Journey to the Leopard land: Life in Kathmandu valley

Yatra chituwa bhumi ko: kathmandu upatyaka ko jiwan

यात्रा चितुवा भुमिको: काठमाण्डौ उपत्यकाको जीवन

I work at Center for Molecular Dynamics Nepal (CMDN), a conservation genetics lab in Nepal, as bioinformatics specialist since 2015. I have been involved in research works on Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris) at CMDN since then. Through this research, I got introduced into the world of conservation genetics specializing my skills in population genetics through various computational tools mainly STRUCTURE software. This exposure helped me gain the knowledge about how powerful tools like population genetics can be used to study ecology of an apex predator across a landscape they range. Bengal tigers are found across Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) in southern plains of Nepal, where their populations are fragmented mainly into three geographical divisions by various anthropogenic features. The landscape genetics study of the tigers across TAL clearly revealed that these populations have three main genetic subdivisions and a moderate level of gene flow affected by habitat fragmentation. CMDN also collaborates with NGOs, INGOs and researchers from national and international academic institutions to study population genetics of snow leopard (Panthera uncia). Through these involvements, I have got the chance to review various ways of studying these charismatic big cats that play a vital role in their respective ecosystems using tools of molecular ecology.

Big cats have always fascinated me since my childhood. Specifically, the leopard (Panthera pardus; in nepali: Chituwa, चितुवा) has had an important impact from earlier part of my life. I grew up in Kathmandu hearing news about leopard encounters just about 5km distance away from my house. These incidents I believe have left a deep impact in my mind. Now that I am into wildlife research, I started realizing that these particular cats, unlike its two congeneric cousins (tiger and snow leopard), are not given the same priority although they play an equally important role in their ecosystem. Big cats across the globe are being increasingly threatened due to various human activities, and it is our duty to help secure their future for the sake of greater ecosystem health. Being on top of the food chain, big cats help to keep numbers of herbivores in check and thus regulates their population, which in turn will affect the sound distribution of flora in the forests. They are an excellent example of ecosystem engineers. Thus, every big cat is equally important and worth the protection for the benefit of whole ecosystem including all flora and fauna within it.

I realized that I needed to do something for these neglected big cats (leopards) that calls my hometown its home too since ages and generations. I started hiking in the forests of surrounding hills in Kathmandu valley. These hikes played huge role to grow my deep passion towards leopards. It helped me train my skills of tracking various signs that these elusive cats left in their territory. I still remember that moment when I saw my first ever pugmark of a leopard in a small forest patch just about 1 km away from nearest human settlement in the hills of Kathmandu. My enthusiasm and curiosity increased that led me find many more interesting signs of leopards around the valley. I started taking notes and recording these data which helped me develop my field biology skills unknowingly. Conclusively, all of these were helping me to understand leopards better than any written materials would have had, although I regularly and unreservedly refer to various books and literatures for acquiring knowledge about their ecology, behavior and evolutionary enigmas. They are one masterpiece creation of nature that is currently under threat. They need us and it is our duty to secure their future not just for them, but for the mountains that depend upon them.

My boss, Dr Dibesh Karmacharya, came up with an idea of developing a molecular tool that can identify as well as differentiate multiple felid species genetically in single assay. I started working in silico on reference genome sequences of wild felids and soon enough designed a molecular assay to identify and differentiate multiple species of felids using PCR technique. Experiments were carried out to validate these assays in the lab. Along this effort, I started putting up a proposal for Rufford Small Grant in order to test these tools on actual field collected non-invasive genetic samples (scats/poops) and study the wild felids around Kathmandu valley. This would also help me in my passion driven research endeavor to study leopards. Thankfully, the Rufford Foundation generously decided to fund us in our effort to develop such tool and study the wild felids around Kathmandu valley, which would aid most importantly in the field of leopard conservation. I am immensely thankful to the Rufford Foundation for providing such a great source of encouragement. My nice colleagues and good friends played huge role in supporting me throughout this path to help me secure this grant that will now allow me to achieve my goal. By studying these cats in the mountains I have hiked, breathed and lived, I hope to understand about their amazing secretiveness and elusiveness but mainly their evolutionary antiquity that has shaped them into such a magnificent beast ever appeared on the planet.

