A year on since the report that the leopard is getting hammered...

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

“The international conservation community must double down in support of initiatives protecting the species. Our next steps in this very moment will determine the leopard’s fate.”

This was a line from the report a year ago regarding the 75% habitat loss across the leopard's range. I've had some interesting responses regarding my posts (here plus extras at Facebook) on this issue in the last couple of days. Bottom line is the reaction to the problem since the report a year ago has been muted. There is a serious imbalance in allocation of effort re species. This will play out badly for the leopard and the people living in those ecosystems if things don't change. I'm a little tired of talking about it, I've got too much work to do on the ground but I thank those who have messaged, I'll respond to all when I can. Cheers Jack

Elephant spotting... and leopard problems...

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

Another long night and still not able to get into the right position to test tiger audio. I'll update when it happens but hopefully it will be another string to the bow.

It's about taking ownership of problems and dealing with them with focus. Re the elephant conflict there are good people coming on board and the Chief Warden has done a lot within his resource capacity. I'm looking forward to what Roshan can do next when he is able to give Bardia more time.

But that's elephants which are in the main a revered species. Leopards aren't held in the same regard, retaliation killings are a huge problem. Info yesterday about an attack on a man by a leopard in one of the areas I spend time worried me because I know the stress it will cause. The death of the 70 year old woman in Gujarat was all the more tragic because it could have been avoided.

My post below (which linked to the full post on Facebook) in many ways summed up the frustration at the lack of focus and support for the problem. I have contact with leopard conservationists the world over and we all lament the same problem, lack of support. This region here through the middle hill belt from central/west Nepal through Uttarakhand, UP and Bihar is the area of the most intense human-big cat conflict on the planet.

Above all this problem needs more passion and courage from the 3 sectors I mentioned in the post (Facebook) yesterday, that translates into care. More and more the line that the leopard could go extinct before the tiger is being vocalized but the response is mute.

I'm done talking about it for now. I'm pulling in good people with passion and courage, it is a time to let go of those without those attributes. As a species we're getting closer and closer to putting people on Mars, that's incredible, a testament to our ingenuity. But as wildlife conservationist I would like to see more support for the marginalized on our planet, the leopard and the people living with them symbolize that...

A problem that is lacking loyalty of support...

My thanks to those who read these posts to keep up with the issues.  I'm about to head out to the leopard rehab area to do some work, a fair chunk of my day has been spent getting more details where a 70 year old woman was killed by a leopard yesterday.  I've made comment at Facebook re the extent of the problem and the lack of loyalty of support the problem is getting...

Outsmarting Messi, the elephant that is, not the football player...

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

Leopards by day, elephants by night, I'm back in that 4 hours sleep maximum mode, it's an interesting space, key is to keep water intake up.

Leopards and elephants, such different species yet when it comes to conflict with humans, dealing with both situations can enable learning. I've become very technology orientated in the last few years but with the mindset of keeping things as non-invasive as possible. I set the camera you see here near Messi's main entrance point when he decides to visit our area and stir things up. Most cameras I use are "no glow" in that they use black LED to enable lighting as the lens is activated by motion sensor. This particular camera uses white light, I set it to a 10 second video take which means we had that amount of time to be alerted by a strong bright light. I can see it from the machan about 50 metres away while the others position themselves in the nearest building (well, the nearest building, a bamboo/mud structure that Messi hasn't destroyed) observing on a shift basis.

Early warning systems are key to effective mitigation. I'll try and set things up over the next few days so that a camera sends a message to phone/laptop when the sensor is activated. There's other stuff I'm working on with techs around the world but this may give us an edge over the big tusker for the moment. I'd love to be in a position where we could say to government, hey, let's put a micro tracker on Messi. Micro technology for tracking leopards, completely non-invasive, is another aspect I've been working on for a while, I'm very determined to get that right.

I'll update how this camera system we're using now on Messi and the tiger audio as a deterrent are going in due course. Cheers from a bleary eyed Jack.

Friends of the Leopard...

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

An image of a melanistic (predominately black colouring) leopard was just posted at Living with Leopards, and all I could do was go "wow" when I first saw it on my Twitter account. My vision is one day leopards are held in the same regard as the hotshot species such as tiger, rhino and elephant.

This image of Asa is one of my favourites because it encapsulates the surroundings we lived in at the time, the leopard's adaptability but above all the striking beauty of the species. I'm about to start promoting the selling of images again to raise funds for our work with rehabilitation, rewilding, and reintroduction a strong focus but also the elements of coexistence and wildlife crime needing help.

