conservation

In the images Hemant Acharya, Nirajan Chhetri, Hirasingh Tharu  and me tend to a planting Hemant made a little while back for the memory of the late Ellen Ammerman, a dear friend and great WildTiger supporter.  Hemant remarked that with the new year just a couple of days away the tree is a symbol of a new beginning.  I know for a fact that Ellen would have liked to hear him say that.

A couple of days later and now the new year is here.  This last one was unforgettable.  Many people lost their lives in earthquakes as well as other tragedies.  There was political turmoil which resulted in civil conflict, resulting in more deaths... and let's not pretend for a second the ramifications of these events have left us, things are still very difficult here.

The Leopard Rewilding Program continues, this is proving to be something special.  As I've mentioned before there will be a report at the appropriate time but so far so good.  I feel very protective of big cats, very protective.  To me every single one is precious, especially now as the populations continue to be on precipices.  My posts yesterday reflected my feelings on the games some are playing, there is so much to be done, big cat protection will require infinite vigilance.

Soon I'll be making Bardia my main base as part of a program in conjunction with the various elements involved with anti-poaching including the park authorities, military, community and law enforcement.  While my main role will be training and implementation of technical aids with regard to anti-poaching and human/wildlife conflict mitigation there is also scope for my passion of understanding leopard behaviour including the relationship that species has with other wildlife including tiger as well as of course the relationship with people.  I have a long connection with Bardia and while I didn't expect to be basing there at this stage it's important to be flexible here if the best effectiveness is to be achieved.

Hemant has really impressed me of late with his dedication.  Many of you know that his father was killed by an elephant a few years ago, at a spot just a couple of hundred metres away from where these images were taken.  The recent surge in big cat poaching has strengthened Hemant's resolve, we had a very direct talk about that three days ago and a phone call last night gave me heart.

I guess what I've found out in a very difficult year is who the dedicated ones really are, who can go the distance, who is prepared to sacrifice.  This has been interesting as some real passion has come through while others have fallen by the wayside.  Big cat protection requires the strength to take hits on many levels. Some can do this, some can't.  Sometimes the sheer brutal honesty is too much and I've been intrigued to see who does what under these circumstances.  At ground level personal agendas get in the way of progress so that in itself requires a certain type of action.

So I thank those with the total dedication.  This thing has a long way to play out and I'm looking forward to our new improved ways of bringing news, I've mentioned this of late, some good strong people are getting involved.  This gives me real optimism and even though there is global apathy towards issues such as big cat conservation I believe there are enough good people to continue the fight and be effective.  It's not going to be easy but everyone knows that...

BIG CAT STATISTICS - Be careful of what you read...

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This is a very quick post but there will be more on the topic soon the upcoming WildTiger Journal, our first in a long time.  Many of you would have seen the news of the new "tiger population statistic" of 3890, there's a link to it on a tweet at @WildTigerNews, posted yesterday.  Anyone who follows my rants will know I am very wary of statistics but in actual fact the figure of around 4000 wild tigers has been talked about at ground level now for at least a couple of years, recognized as being possibly closer to the facts than the "fundraising figure" of 3200.

It's interesting that within moments of the announcement, in conjunction with the Asia Ministerial Conference on Tiger currently being held in Delhi, the spin doctors from some of the big organizations (read expensive offices) were straight into their "we're doing a good job, donate now!" mode.  Hardly surprising. My own conversations with people at the pointy end of things was more along the lines of don't buy into the bullshit.

As I say, more on this soon but personally there is a figure I bounce round a bit and that is there is maybe between 60,000 and 70,000 big cats left in the wild on our planet.  Tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards are hard animals to count, census methodology is improving but it cannot be an exact science, it is impossible, nature is fluid and as I mentioned above there is always agendas attached to statistics.  However whatever the purported numbers are there is still one undeniable fact, the most crucial one of all... and that is that big cats, like many wildlife species, are in a hell of a lot of trouble.

The Leopard: Trying to protect a persecuted species, the good and the bad...

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I'm wearing my heart on my sleeve a bit more than usual in this blog.  It'll be the last one for a while, I've got a lot of overland travel in the next few days.  In some ways this bit of writing is prompted by some mathematics.  Those of you who follow @WildTigerNews on Twitter would have seen the link to the media article yesterday giving the very disturbing figures of leopard deaths, data supplied by the Wildlife Protection Society of India.  I follow WPSI's data closely anyway but last night when I started calculating it all, incorporating statistics and news from here in Nepal, well it's pretty shocking.  At that moment I tweeted I needed to go for a run, so I did...

You can see the date in the camera trap image is a year ago today.  Facebook threw up the image as part of that memory post system it uses.  The image was captured at a spot on the food grid system I used with Asa.  We were meeting every few days but the young leopard was pretty much fending for himself at that stage.  About a month later full separation was completed.

