JUST A FEELING THIS IS A LUCKY ELEPHANT...

Of the Big 3 in South Asia I've been fortunate to have great sightings of wild tiger and wild rhino. Over the years I've seen wild elephant but not as much as the other two. This sighting a few weeks in Bardia, well, it just felt special. The giant wandered across the river bed, not a care in the world. I felt humble, privileged as I always do when viewing wildlife. There was also this feeling of hope.

Elephant numbers are stable in Bardia, two sizable herds move through the area as well as solo travelers. With rhino numbers also stable as well as the well publicized increase in the tiger population there is reason to be optimistic. We'll be having a report on Bardia in our last WildTiger Journal of the year in a couple of days. Hemant has been sending me excellent updates and great images. There is a period of reflection going on with anti-poaching legend Ramesh Thapa after 30 years service in Bardia being transferred to Chitwan National Park. Ramesh leaves behind a capable and motivated team.

The Community Based Anti-Poaching Unit (CBAPU) headed by Hemant is an integral part of that team. As 2014 draws near there is no backing off the challenges ahead. Here at WildTiger we have added Good Luck Elephants to the JaiBagh shopwww.wwildtiger.org/jaibaghshop The shop itself will have a big increase in available items in 2014. We want to extend our help to the CBAPU and ensure the future of the wonderful tiger, rhino and elephant habitat that is Bardia...

Ten $5 tigers and "postal oblivion" changing hair colour!

TEN $5 TIGERS AVAILABLE NOW at www.wildtiger.org/jackkinross plus till the end of the year you'll get a free mountain!

We've taken a hit. More than 20 T shirts have vanished into "postal oblivion" and I'm flat out trying to let people know and organize replacements to be sent as soon as possible. We're going to have to use a new, more expensive system. It's so difficult getting things fluent in this part of the world ... the colour of one's hair can become "fairer" very quickly! So I'm going to push the $5 tigers hard for a while to try and recoup what is a nasty financial loss ... oh to be back in the field soon!

WildTiger's man in the west, protecting his tigers...

AND THIS IS WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT... WildTiger's man in the west, anti-poaching leader Hemant has just sent me this image he took of one of the two tigers he saw today. He also saw two rhino while on patrol. Hemant is doing a great job, (as are others in my team, more on them soon) the support you give helps with that ... I have a feeling his sightings today will bring me luck with my own journey back high into snow leopard country shortly, through the land of the mountain tiger. Thank you for your support, WildTiger Conservation Research and Development - Real work being done by real people at ground level...

Human/Wildlife Conflict - Tiger attack ... never a straight forward situation...

21/12/13 - 8.32pm   I got a message from Hemant a couple of hours ago about a tiger attack in Bardia today. We'll know more tomorrow. This is always a difficult time, for the victim, the family, everyone associated with these situations. Protecting endangered species where humans and predators share habitat is ongoing problem solving, not as nearly straight forward as countless activists would have you believe when there is emotional outcry which distorts the facts. As someone who is dedicated to finding more knowledge of wildlife/human interplay in the field all I know is that we still know very little...

Garden invader, tiger food ... it's a precarious life in the jungle...

This chital (spotted deer) was a visitor to the garden in Bardia a few weeks ago.  I'm not sure why it was so unafraid of people, coming out of the jungle the way it did.  If we'd been tigers I'm sure it would have stayed away.  Oh the irony...

50 tigers in the area and thought to be about 90,000 chital.  If a tiger kills on average one chital a week, well you do the maths.  Of course there are many variables but whichever way it's looked at it's a precarious life in the jungle...

Tiger spotting but no longer... we need help from medical assistants...

TIGER SPOTTING...BUT NO LONGER... Research assistant Cecile, pictured here with Prakash in Bardia recently, has sadly had to return to France after being struck down with a serious illness. It's just one of those things, a fact of life when you are here long term. In the main, trekkers and tourists have few worries but for the locals and expats it can get really tricky. I've had my own battles over the years, as I've mentioned before hepatitis E almost wiped me out a while back.

This is why my appeal for help in the medical dispensary in Chomrong is really heartfelt. If you are a medical student or have a medical background of some sort email me at jk@wildtiger.org and we can talk about what would be a life changing experience for you in one of the most stunning landscapes in the world. Most importantly, you would be affecting positive change on the lives of others...

Smiles in leopard country above Chhomrong and keep those teaching, medical staff inquiries coming...