International Day of the Leopard in November is going to have some strong voices with the message regarding the importance of the leopard and the upcoming "Friends of the Leopard" will find out who the true friends of the species really are...

Playing hide and seek with an elephant not a lot of fun...

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

Messi struck again last night. He caused further damage to the kitchen, a shade house but the worst part was the thing that I was most worried about before last night, the big tusker pushed open the doors to one of the bedrooms. Ram was already awake, he's been unable to sleep properly since Messi started causing trouble again.
I was in the machan you can see in the image when Messi sneaked past. I was exhausted from work yesterday dealing with the snarling aggressive rehab leopard plus the humidity made it impossible to sleep before about 1am. Messi arrived about 2.30am and then a whole sequence of events took place. At one stage we found him about 20 metres from Honey Bee Cafe where two boys were asleep in the open. Ram and I had strong torchlight (thank you again Bernd Hirthe, having good equipment is so vital) and Messi didn't like it, he went into thick vegetation nearby. We wanted to make sure he went back into the main jungle area across the river and I was keen to test the tiger audio, but only when the circumstances were right. We quietly, and we thought safely, searched a bamboo grove, it was very still and there was no sign of the huge elephant.
Thinking he had gone we began to make our way back when all of a sudden Messi appeared very close to the machan, the second image is of Messi from a camera very close by. We realized that Messi must have been in or near the bamboo while we were there.
That was very sobering, not fun, Messi was so still and camouflaged he had tricked us.
Again he didn't like our torchlight so he made his way into the darkness. He was so quiet for such a big animal, it was amazing but also just a reminder as to how cunning he is.
The fact he didn't attack underlines his unpredictability. To say it was a game of cat and mouse doesn't work, Messi is massive. It was hide and seek, luckily this time no injury to man or beast but spare a thought for Ram, imagine two huge white tusks breaking open your bedroom door...

Going the video way ... despite electricity shortage...

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

I've had a lot of people asking about this and just now another email from a tech guy in Australia suggesting the same thing. More and more orgs and people are using video clips and vlogs, I discussed it with some filmmakers here in Bardia recently as well, they said short clips, or bytes, are what is getting attention (based on shortening attention spans... um... remember those things called books?), so yeah, it seems it has to be in the mix.

Security (keeping wildlife locations safe) and being non-invasive have to be paramount. I do have a lot of footage (some of it crazy stuff) from fixed cameras, hand held and body mounted, it all has to be used at some stage. Time is the other issue, getting the balance right. It almost seems incongruent that I can post video that anyone in the world can see when half the time I don't even have electricity...

Innovation, rebuilding ecosystems with a great engineer...

Many thanks for the messages, followings etc of late.  I'm really busy trying to get the leopard rehab area established at the moment so I'm a little behind in replies etc.

In the image is the leopard Dipnani in one of her rewilding areas, a safe night den as the zone does get visits from wild leopards in the area.  Dipnani is monitored by cameras, human contact is virtually zero.  I'll explain more about what is happening once I've got the next phase complete, a late monsoon (meaning it's been extremely hot for an extended period) and a challenging political situation here in Nepal have not made things any easier.

Below is a post I made at Facebook yesterday.  I am passionate about reintroduction of key species to rebuild ecosystems.  It also puts magnificent leopards like Dipnani back where they need to be, where nature intended.  We have to innovate to stay strong...

Hot, sweaty conditions and a wild leopard are enough to keep you very grounded. I wrote to a friend and colleague yesterday, he studies eagles, we had been discussing how apex predators strip away one's ego. A fired up leopard is a focused highly evolved biological entity, a force of nature. This animal has no political allegiance, no religion, no caste, it is a natural phenomenon with an athletic ability without peer, a sense of surroundings no human can ever hope to approach. I am a firm advocate of reintroduction of key species to rebuild ecosystems. Putting a leopard back where it belongs is a beginning to repave the path to perfection, because that's what nature is, no place for ego but a place to be thankful. Nature is our mother, let's help her out... #rehabilitation #rewilding #reintroduction

The apathy regarding the plight of the leopard...

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

"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 - 

Research suggests less affluent countries more dedicated to wildlife conservation than rich countries

Meet "The Leopards" ... and last night the coach got chased by a wild elephant...

