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| Sunday, 27 July 2003 |
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In love with the leopard by Karel Roberts Ratnaweera Some decades ago, a group of schoolboys from leading Colombo schools had developed a passion for leopards, just as schoolboys have 'crushes' on various people and things.
It would be easy for sceptics and their ilk to pour scorn on such a venture as being part of a wildlife 'industry' that is only for the rich and the famous; But the fact is that this group of people is no less dedicated to their chosen cause than any other group of individuals is to their's, whatever those causes may be. The 'For the Leopard Trust' (FTL Trust), was registered last year with its fundamental objective being the preservation and conservation of the Sri Lankan leopard in its natural habitat. All funds from the sale of this stunning book will go towards the stated objective and will include but not be limited to public awareness programmes, conferences and seminars. A note from the Trustees says that if not for the two well-written chapters on Leopard Ecology and Genetics by Prof. Charles Santiapillai, Dr. Sriynie Miththapala and Dr. John Seidensticker which they say gives the book scientific credibility, 'For the Leopard' would be the usual coffee table publication. Of course it is very glossy, printed on luxury paper and full of the most incredible photographs of leopards in their natural habitat that anyone can ever hope to see. It was a stimulating press briefing with local and foreign journalists asking all sorts of questions, because most of us scribes become sceptical by virtue of the jobs we do, the people we meet, the things we cover and assurances of credibility that sometimes fall flat. The nitty-gritty of the conference covered such serious issues as schools being made aware of the importance of these animals - 'these' animals because it was the wild cats that made the whole morning possible, after all. There was an obligation to improve the infrastructure, to tackle such problems as poaching. However, it was imperative that improvement of the infrastructure should not be done at the expense of the environment or animals. Correcting the balance between wild life tourism,improvement of eco tourism were other important concerns. Lack of public awareness combined with too little research was also a drawback. Today there is a huge domestic market to view wildlife in its natural habitat. Gone are the days when only the rich went in super jeeps to the game parks for the weekends to stay at the jungle bungalows and sip their sundowners on verandahs, looking down sandy, white paths leading into the wilds, hoping to 'see something' before dinner. The answer that there is a large local market for wildlife was in answer to a journalist's question as to how 'ordinary' people have the resources to go into the game reserves to view wildlife. Several members of the panel spoke almost at once to say that today, large groups of people from the rural as well as urban areas hire buses and other vehicles and visit the parks in holiday mood; it was old thinking that these categories of local wildlife tourists had no way of visiting the game reserves which some people still believe are the prerogative of the well-to-do. But what of the cat itself? Statistics are hard to come by, but existing figures show that there are around forty leopards in Yala Block One, Jehan Kumara said. This figure includes cubs. No studies have been made to date - it is, Jehan said, extremely difficult to make such studies as there are numerous considerations in such findings - but there is evidence that there are leopards in Trincomalee and certainly in such cold climes as Horton Plains and Hantane. He said that it is quite possible that leopards may also be roaming other up-country areas. It is said that a black leopard lives in the Sinharajah forest reserve apart from the more commonly-coloured ones. But visitors to these areas should not have any serious fears; the world's strongest predator attacks humans only very rarely, Kumara said. In the most unlikely event of someone finding himself on foot in the Yala Sanctuary (alighting from your vehicle is strictly prohibited), a leopard on sensing the presence of a human, would 99 times out of hundred, quietly move away. But - there was a but - if you were on foot in close proximity to leopards, without knowing it, where there were also cubs being protected, it could present a problem. Photographing leopards is extremely difficult, Jehan Kumara said. You never know where they are going to be and it could mean having to wait for hours on end to get one. Also, leopards, unlike tigers, dislike water and would only be found near water sources for drinking purposes; they do not plunge into pools to keep cool in hot weather as tigers in India do, Kumara said. 'Leopard Hunters,' a BBC film shot in Yala, has been aired in the United Kingdom and the United States. The Rupavahini Corporation hope to telecast the film several times. 'For the Leopard' has reference to a sub species of Sri Lankan leopard in its second chapter. There are some differences between this wildest of cats in Sri Lanka and its counterparts in other countries, one being that our leopards are believed to be darker in colour. Leopards will climb trees to pursue their prey unlike the tiger. All proceeds from this magnificent book which is exclusively distributed at Odel Unlimited will be ploughed back to the Publisher - 'For the Leopard Trust.' The Sri Lankan leopard is fast becoming extinct, which is the bad news in the midst of the exotic beauty of the book and the euphoria that gets you as you leaf through it. But the jungles shimmer with optimism for the leopard's future through what increasing numbers of passionately concerned human beings are determined to do for it.The book is dedicated to the late Harith Perera. |
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| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
It was exactly that - a crush we all had on this animal, 'Jehan Kumara,
a spokesman for the Trustees 'For the Leopard' Harith Perera Trust for the
conservation of the leopard and other wild cats of Sri Lanka, said when I
talked to him on the 'phone for some details further to the recent press
conference and launching of the prestigious book 'For the Leopard' at Odel
Unlimited. Associated with Jehan at the briefing were Leesha Captain,
whose late husband Harith Perera's idea it was to have such a book
compiled, Rukshan Jayewardene, Ravi Samarasinha, Ajith Fernando and Viji
Jayewardene and Otara Chandiram who voices Odel's commitment to
environmental protection, our hostess for the morning, as well.