I'm in Pokhara at the moment sorting WildTiger stuff, a lot to be done.  A couple of weeks ago my good friend Alexiane from France visited me in Chhomrong.   Alex, a wonderfully talented professional photographer, is in the middle of the photo with Henriette (also French) to her left and Emma (English) there as well.  The image was taken at a place called Salaphu, not far from the school to which I have made a call for English teaching volunteers.  In conjunction with the locals I'm preparing an information package for prospective teachers as well as medical people to help out at the local dispensary.  Email me at jk@wildtiger.org if you're interested.

I was testing cameras in the area that day and it was nice to be joined by this Anglo/Franco team, c'mon, who said the French and English don't get along?!  Those who have been following my blogs would have read how Nilu, a Nepali guide, had to be trekked out very slowly and carefully to get medical help after contracting typhoid.  In fact, Nilu was Emma's guide up into the Annapurna Sanctuary.  So the smiles you see here turned to real concern the next day as Nilu's condition worsened overnight.  The idyllic mountain scenery has a flip side which can be revealed very quickly for people living in isolated communities.  This is why any help which can be offered is really appreciated.

For now Nilu is recovering well.  In the meantime my little cameras are doing their thing high in the Himalaya. I'll be back in the mountains soon to check on what treasures they have found...

A puja for those who need it and technology meets tradition...

Lama inspects a camera trap.

A few hours ago I read of a little girl who died of hypothermia down in the lowland Terai region. Many people cannot afford a decent blanket, the coming winter nights will end the days forever for some of those people.

A puja (Buddhist blessing) was held at the Cottage in Chomrong a few days before I dropped down to Pokhara. I'm arranging with Sushila (who you can see in prayer in the image, she is also world famous for her chocolate cake ... it featured in Time Magazine ... honestly!) for the Lama you can see here to have a Puja next month to bless Project Mountain Tiger. We'll also use it to bless those in real need right now. It affects me that people can't afford a blanket. There's so much bullshit in the world... I just wish everyone could think globally but ACT locally ... it's become too damn easy to click a like button and make inane comments about stuff they don't know about when they could actually get of their butt and do something locally.

In saying that, I'm lucky because I do get to collaborate with many good people who really do decent work on a local basis, it helps keep me "in hope" for sure. I just wish we could afford blankets for everyone this winter...

High altitude big cat habitat ... and teachers, medical people, please come, no fees!

The seeds for Project Mountain Tiger were sown on Christmas day 2010 during the last Year of the Tiger. So we're coming up to three years.  All projects WildTiger is doing here are related but this one is my baby because it's my legs doing the walking.  I'm really excited about what's coming up...

Yesterday Mila Gurung was a fantastic help in setting camera traps in challenging terrain.  It was essentially steep bamboo jungle.  In the image above Mila is standing in front of an area where he had a recent leopard encounter.  The great cat snarled at him "don't come any closer" ... Mila didn't go any closer...

The image below shows the type of terrain we were in most of the time.  There was also a lot of clinging to rocks where one slip would have resulted in one very broken kiwi.  We found fresh leopard scat and several resting places of the Himalayan black bear.  It was heady stuff.

As I mentioned yesterday I have been sending out tweets to try and encourage teachers and medical people to spend time here.  Well the response has been terrific.  I am sending out information packages soon and there will be more information online in early 2014.  I just want to stress their is no fee for this.  The costs are simply food, accommodation and the permit entry to the Annapurna protected area.  There is a range of activities one can do including trekking to the incredible Annapurna Sanctuary and maybe even helping me with camera trapping!  Similar opportunities will be available in Bardia in the Western Terai region as well.  Watch our online notifications...

The image below is Nilu resting during her brave trek out from Chomrong to Ghandruk.  Those who have followed my blogs will know of Nilu's great courage while we got her to the medical post.  Typhoid in the Himalaya is a serious business, one of many ways people can become unstuck when so far from help.

This is one of the many reasons I am motivated to help these mountain communities who will never see a road to their villages.  If we are to protect the tiger, leopard and snow leopard we must all play our part in helping the people who live in these remarkable but challenging areas...

Many thanks for all the supportive comments and actions.  I walk a few hours to Ghandruk now for a meeting with the Annapurna Conservation Area Project main man in the area, Paras Singh.  We're hatching plans so I'll have updates soon.  Tomorrow it's down to Pokhara for a week or so to sort out several matters including modifying a real time image transmission camera trap.

I'll also be picking up more clothes before I head back up here and the long Himalayan winter ahead...

Cheers Jack

Is the leopard laughing?

