The Big Cats of our minds, we love them, we kill them...

Real men do not kill wildlife unnecessarily.  Real men protect wildlife.

Watching a wild animal in its freedom is a beautiful thing.  A gunshot shatters that beauty.  A gunshot shatters many things.

A few days ago I was sent an image.

The email I received the image in indicated the three leopard were shot in a trophy hunt in Zambia.  The image shocked me on two counts.  Firstly the atrocity.  Three beautiful animals, dead, held up by three killers (I'm not going to use the word "men" here, I can't because they aren't).  Secondly the confusion.  Zambia proclaimed earlier this year it had banned trophy hunting.

I'll deal with the confusion first.  I'm not so naive to believe that the announcement by Zambia's Minister of Tourism and Arts, Sylvia T. Masebo, would be enough to totally stop big game hunting in the nation.  At the very least it makes the killers criminals.  Masebo said that hunting licenses had "been abused to the extent they threatened animal populations."  Some African nations have either banned trophy hunting or are in the process of doing so.  Other countries haven't.  South Africa has a thriving trophy hunting industry.  Americans are by far the biggest clients in an activity which draws people from all corners of the globe.  The industry has been frequently linked with the illegal wildlife trade, most notably and most recently the trafficking of rhino horns.

So at this point you can kill an innocent animal legally in some countries and not in others.  I have contacted the Zambian Government and several non-government agencies seeking clarification on the situation in Zambia. Communication is ongoing so I'll have information on that front at a latter date.

To the atrocity.  It didn't take much to get supposed IDs of the three killers in the photograph.  The image had been doing the rounds on the net for a couple of months.  I simply don't have time to check everything going on with the hundreds of campaigning groups out there.  Many of these groups operate through social media only.  I network with analysts who send me information relevant to my work.  So I hadn't seen this image before it popped up in my inbox.  I see a lot of awful stuff, both digitally and in the flesh.  I'm fairly good at not letting emotions get in the way of the task at hand.  However something in this image triggered a wide range of feelings.

I thought at first that it was simply because leopards had been on my mind a lot of late.  I'm in Nepal soon using a variety of data collection methods regarding human/wildlife conflict, mainly in the Annapurna area. Leopards (Common Leopard,  panthera pardus) are often involved in these conflicts, they have a big liking for domestic goats.  I've developed an enormous respect for the leopard.  They don't have the rock star status of the tiger or snow leopard.  They are a highly efficient predator operating in a rapidly shrinking range.  They have to evolve accordingly.  Human/wildlife conflict is a by-product of that.  That's not going to stop, it's the new nature.  The Annapurna Conservation Area, the largest protected area in Nepal and a work in progress template for community conservation globally,  is an important landscape to help understand this issue.

Leopards kill more humans than lions or tigers do.  I have to admit that when alone off the beaten track in leopard territory I sometimes feel vulnerable.  I wouldn't describe it as fear, more a strong sense of awareness, caution.  There is also the realization that if attacked the chances of a good result for me aren't great.  Would I fight back? Of course.  I probably wouldn't have time to engage the corkscrew on my Swiss army knife and I doubt my camera would be much use but I would do my best.

If a leopard attacked me it wouldn't be doing it for fun.  I would be prey. A meal or two.  I totally accept that. Fate would have brought us together.  I've either ventured too far into the leopard's habitat or circumstances such as a depletion of natural prey mean this stealthy big cat would have sought me out in a "human habitat". However it would happen it would simply be nature taking its course.  

The three killers in the image killed those leopards for fun.  Don't give me any bullshit about primal instincts, funding for conservation, economic benefit or any other crap.

They did it for fun. As simple as that.

If trophy hunting in Zambia has been banned then there is a chance these  killers have broken the law. I'm still seeking information in regards to the timing and location of the kills. I have several people helping me on this. 

Regardless of the law, in my mind, they committed an atrocity.  I posted the image on Facebook and Twitter along with the message:

"I'm sorry but there's no other way to put this...it's a fucking disgrace.  Trophy hunting in Zambia."

I stand by that and there was a lot of outrage expressed.  No one came to the defense of the killers.  Yes, there were some comments that bordered on nation bashing but there was zero tolerance and plenty of suggestions for type of punishment for the killers.

The great cats of our minds stir many emotions, feelings.  For many of us the great cats are a powerful symbol of nature and unfortunately a symbol for much that has gone wrong in humanity's disconnect with the planet.  There is a fight to save the great cats, it is being fought by most for the right reasons.  There has to be a balanced approach.  A tiger, lion or a leopard that has caused fear and loss in a poor rural community is not looked upon the same way as someone looking at nice little idyllic images of big cats on Facebook does. Clicking on the like button as against being too terrified to leave the house.   The reality of living alongside these predators is misunderstood by many in the "save this save that" brigade.

But regardless of the realities or otherwise, the great cats of our minds are powerful forces.  Fear is one of those forces.  I'm wondering if those who shoot big cats on a trophy hunt possibly are the most fearful of all.  A retaliation killing can be understood.  There is incredible tolerance among many indigenous communities when it comes to livestock or human losses to big cats.  Sometimes enough is enough but a huge amount of work is being done to understand and mitigate these conflicts.

 These instances of human/wildlife conflict are the result of a series of events, dynamics.  A trophy hunt isn't.  It is the result of a desire to unnecessarily kill an animal.  It is not nature.  It is stupidity.  It is a disgrace. The great cats of a trophy hunter's mind conjure up fears and feelings that are different to the rest of us, these people act accordingly.  So do rapists and murderers.

There is trophy hunting in Nepal.  It is restricted to the Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve.  Big cats are not targeted but their prey Himalayan Thar and Blue Sheep are.  Is this any better?  The can of worms that contains everything from trophy hunting to fishing to vegetarianism is being kept away from my Swiss army knife right now, it has to be one step at a time.

For all that, what is shown in that image is a fucking disgrace.  It's perhaps a shame I had to use that sort of language to attract attention to the image but that is the world we live in now.

 To my mind this type of behaviour is as disgraceful as poaching for the big cat body part trade, the rhino horn trade, the ivory trade and whaling.  I am hoping the findings behind this image lead to the fact that these three killers did break the law.  I want them to pay for their crime.

The great cats of our minds manifest our thoughts and actions, it comes down to a personal choice in the end.  Protector or killer.  Real man or not.