Maybe Anjel was the only football coach on the planet who had a scary encounter with a wild bull elephant last night. My post on Facebook last night which I updated this morning led into this but a series of events and mishaps led to Anjel having a lucky escape on the property next door. Strangely, last night while I was down by the river and the team was having a kick round I was thinking about a phone meeting I would have to have today, getting updates from the District Forest Office in Baitaidi regarding leopard attacks. Those of you who follow my posts will know that Baitaidi had a horrific spate of leopards killing children, kids just like the ones in the photo. I thought of that while the boys played. As I described in the post I saw the elephant in the distance and before I left Anjel and I were discussing the team and our plan for them as leopard ambassadors. Anjel has a passion for leopards and wildlife in general, yet a few hours later her life was under threat, the elephant had entered the property, heard her open her door and then charged.

I guess there's some synchronicity in that I live in a village where the kid's football team is called The Leopards. They're a really good bunch of boys, they chat about wildlife, they're proud to be called The Leopards. Good kids, living with wildlife, they all know other kids who have lost their lives to wildlife.

So it's this balance, this tolerance, this rawness and realism. Anjel does not think badly of the elephant yet he has killed people. As I worked with the rehab leopard today it was this ongoing dynamic where she would gladly take my face off, yet I am doing my best for her to live wild again.

It's hard to describe. The tolerance does not exist everywhere and sometimes the tragedies stretch things to the limit. It's awful to think what could have happened to Anjel. It's awful to think what has happened to children just like these boys. But life goes on, we need these animals and the challenges of human-wildlife coexistence are only going to become greater. How we manage them from this point is of vital importance...
These posts (and other updates) are at Facebook if you wish to comment.

Changing perceptions... more soon on FRIENDS of the LEOPARD...

Sometimes through all this those who are really passionate about leopards stumble across each other, and the admiration for these big cats carries through in conversations deep into the night. These people are rare, almost in the same elusive way the leopard is itself in its showing, it is always a great pleasure to have the encounter. It may turn into a working relationship, it may be more brief but a chance to learn...

A subject that always arises is the need to change perceptions of this animal, not an easy thing to do as the are difficult to see but often get into trouble, there is tragic conflict which does their reputation harm.

So strategies to improve their image but mostly to create better understanding of their importance, have to be carefully thought out. The years have taught me many reasons why the leopard is not a peachy favourite like tiger, elephant or rhino. But this can change, the true supporters can help save this cat... more soon on FRIENDS of the LEOPARD...

Not a totem, not a God, just an equal being...

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

Thanks Sita for helping with the image. You can find these guys in many Tharu households, the tiger holds a special place in their fundamental practice of Animism.

I don't have time to go into this deeply now and while I personally don't have a religion or faith with a name, Animism does fascinate me especially with regards to human-wildlife coexistence. I get a bit worried when people start using words like totem etc because it's a fine line between that type of thinking and those which dominates practices which use wildlife body parts, there's a type of reverence which to me smacks of being unhealthy. Animism however is much more about equality (all living beings), something I do firmly believe in with regards to rights, place in the web of life. So putting the tiger top of the tree, questions have to be asked how that really fits.

I've had too many moving experiences in nature to categorize by way of faith, that's just my choice. I simply subscribe to the thinking based around the word respect, so equality feels comfortable to me. However such is the way we've managed to mangle ecosystems some hard decisions have to be made while rebuilding them. As someone pretty much in the jungle every day I appreciate very much the role of all living beings there, it's just that the way things have worked out some need our help desperately if they are to continue those roles...

Every leopard killed weakens the species...

Every day information and data comes through with regards to human-leopard conflict and wildlife crime (leopard related) in South Asia. A seizure of yet another leopard skin (and skull) in the middle hills, this time in Gulmi, will lead to follow up and investigation but lack of resources and lack of of emphasis on leopard protection (I have to admit the heat and the terrain don't help) means a likely stalling of process. Full protection status for the leopard must happen, and soon, there has to be greater emphasis by all stakeholders and the world at large. Every time a leopard is killed in these areas there is an ecologically negative affect even if it just genetic weakening by a territorial cat taken out. I wish more people understood this. It's frustrating...

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

When it gets over 50 degrees C (125F)... #JungleHeat #LeopardRehab

I posted earlier today at Facebook re the extreme heat.  I updated the post later with this older image at the leopard rehab zone as I haven't been able to get to the camera today but it has shown 56C previously, today may have been hotter.

You can comment on this post (and other updates) at Facebook.

Passion provoked by a species in need...

These posts (and other updates) are at my personal Facebook page if you wish to comment but please don't forget to follow Living with Leopards also at Facebook.

The word passion is something I'm happy to say I can use more and more now as we get closer to an announcement regarding International Day of the Leopard. There are really passionate people getting involved, people with genuine regard, concern and above all, the desire to conserve the great cat.