I fully dedicate this project to these big cats of Kathmandu valley. My journey that started long time ago just attained a kick-start height in the stepping-stone. And I look forward to continue explore the surmounting nature that beholds these enigmatic wild cats and many other walks of life. To the leopard, for the Chituwa. 

Jai Chituwa!

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Canine distemper virus or Carnivore distemper virus? A case of fatal infection in Amur leopard in Russian wilderness

Canine distemper virus (CDV) infection in Amur leopard (Panthera pardus)

A camera-trap image of an Amur leopard in the Russian wilderness.
Photo source: www.altaconservation.org

A first case of fatal CDV infection in a wild Amur leopard (subspecies, Panthera pardus orientalis) was diagnosed based on detection of the viral DNA sequences in brain tissue of the deceased leopard. The case was diagnosed in a female leopard of approximately 2 yr old in the Russian territory of Primorskii Krai during May 2015. It was found close to a road that runs through the Land of the Leopard National Park in Khasanskii district. Upon initial approach, the leopard was showing a lack of fear toward people and vehicles, and quite unconcerned about its surroundings. It was then tranquilized and taken to Alekseevka PRNCO “Tiger Center” for medical attention. Despite continuous medical care and support for more than 2 weeks, its conditions kept on deteriorating and ultimately euthanasia was performed for ethical motive.

A team of scientists at Wildlife Conservation Society, Cornell University and other organizations from Russia, USA and UK jointly led a scientific investigation on the case. The investigation detected clinical symptoms and signs in the brain tissue of the deceased animal which was consistent with advanced neurologic disorder associated with CDV infection. A phylogenetic analysis was performed to study inter-relationship between the leopard CDV strain and those from other regions, which showed that the CDV strain from leopard fell within Arctic-like clade, which also included those from Amur tigers (Panthera tigris altaica) in the Russian Far East and Baikal seals (Phoca sibirica) from Lake Baikal in the southern Siberia.

Phylogenetic tree showing CDV strain from Amur leopard (in arrow) is closely related to Arctic-like clade

that also include strains from Amur tigers and Baikal seals.

Image source: Sulikhan & Gilbert et al. 2017.

Typically, the symptoms of CDV infection in dogs include upper respiratory disease with or without systemic signs such as pyrexia, dermatitis, hyperkeratosis or enteritis. Neurologic signs often follow but are not usually present in all cases. In contrast, the present case in leopard exhibited severe neurologic disease with no any symptoms associated to respiratory or systemic disease. The genetic amplicons of the virus were detected only in brain tissue but not in lung tissue. Scientists thus warrant investigation on pathogenesis of CDV in wild felids having potential important epidemiologic implications.

Amur leopards are the most critically endangered subspecies of leopard, with approximately 60 to 80 individuals left in the wild. CDV infections are normally short-lasting and require spillover quite often to maintain viable circulation in a population. The leopard population being too small, the scientists suggest that the spillover could be occurring from other domestic or wild carnivores such as dogs, raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides), sable (Martes zibellina) and Asian badgers (Meles leucurus) that are more abundant in Primorskii Krai.

The research article has been published on August 25th, 2017 in the online issue of Journal of Wildlife Diseases, Vol. 54, No. 1, January 2018.

Link: http://www.jwildlifedis.org/doi/abs/10.7589/2017-03-065

If you haven't already watched this wonderful photo story from Emmanuel Rondeau
Link: http://www.emmanuelrondeau.com/photographic-stories/far-eastern-leopard-russia

Living with Leopards

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Call of the leopard

When the night falls, the phantom calls !