At the time I did have serious concerns about human activity in the area, there was tree felling and milling, something I wasn't warned about.  Some of you would have followed those times in my blogs and one day I will tell the complete story.  It was stressful.  I was totally immersed in Asa's rewilding.  Just over two weeks after this image was taken the first of the two major earthquakes struck.  It was a very difficult time for Nepal.

Tomorrow I meet with Asis, I'm looking forward to it. He is doing a fantastic job supervising the rewilding of the two leopards, Tika and Ram.  Asis will head into the jungle soon after, to continue the good work and to give handler Tika Ram Tharu a break.  The guys have a good system going, the leopards are doing well.  We all agreed some time ago that the program details need to be kept confidential for security issues but when it all reaches an appropriate stage there can be at least some public information.

The rewilding program is a positive but one of the very few right now regarding the leopard.  The knowledge gained regarding leopard behaviour is invaluable.  Those who follow things closely will know of the goals of the Leopard Task Force at wildleopard.net.  There are a whole raft of factors.  Better understanding is needed to meet the challenges of conflict situations and as I've admitted before leopard behaviour absorbs me.

There's no doubt Asis and I will talk of the deep bonds we have formed with leopards, not just through the individual cats in the rewilding program but our total admiration and respect for these animals.  I don't like to use the word love because as I've pointed out before "love" is killing these animals.  It is caging them, it is driving a skin and bone trade.  My book will go into the psychology of this.  Humans have developed a very warped perspective towards wildlife and big cats, as well as many other species, are suffering because of it.

I will wish Asis well for his upcoming jungle time, he's a clever guy, he will continue to do a great job and these two leopards have every chance.  But my own journey will continue with a lot of news about leopards who have met a bad ending.  I have my coping mechanisms but it is impossible not to be affected by this current situation.  Going for a run helps.  I also like to take my mind off things with good food, when it is available.  I like to laugh with people.  This crisis however, and the work that needs to be done is never too far away in my thinking, it has to be, we humans work best when we focus on a task with balance but with complete dedication.

In the last couple of weeks I've written about some of the good people involved and I will bring stories of others as time goes by.  There are also those doing behind the scenes work, their stories can't be made public, the world of poaching and illegal wildlife trade is a complicated one where safety is paramount.

I've been concerned for some time about the news that does go public and people's reaction to it.  I mentioned in my blog yesterday collaborations with the right people, such as journalist Pragati Shahi, to develop a strong platform for the right information to be put out there, news that is not tainted by agendas as this is a huge issue in the conservation sector.  We'll have the thinking behind this in the upcoming WildTiger Journal.  In the meantime please follow @WildTigerNews on Twitter and I'm also going to be driving funding again through the sale of images (and subscriptions) at my own Twitter feed @JackKinross.  Part of our change will be our blogging platform.  Multi media is also on the table.

So there's a lot going on.  The practical side of things in the field is time consuming as is getting information out there and funding the whole process.  The image of a dead leopard, either a photo or in the flesh is sobering, my days are full of this.  The constant news of tiger, leopard and other species being mercilessly hunted means there is no real respite from this situation.  I know deep in my heart the solutions can be effective, as an example the camera system we are introducing in west Nepal will make a difference.  What I don't know is if species like the leopard will ever not be persecuted, I don't know if the general public, globally, really does care enough.  Time will tell I guess so for now it's best to just drop those thoughts and get on with it...

Environmental, wildlife, humanitarian issues: Communicating the right information...

Great to spend time in the last few days with environmental journalist Pragati Shahi.  Those of  you who read the Kathmandu Post (and other Kantipur platforms) will have read Pragati's articles on tiger related issues as well as seeing other environmental and wildlife stories she has had published.  Pragati also writes on humanitarian issues for foreign publications, her direct and well researched approach is building a strong following and recognition.

We're collaborating directly on developing a platform to create a broader understanding of human - wildlife conflict issues and I'm feeling positive with the progress we've made with regard to this sensitive subject.  Pragati is a journalist with a passion for her country, she wants to utilize her skills in the best way possible for Nepal and it's tremendously encouraging for me personally to work alongside someone with such an in depth knowledge plus the enthusiasm to try and create positive change.  Watch this space...

The killing of big cats, the lack of understanding of the consequences...

Image courtesy Himalayan Times

The spate of big cat skin and bone seizures of late, including several more of leopard in the last few days weighs heavy especially when there are recent publications stating how tiger numbers can still be doubled as per the 2022 target ... despite the fact that through the tiger range as a whole the population is only stable at best since the concept of doubling of populations was introduced in 2010, the most recent Year of the tiger.

Yes, there has been well publicized population increases in a couple of countries but they have been accompanied by challenges in census methodology.  A lot of figures get thrown around, especially by organizations with expensive marketing...hmmm I wonder who pays for that? How good is the science of census? Topics for another day...