It's 1.38am now,
for nearly 2 hours the dog has barked,
I try to calm it, it doesn't stop,
is the leopard laughing?

More barks in the distance,
much noise, no sleep,
such distracted dogs, bark bark bark,
is the leopard laughing?

At least I am awake, feel strong,
4 nights ago I yelled out while sleeping,
I was being dragged out the window in my dream,
is the leopard laughing?

It's 1.43am,
the dogs still bark,
bark bark bark,
is the leopard laughing?

No sleep tonight I'm sure,
too much noise, no calm dogs,
the nocturnal hunter is king tonight,
the leopard is laughing its f...... head off...

Mountain ghost, will you show yourself?

THINGS CHANGE QUICKLY HERE IN THE MOUNTAINS... Further to my last post (earlier today) I'm heading to a different place to check some cameras. Some sightings, some disturbance, a strong, strong feeling...

There is a degree of tension. Everywhere I go I am asked "chituwa? chituwa? bagh? bagh? (leopard? leopard? tiger? tiger?)" and sometimes even "heung chituwa? (snow leopard?)"... People are looking for answers...

I would say probably leopard but no certainty. I got a civet on camera very close by last night but this animal cannot take down a goat ... and the goats are nervous.

It's dark now. There are clouds that look to drop snow. Tonight we talked of tigers in our dreams.

During the day I show photographs. This man has seen tiger. This man has seen leopard. This man has seen snow leopard ... ahhh, the mysterious snow leopard, the mountain ghost ... will you show yourself?

Are you as tough as these Himalayan kids?

Hi ho hi ho it's off to school we go.  Check out the footwear.  It wears out pretty fast when you have to walk five hours a day to complete your schooling.  These kids are on the infamous Chomrong steps (there's about 3000 of them) but they also face dusty trails strewn with rocks and tree roots... and of course in winter there's snow.  The cold season also means walking in the dark.

So if a leopard or other big cat takes a goat or sheep from one of these families the economic hardship increases.

There are so many issues.  Tourist trekkers want meat.  Farmers provide it.  Big cats have alternative food sources i.e domestic animals.  Lodge owners earn more money.  They start to eat more meat.  Herd and flock sizes increase to meet demand.  Leopards alter their behaviour.  Festivals mean goats for sacrifices and meat to eat.  Herders move their animals to high pastures during monsoon ... snow leopards go "hmmmm, I like the look of this..."

Winter comes.  Snow drives leopards and snow leopards to hunt lower.  Domestic animals become prey.

Insurance? What insurance?

Down on the lowland let's protect the tiger.  Yeehah!! We succeed in increasing the tiger population!! Many "likes" on Facebook!!

Meanwhile Mr Leopard is being driven out of his territory by the new tigers.  What does he do?  He looks at the farms, what does he see?

 "Hmmmm, I like the look of this..."

I could go on and on.  It's complicated.  Meanwhile the kids walk to school.

A long way.  Up and down.

I've got a lot of up and downs as well over the next three days so there'll be no contact.  I'm heading deep into snow leopard country hunting for data.

There's a lot to do...

Leopards are prowling, into the conflict zone and the toughest tiny kids on earth...

After the issues of last week it's been good to have a couple of normal days in the field.  Then again, normality around here right now means leopard attacks.  The image is a camera trap checking me before I checked it this morning.  This camera was just above a conflict zone where several sheep were killed a few nights ago. Later this morning I put in cameras in a steep bamboo jungle below another potential conflict zone where there is a goat herd.

There are so many issues surrounding human/wildlife conflict in this area.  I now have an evening and a day tomorrow doing "laptop time" and catching up with everything before heading back into the field.  I'll blog in more detail about what's going on before I leave.

There's a lot of walking.  It's either up or down.  There's no flat.  It's steep, in places damn steep.  I love it, moving through the mountains on foot is my favourite way of travel.  But please spare a thought for some of the kids here, primary school kids, they have a five hour round trip each and every day to get to school and home again.  Like I said it's steep.  These tiny kids are the toughest tiny kids on earth.  More soon...

Nilu the snow leopard is safe and we're closer to the mountain tiger...

Once again many thanks for the supportive messages.  It's been a topsy turvy week.  First of all the concern for two of my team involved in some tricky research.  They are safe.  Then there is just the pure contentment at being here in the mountains, a sense of true belonging.  And then the last few days my baihini Nilu, this wonderful strong snow leopard, faced a serious struggle.

