INTERNATIONAL TIGER DAY: You can make it what you want...

INTERNATIONAL TIGER DAY: Just over a couple of weeks ago these two special characters cheered me up immensely when they just appeared out of nowhere and walked and talked with me for about an hour. It was at the end of long day at about3500m. We talked about leopards and snow leopards, bears and eagles. I told them about the tigers I had recently seen in western Nepal. They were confused as to them tiger meant snow leopard. And why shouldn't it? It's a few hours now before International Tiger Day when there'll be lots of groups and individuals taking the opportunity to once again talk about the plight of the tiger and being less than subtle in seeking funding and support. I'm getting up early to observe a sea eagle nest being built, that's my tiger and why not? There's a lot of propaganda surrounding the tiger now, it's become an industry, a place with a lot of egos attached. There's a tourism industry connected to the tiger, it's out of control in many places. My own truth and fact finding missions in the last few months have led to some disappointing conclusions regarding some of the people and organizations involved. However, the positive is that the tiger is actually doing ok, despite what people are saying. There is plenty of room for optimism and hope, despite the propaganda. I'm looking forward to enlarging on this soon but there are still quite a few stones to be looked under, a few questions to be asked. In the meantime be a bit careful, guarded about the hype, find your own tiger, it doesn't have to be a stripey one, they all count...

You have to trust that everything you are doing needs to be done ...

In Australia now, got a date with some eagles.  A big part of me is still in the Himalaya though, looking forward to being back there in the winter months.

This is just a quick interim blog to once again say thank you for all the support of late.  I'm still replying to messages, it'll take a couple more days.  I'll blog properly once that is done.

Human/wildlife conflict or more accurately human/wildlife relationships fascinate me.  I believe it's a big part of the core of existence.  I lament the lack of connection we have entered into but I rejoice in my own daily discoveries.  Maybe I'm lucky.  However it's a kind of luck I seek and I look very hard for it.  It's not really a search but a journey ... I seek not answers but I look hard for solutions...

TRIBUTE TO SOUTH ASIA: The power of the monsoon...

TRIBUTE TO SOUTH ASIA: Travel, just living, in monsoon can be precarious. Already, by mid July, about 6000 lives have been lost due floods and landslides. My research into human/wildlife conflict issues reveals countless others problems.

 A remote village can be further isolated as walking trails are obliterated, bridges swept away. I have never seen such powerful rivers, Himalayan torrents turned totally deadly during monsoon. At times, especially in the last week, I have felt overwhelmed by their power. The monsoon season brings a great life force for crops, wildlife water holes, nature. It also brings a mighty reality check about the power of nature, this planet...

THANKS!!! Research on the Run...ran out of trail.. Am back in Pokhara, safe and sound after a whirlwind last few days. It's hard to believe that less than 3 days ago I was standing on top of Thorong Pass (with my little mate, given to me a few years ago by a very dear friend...a little tiger who travels with me everywhere, a good luck charm). From Manang to High Camp and then to Jomsom before heading to Ghasa, those three days were long but at a fast pace. I felt really strong having acclimatized well and it being my third trip into the Annapurna in the space of a few weeks. In the inset I needed my camera to wake me up as my phone is dead and now missing. That was in Ghasa, where I ran out of trail due to landslides so I was faced with one of those bus journeys from hell where it is only 90% terrifying, the rest quite calm as you know death is imminent! Monsoon travel, got to love it. Well it's 3.30am, I have a busy few days but I'll blog about the trip soon. I'll be in contact with all the pledge people as soon as I can, you are just fantastic, you are really making a difference I don't have all the details yet, give me a few days but be rest assured, your support made every step worthwhile. I got so much information from real down to earth people, it will help immeasurably ... and your support will mean crucial equipment for the jungle crew. So all in all a really worthwhile effort, as I say, I'll blog properly soon ... right now, I'm just damn hungry! Cheers Jack

PS I did manage to post more stuff while on the go ... at www.facebook.com/jackkinross and www.twitter.com/jackkinross but most of the time I didn't have a signal.

24 hours till legs get moving, monsoon already full swing...

In the foreground is my good friend Najar Man Gurung.  A few days ago we took four horses up to 3500m for summer grazing.  We went straight up through mountain jungle, a 1300m vertical rise, then down.  It didn't stop raining.  A taste of things to come in the next ten to twelve days.

Below are some the brave guys I am doing this next trek for.  The worn out guy in the middle is me, it was mid 40s in the jungle that day!  Those who follow my Facebook page would have seen this shot and have read more.