Protection levels throughout the range of the leopard vary, so do perceptions. Those are the human elements. The cat itself is one of the most adaptable and resilient species on the planet. It's ecological importance as an apex predator and umbrella species in so many regions is vital. As I've mentioned before, governments, large chunks of the conservation sector and the general public have dropped the ball on this.  If the public get on board and realize the true essence of this issue then we can win.

So a strong group of people are joining together for the leopard. Coexistence, hard science and wildlife crime are themes within a theme and although a big part of my own emphasis is reintroduction (includes rehab, rewiding etc) and how we can put the great cat back into ecosystems where predators need to be, there is a much broader spectrum in my day to day thinking. Sharing those thoughts with true leopard people from around the world is exciting but tempered by the daily loss, the persecution of the species.

So a lot to do but well worth doing, we just need more people to truly understand and support that.

Jai Chituwa.

A question of values...

 I love being in the jungle, really love it. Mountain or lowland, it doesn't matter, as long as it is big cat habitat it feels right. My head clears very quickly and the job at hand takes focus.
Today was a little different. I did not mind the heat or biting insects and I had my usual observation of surroundings based on monitoring and safety. I just found it longer than usual to clear my head. A family member who knows my stuff, knows the pressure of what I'm doing as well as the sacrifices I've made, reminded me by email to keep my values, qualifying that by saying he knows I will. I miss my family a lot, sometimes that compounds the difficulties but they understand and support my motivation.
In an interview yesterday I told of my total respect for the leopard, an animal I have come to admire more and more. The pressure this species is under, the lack of support, is perhaps the burden I took into the jungle today, perhaps the burden of a misunderstood animal weighed me down more than usual, took me a while to shake off. A post made earlier today on Facebook perhaps made me ask more deeply than usual the question of human values. Tiger farming and other issues regarding the trade in big cat body parts in general, give every day reminders for those of us involved in big cat protection, there is no escape and a lot of hard work goes on behind the scenes to combat these scourges. It's just that today, I guess combined with the serious infrastructure challenges we've had here (see Facebook post two back), I questioned values again when it comes to marginalization of species, marginalization of people.
Everyone screams "save the tiger! save wildlife!" but is it just noise? Normally in the jungle I just get on with the work and despite everything there is a sense of peace. Today the noise went with me, it made me wonder who is the genuine article...
Tomorrow there will be two more jungles, the tiredness that brings and now we have some electricity a ceiling fan that works, will hopefully mean sleep... but not tonight, a lot to do, a lot to catch up on... and some gnawing questions...

#Coexistence - Predator, Prey, Livestock, People...

These are four images I posted at my own Facebook page today in an album called Nepal - People, Wildlife, Habitat.  These four were captured by a fixed camera, one of many I use monitoring leopard in buffer zone jungles.  Shared space, different times.

We're in that stifling pre-monsoon heat here in western Nepal.  Wildlife tends to congregate near available water holes, it's a difficult time for all living things, energy has to used wisely.  But life goes on and within the realms of leopard conservation, that is, coexistence, rehabilitation and wildlife crime, the work has to continue.

I thank those who care and support.  Don't forget to follow Living with Leopards at Facebook and the the Twitter site @WildTigerNews

Big cats - spots or stripes, should it make a difference in how we treat them?

These posts (and other updates) are at Facebook if you wish to comment

Just a quick post and the title is slightly misleading but represents my deep thoughts right now.  At dawn this morning I watched a herd of wild elephants make their way.  This came on the back of a long fascinating discussion last night with a couple of people who spend a big chunk of their lives reintroducing marine species like orcas and dolphins into the wild (I'll blog about Jeff and Katy soon).  A big part of our talk centered on the out of balance emphasis some species get, for reasons that simply come down to money but are making true conservation more and more difficult.

I've mentioned many times how the leopard is discriminated against within that context.  As someone hell bent and devoting his life to the species, and reintroduction programs are a big part of that, I lament the lack of support the spotted cat gets compared to its striped relative, in  fact compared to icon species in general.  So much of this comes down to a lack of understanding including the ridiculous notion that just because a species has a healthy population in parts of its range it is not in trouble.  For the leopard, which is seriously marginalized, particularly because it is not a tourism money spinner, its persecution has seen it wiped out in many parts of its range.

So how does that play into ecosystems?  That is the message that is not being received and is one we have to deliver before it is too late.  Reintroduction of species, the leopard included, is future proofing, it is rebuilding.  It's about time more people looked beyond the stripes, personal agendas and organization agendas, and started putting emphasis on what is right rather than what is cute and what makes money.

Yes, we need the tiger, very much so... but we need the leopard too...