Nilu is safe now.  Two days ago a team of us trekked her out to Ghandruk and medical help. Nilu's condition had deteriorated seriously overnight.  What is normally a five hour j0urney took close to ten.  I was rarely more than a metre behind Nilu as we crawled down into the Kimrong valley and then the long up again to Komrong Danda.  It was testing but her strength was truly inspirational.  A few times she fell back into my arms before gathering herself.  Nilu's pure will to keep going will stay with me forever.

Nilu has been diagnosed with typhoid. The photograph here is taken the morning after the trek, Nilu is trying to rehydrate and soak up some sun in Ghandruk.  She is now back in Pokhara and I have trekked back to Chomrong. She is in good hands but will be weak for some time.  I tried to call tonight but could not get through.  That's ok though.  She is safe.

I could not help but feel Nilu's effort that day in many ways was like the struggle of Nepal.  Fierce determination in the face of adversity.  I wont forget that day.

This morning before I headed back to Chomrong I had a very positive meeting with Paras Singh, the officer in charge of the area office for the Annapurna Conservation Area Office.  I first met Paras earlier in the year in Manang and was impressed with his passion regarding human/wildlife conflict issues.  We formed a bond very quickly and today made further plans in our collaboration for data collection here.  This involves camera trapping in some of the most dramatic landscape on our planet.

Like me, Paras is aware of the possibility of snow leopard, common leopard and tiger virtually co-existing in the same region.  The tiger is the key.  Are they still here?

Today I felt a little closer to knowing...

The bizarre case of the Himalayan self trekking dumb phone, my English "sucks" and Nilu, the mountain warrioress...

Things happen in the mountains.  Although I have to keep an eye on things far away including what my team are going through and awaiting reports re the sad news that a rare Gangetic dolphin was killed at Bardia, there is plenty going on here as well.

 Very strangely my phone is heading towards Annapurna Base Camp and I'm not with it.  Yesterday afternoon I was heading down the infamous Chomrong steps with my good friend and brilliant photographer Alexiane Le Gentil.  The idea was to test the sensors on a camera trap and also to hopefully catch up with friends of Alex trekking their way back from Annapurna Base Camp.  Not far from the river, the beautiful Chomrong Khola, Alex's friends appeared.  Rita from France and Emma from England were being guided by Nilu Gurung who you can see in the photograph.

Nilu wasn't well.  She had a running fever and was feeling very weak. The Gurung are stoic tough mountain people and getting Nilu to admit her condition was not easy.  I have been a guide so I know the feeling one has in just wanting to get the job done and not appear under duress in front of clients who are usually feeling the pinch themselves.  Nilu was not in good shape but at twenty-one and only a few months into her guiding career she was showing that typical Gurung determination.  However with me being nearly twice her size she decided not to argue when I insisted on carrying her pack up the Chomrong steps.

I went up as fast as I could realizing about halfway I had left my phone at the bottom. After I dropped off Nilu's gear at the Cottage I then dropped back to see how she was.  She was on her way to the Cottage ok under the watchful gazes of Alex, Rita and Emma.  I felt sure Nilu would get there so I then dropped down further to where I expected my phone to be sitting on the stone wall where I had left it.

Now any one who knows the Chomrong steps also knows they are not an easy exercise.  A friend of mine Peter has counted 3000 steps from the river to the Cottage.  Peter is a pilot so I would hope he is good with numbers. I got to the bottom and my phone wasn't there.

Up I go again. I get to the top and  Nilu was vomiting, a real concern but her fever has dropped.  Small in stature but strong in spirit Nilu was still being elusive as to how she really felt.  Painkillers and rest were the only options.  There is a tiny pharmacy in Chomrong, a bigger one in Ghandruk which is five hours walk away.  Guiding in the mountains often means carrying heavy loads so it is not easy work even when feeling fit and well.

 Meanwhile Najar is calling my phone but there is no ring tone, it's either off or no signal.  I'm really not too worried, shit happens right?  Nilu's problem is far worse than mine.  As time goes by we talk and form that wonderful bond of mountain people which is extra special between Nepali and New Zealanders since the great Everest days of Sherpa Tenzing and Sir Edmund Hillary.  Nilu becomes my little sister, my baihini.  She calls me Jack dai (older brother).  As we speak even further about our love of the mountains she calls me Jack Gurung.  I don't have many soft spots these days but Nilu certainly hit one.