Najar Man is a leader in his community and is a vital cog in our efforts to produce a meaningful compensation scheme for stock losses to predators.  The gathering of data through communication between villages, camera trapping and many interviews is the key to the next three years and beyond. Najar's community are a day's walk from the nearest road.  These are real people who do not care about cars and iphones.  They care about the real world around them.

  Fund raising is also a big part of the process and this trek for me now, although I know it's going to hurt, is the next step (excuse the pun!).  I really want to thank everyone who has pledged and supported in the few hours since the trek was announced.  Details are in posts over the last few hours and you can go to www.wildtiger.org/T3concept for details and links.

Due to communication difficulties it looks as if Twitter may be my only way of relaying progress although hopefully other platforms occasionally. A 5 dollar pledge goes a long way, if you can spread the word it would be really appreciated.  Our three Nepal projects require help.  Anti-poaching, illegal wildlife trade research and human/wildlife conflict are the issues involved.  

Wildlife, habitat and people.   The cores to our existence.  I believe that who most honestly care about our children are those who care about our habitat.

Snow Leopard speed trek ...

REMEMBER IT"S NOT JUST ABOUT THE TIGER, it's not just about anything, it's about everything...

I find a lot of people pigeon hole their perception of projects.  They look at a name and limit their thinking.  Conservation is about everything.  Protection, sustainability, connection ... life really.

So I'm off for my third stint in the mighty Annapurna within a few weeks.  A hot (high 40s!), sweaty western Nepal jungle was fitted in between those times.  The terms of my visa arrangement in the name of research have been worked out so now it's a flat out two weeks before I leave this mighty land.  I return in the winter for camera trapping but for now it's a speed run/trek/research mission skirting some of the biggest mountains in the world.

Hello again leech families! My blood awaits!

Waterfalls on the trail, landslides, rain, rain, more rain ...  the challenges of monsoon trekking.

So, can I get round the Annapurna circuit in eleven or twelve days while researching as well?  It's supposed to take a lot longer but I don't have time.  I've completed the circuit before in sunshine, at a nice rhythmic pace.  Yes, we ran a few times but just for the hell of it.  This time I'll have to run because there's a plane with a seat in it which I've paid for.  Then a lot of work in the land down under to help the land of the Himalaya.

A deadline.  Ok.  Move quickly. Yep, running from village to village in the Himalaya...  "Any goats or buffalo been taken by leopards or snow leopards in this area recently?" ...  I've asked that questions hundreds of times in the last few weeks, now I've got to do it again and again.  We need the data.  We need it.

AND WE NEED HELP!  C'mon, just 5 bucks, the same as two or three coffees.  To help my heroes here with laptops, cameras (one was lost on an anti-poaching patrol when a raft flipped recently) training and some snacks when they are braving these jungles.

 You'll be helping "The Birdman" too!  This guy rocks.  His dedication, passion for the cause while keeping his identity secret is inspirational.  More on the mighty Birdman soon.

Thanks, just follow the links from www.wildtiger.org to the T3 Concept - 5 bucks really helps!

When I hit Manang, a day or two before crossing the 5,416 metre Thorong La pass, I'm going to visit a Lama who has lived high on mountain side for over 40 years.  I'm going to ask him to bless what we are trying to achieve in Nepal.

Nepal misses out compared to its big huge brother India which gets all the publicity, all the help.  India has a heap of money.  Nepal doesn't.  China has a heap of money.  Nepal doesn't.

But guess what?  Despite all its problems, and believe me there are more than you can imagine, this steepest country in the world is trying damn hard to protect its tiger ... and I'm being general when I say tiger ... it means tiger, snow leopard, leopard, rhino, elephant, everything...

There are brave souls fighting hard ... and the fight will continue.

Nepal.  The only country in the world where you can gaze at the world's highest mountain one minute and then not too long be walking in the jungle to see a tiger.  Unique.

The fight will continue.

I'm going to be tweeting, maybe facebooking etc from the mountains when I can this time.

Fast and light.

Hello again Mr Leech!

Mountain tigers, leeches, human/wildlife conflict...

SO IS THERE A MOUNTAIN TIGER? Watch this space...

Back from the mountains. So much rain, so many leeches and so many issues regarding human/wildlife conflict. I gathered volumes of information, my head is reeling and to be back where there is traffic noise, so much reliance on technology, social media, well, it only increases my respect for my mountain friends, some of the most clever and certainly the most nature connected people I know.

The challenges are a plenty, so much to do but so much worth protecting, vital. It is impossible to explain properly, you have to live it but I'll attempt anyway, over the next few months...

I have many messages, thank you. I have a full schedule of travel, meetings but will do my very best to respond.