The leopard only has the conservation status of near threatened through most of its range although there are regions where the classification is up to critically endangered for some sub species including the Amur leopard of Russia.  Here in Nepal, the local sub species is the Indian Leopard which is classified near threatened despite uncertainty about its population status and the constant threats of poaching and persecution because of human/wildlife conflict issues.  But here's a couple of quotes:

“The illegal harvesting of trees, poaching of animals and trafficking of wildlife steals tens of billions of dollars each year from communities and countries. These in turn threaten the ecosystems we all rely on for safe food, pure water and clean air. Wildlife and forestry crime are global problems that require global solutions,” said Sheldon Jordan, Chair of INTERPOL’s Wildlife Crime Working Group.

The United Nations Environmental Crisis Assessment agrees, stating, “Healthy ecosystems provide the platform upon which future food production and economies are ultimately based.”

My argument is that if key predators are removed  from ecosystems the effects are such that conservation status of that predator is irrelevant, the damage has been done.  Yes, some species are able to naturally get replacements into territories where they have been taken and those who follow these blogs will know of our rewilding work and have read of the concept of getting orphaned cubs to a stage where they can be placed into habitats which need them.

But the continual removal of these big cats from their natural habitats, whether it be for conflict reasons or poaching for illegal commercial gain, is leading to dangerous consequences that in the main apathetic governments voted in by apathetic electors don't seem to understand, no matter how many times they are told.

It's a head shaking situation.  I've been working with someone the last couple of days, someone who totally gets the situation and is in a position to increase understanding, I'll blog about that soon. I've got some long travel hours in and to big cat habitat in the next few days, further implementation of resources for big cat conservation the reason why but I have to admit I'm checking my messages with trepidation, hoping they won't tell me of yet another poaching incident or retaliation killing of a big cat... and constantly asking myself why my own species doesn't understand the consequences of these actions...

UPDATE: Virtually within seconds of posting this blog a source sent me information of another seizure, this time three leopard skins in far west Nepal.

There are times to laugh at the craziness of it all :)

I woke up this morning to a couple of emails, groan, just stuff to make things harder... but what can you do? I shook my head with a smile and then actually started laughing as I reflected at the craziness of it all, especially the last few months. I do like to laugh but as I alluded to in the image I posted yesterday (on Facebook and Twitter), sentient beings, there are times to be deadly serious to get things done.

I thank those who get that, not everyone does, support can be a fickle thing but being honest about a certain situation reflects passion, well that's what I think anyway.

I call this image SEARCH FOR THE MOUNTAIN TIGER and I laughed when the first time I posted it someone commented "I see it!" - These places constantly remind me what a tiny dot I am, they are truly humbling and as much as we humans have created some incredible things, in my humble opinion we've created nothing compared to nature's cathedrals. All the more reason to get up every day and work at protecting them, laughing or not.

I'll be back soon in the valley where I took this image... I will smile... :)

#AntiPoaching - The strength of the west of Nepal...

I mentioned in my blog three days ago how vital it is to have the right people involved.  Sometimes pure dedication is born of tragedy.  Many of you who have followed WildTiger will know elements of Hemant's story, it was the start of the Om Prasad Legacy.  I met Hemant over six years ago, a couple of weeks after his father had been killed by an elephant.  Losing someone close in sudden, tragic circumstances is something I could relate to in my own life so it seemed destiny that Hemant and I formed an immediate bond and only natural that a conservation alliance was born.

So Hemant has been part of WildTiger since that time.  Much has happened, many things have changed but the challenges regarding the illegal hunting of wildlife remain serious.  Hemant's role as an anti-poaching leader has evolved and our discussions in the last two days have been based around the implementation of technology.  Hemant has left to show a device to the right people and I'll be travelling further west again soon to progress things further.

The west of Nepal is an area close to my heart.  The tiger has been under serious attack again in that area of the Terai stretching through to northern India.  Immediate action to reduce poaching has taken place and will be ongoing, we live in a world where it is very naive to think wildlife poaching will ever be stopped completely.  We also live in a world where some areas and some people are marginalized.  The west of Nepal is an example.  Those of you who follow my blogs will know that marginalization of people and wildlife is a strong driver in my quest for change.  My tolerance for political bullshit is pretty much at zero these days, the same with the reasoning for social divide.  Every country is faced with these problems to some degree but Nepal does have a magnification.

The west of Nepal has some strong characters.  Resourcing them to make sure they are effective is challenging but it produces results.  I'm proud that Hemant is one of the strong ones.  This is no time for back slapping, there is too much to be done, plenty of challenges ahead but WildTiger will continue to do its very best to play its part to help the strength grow... for the sake of the tiger, wildlife, people, habitat... and another certainty is that Hemant Acharya will continue to be a strong role model for the many youth he has mobilized while doing his work as an anti-poaching leader.