A small greenery cover on fringes of a suburb of Kathmandu valley, surrounded by agricultural farmlands and moderate sub-urban and rural settlements, where there is frequent movements of local people for their daily livelihood activities (agriculture) as well as attended on regular basis by internal & external tourists for recreational purposes like bird watching, hiking, mountain biking etc., is also frequented by an invincible resident, a leopard. The leopard frequently spray marks urine and scratches on trunk of a tall Schima wallichi (Nepali: chilaune) tree, which is the usual behavior of leopards for territory marking and identification. Local people knows about its presence and they hear it calling/growling every night, while few have even sighted in daylights. According to them, the leopard prowls in the cover of darkness to take stray dogs, which has become their urban prey as their natural prey (barking deer, wild boar, monkeys etc.) are believed to be depleting due to habitat encroachment, fragmentation and illegal hunting [SMCRF 2015]. The leopard thrives despite the change in their habitat unlike their food by changing their menu [Athreya et al. 2014]. As scientifically as its known, leopards cannot change its spots, but it does can change its behavior for it is the most adaptable and versatile of all the great cats.

Spatial location of the tree with scratch mark. [Google Earth Pro v7.1.5]

This is the scenario which is very common today in most of the leopards' global range around the globe, so are the cases in many parts of Nepal too. The coexistence only remains to be one until there is, but not limited to, a conflict. The dynamics of their behavior is just so dynamic across their range, habitat, regions, areas, and individuals. The same species have made far-west Nepal [Karki & Rawat 2014] and bordering Uttarakhand of India [Sondhi et al. 2016] a most probable global hotspot of human-leopard conflict making lives difficult at both the ends. Yet they are equally proving that they can coexist alongside human settlements as urban as Kathmandu valley which is one of the most fastest urbanizing cities in South Asia [WorldBank 2012].

But its just like a matter of the string where the tension is gradually building up. This is a high time for us to give enough attention towards these charismatic spotted big cat to understand their behavior, their ecology, their situation! Maybe the leopard is calling for sake of their plight being unheard of! Maybe they are trying to signal us through their spiritual power, for they are the part of the forest deity, Ban devi, the goddess of the jungle. The forests are there because they are there.

May the people living with leopards always be bestowed with the eternal blessings of the Ban devi for generations and generations to come as have been since the dawn of the time.

P.S. Coming soon is an artwork expressing spiritual connections of people living with leopards under the blessings of Ban devi!

Cited articles:
Athreya V. et al. (2014). A cat among the dogs: leopard Panthera pardus diet in a human-dominated landscape in western Maharashtra, India. Oryx.
Karki JB & Rawat GS. (2014). Human leopard conflict in Nepal: A case study from Baitadi district of Nepal. DNPWC Special Issue-2071.
Sondhi S, Athreya V. et al. (2016). Human attacks by leopards in Uttarakhand, India: an assessment based on perceptions of affected people and stakeholders. A technical report submitted to the Uttarakhand Forest Department.
SMCRF (2015). Biodiversity survey of Chandragiri Hill, Kathmandu, Nepal. Small Mammals Conservation and Research Fund.
WorldBank (2012). Urban Growth and Spatial Transition in Nepal: An Initial Assessment.

PHOTOS:

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Leopards in Chandragiri landscape

Phantom of Kathmandu

Chandragiri landscape is a hilly range covering most of south-western ridge of Kathmandu valley. The hills are preserved by community forestry management, and are full of dense lush green hill forests. This landscape elevates from around 1500m asl to above 2500m asl with varying degree of vegetation types along the altitudinal gradients. It is an important biodiversity area, but not much of it has been studied in detail.

Leopards are largest wild carnivore and on top of the food chain in this landscape. They share their habitat throughout the landscape with humans along villages mostly in fringes and base of the hill range. Barking deer, wild boar, rhesus and assamese macaques could form the main prey base for leopards in this landscape. Stray or feral dogs roaming freely along the human settlements could also form one of the main urban prey options for leopards. Other sympatric carnivores include leopard cat, jungle cat, large indian civet, masked palm civet and golden jackal.