Later in the evening Najar gets an answer on my phone.  It's trekking its way up with a guide.  Najar asks for it to be dropped off at a place further into the mountains where I will be in a few days.  It will be interesting to see if it is there.  There is a lot of laughter as we give my phone a life where it is wondering what the hell is going on.  Who knows where it will end up and if I will be with it.

After another amazing dal bhat dinner Alex puts through a call to her partner Bastian who is back in Normandy, France.  Alex hands the phone to me just before Bastian answers.  The internet signal in Chomrong is now amazing but the phone reception often isn't.

"Bonjour Bastian! It's Jack here!"

"Allo? Allo? Who eeez deeez?"

"Bastian it's me Jack!"

"Allo? Who eeez deeez with Alex's phone?"

"It's Jack!"

"Allo? Can you speak Engleeesh please?"

"Bastian I am speaking English!"

He hangs up.

Ok, you get it.  Bad phone line.  A lot of laughter.  Later on Alex gets through to Bastian who says he thought someone was speaking Nepali to him.  Alex explains it was me.  Bastian asks Alex to tell me my English sucks.

Today I put in camera traps very close to a recent leopard kill of four sheep.  It was good to show Alex, Rita and Emma how it all works and they enjoyed the mountain jungle.  We return to find Nilu feeling much better but I am still concerned about my little sister.  So tomorrow I will guide Alex down towards a jeep before I take a climb up to Ghandruk to pick up some medicine.  I'll then trek as fast as I can to Tadapani where hopefully Nilu will have got to safely with Rita and Emma.  It will be a longish day.

As I write this Nilu Baihini smiles her beautiful smile despite still not feeling great.  She has the spirit of the Gurung mountain people. Mountain people help each other out.

So I'll be away a couple of days. No problem.  I wonder where my phone is...

The honesty of the mountains and an uneasy night thinking about the truth...

The image is of Annapurna South taken less than an hour ago as I write this.  The dawn was completing its rise over this Himalayan giant as I watched from my current nest.  At over 7200m this peak is among several in one of the most impressive mountain ranges on our planet.  It is part of the Annapurna Conservation Area, one of my favourite backyards, a place with global importance as a model for community conservation.

I will be writing much about this region adding to what I have reported already.  This place has an honesty that grounds me.  The sheer power of nature is in your face and can stream through your bones if you let it.

Thank you for all the supportive messages over the last few days.  Yesterday I made a small post on a couple of platforms asking for a small prayer to support two of my team doing some vital work.  The nature of their task I cannot enlarge on for obvious reasons.  WildTiger involves itself in a flow of information regarding issues such as human/wildlife conflict, anti-poaching and illegal wildlife trade.  Because I have to coordinate things from different locations it means time is of the essence and I am not interested in bullshit. I'm only interested in well researched information.

Some information that came yesterday from my team is deeply concerning.  It gave me an uneasy night's sleep.

In these situations I draw on the past and look to the mountains for clarity.  The way forward, the answers as to how to proceed, they becomes clearer when one grounds oneself in the honesty of the mountains...

Best office in the world?

Greetings from my mountain base, Chomrong, Annapurna Himalaya, Nepal.  I arrived yesterday afternoon after a 2.5hr jeep ride and a seven hour walk.

It's fantastic to be here.  I've criss-crossed the country over the last two weeks for lots of necessary blah blah.  I'm not a short person and cramped bus, jeep and aircraft seats left me with a real need to trek hard in the mountains.  Even if I am in a group I don't use porters.  Kiwis carry their own stuff.  Once we realize we're not going to be an All Black (the national rugby team, best in the world) we head for the mountains with big loads on our backs.  I've been doing it for nearly four decades and yesterday's load of six cameras, a full sized laptop, other communication gear plus clothing and equipment for a Himalayan winter, well it hurt on the final uphill push.

But it was great.  Now I am at maybe the best office in the world.  And before I get any blah blah about how "lucky" I am, well, it does require effort, there have been times of real hardship that those close to me know about, but hey, I'm not complaining.  When you believe in something so deeply and commit your life to it surely you're entitled to times like this very moment where I'm sitting outside writing this in maybe the best office in the world.

The internet speed is fantastic so today is a day of catching up.  Tomorrow camera traps go into the field.  Human/wildlife conflict is the issue.  There are people hurting badly from livestock losses.  A better understanding of the wildlife here is the key.  There is much to be done.  Over the last three years I've interviewed many in this area.  In my pocket are three photographs I show.

"Which of these animals did you see?"

The photos are of leopard, snow leopard and tiger ... yes, maybe a mountain tiger, many are sure there is...

Watch this space...