The indirect signs like scats, pugmarks and scratch marks of leopards are observed very often in the jungles of this landscape.  One day it so happened that I even felt a very fresh yet pungent smell of a spray or urine mark of leopard while walking a trail under canopy of the jungle. I felt the leopard could have been very near but never did I see it then. There are cases of leopards in conflict with people in and around the human settlements in the landscape. Settlement areas like Kirtipur, Matatirtha, Pharping, Chalnakhel are some of the regions around this landscape where leopards sneak into, mainly in search of domestic prey such as goats, stray cattle, pet animals and stray dogs.  Since Jan 2016 to Feb 2017, two leopards have been caught at two different occasions from local houses in Kirtipur and were released elsewhere in natural habitat; one leopard got killed in a man leopard conflict in Matatirtha; while another leopard died of an unidentified cause in Chalnakhel. This makes at least four leopards to have been removed from the area in just about one year time. We don’t know how many leopards still prowl this landscape, but it may not be long that they get to survive many generations to come.

PHOTOS:

FILE PHOTOS:

leopard captured after tranquilized in Kirtipur (Jan 2016).

Photo source: himalayan times

leopard rescued after tranquilized by Radha K Gharti, senior 

vet of zoo and kathmandu's professional leopard catcher

(Feb 2017).  Photo source: nepalireporter.com

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Phantom of mighty Hills

HILLS STALKER

My hometown Kathmandu (valley) is surrounded all around by massive structures of gigantic hills with varying degree of dense jungles within them. Being an avid hiker, I regularly go hiking into these hills over weekends. One such beast prowls the terrain that has got reputation of a fearsome phantom of these mighty hills. My quest to follow trail of the phantom has led me into understanding so much about the magnificence of these beasts. And more I follow them, the more I get the feeling of getting closer to them which excites me so much but it just remains very short-lived. The phantom always succeeds in what it does best, disappearing into the midst of clouds through the densest and hardest terrain of the globe. The beast is so enigmatic and elusive that you seldom even get to feel their shadow. But my commit to track down these evanescence has led me train my sixth sense that is now able to grab their signatures in one of least thought areas. These areas where you would have never expected them to have been there. Yes these beast prowls the vicinity of the urban region, yet their presence are never ever felt or detected and it is the product of that millions of years of evolution that they are so good at doing. We need not fear the presence of the spiritual beast, rather the time has come for us to live alongside the phantom for CO-EXISTENCE is not impossible and is always better than conflict. Leopards were and are in the spirit of these majestic hills, but whether they will be in coming future is all upon us. They are dying, and yet are given least attention (click to know more). They need us.

My quest began on early 2015 after I returned from Finland finishing my masters, but started to detect these signatures only by late 2015 (the elusiveness!!!). Here are some of the trails of Leopards Panthera pardus of Kathmandu valley:

PUGMARKS:

CLAW MARKS:

 

SCATS OF LEOPARD:

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Chandragiri Range Landscape

Chandragiri Range Landscape

Chandragiri Range on south-west of Kathmandu valley as seen from the valley

INTRODUCTION

The Chandragiri range landscape is a dense mountain range forest, very rich in biodiversity, lying within the greater Mahabharata range. The diverse flora and fauna of this huge landscape has not been fully accessed yet. Very few studies have been conducted in some parts of this forest area.

This landscape forms the Chandragiri range that covers south-west ridge of Kathmandu valley from Thankot (west) up to Bagmati river basin (south-east) stretching distance over 12 km. The formations expand beyond the valley ridge into westward up to Bajrabarahi VDC. This huge landscape has the elevation profile ranging from around 1400 to over 2500 m asl (above sea level) comprising of some popular hills Chandragiri, Bhasmasur and Champadevi. The base of the range facing the valley bear outskirt settlement villages like Thankot, Matatirtha, Macchegaun and Chalnakhel. While on the other side of the hills, there are villages Chitlang, Fakhel and Pharping. The western crest of this range also forms the border between Kathmandu and Makwanpur districts. Chitlang village falls in Makwanpur, the oldest en route to Kathmandu from southern Nepal used to pass through this village before any highways were constructed.

RELIGIOUS, CULTURAL AND TOURISTIC IMPORTANCE

The hills in this range entails religiously significant places of Buddhism and Hinduism importance such as shrines, temples and stupas inviting visitors sparsely throughout the year. The place also forms a popular hiking area for mainly internal tourists. On the first day of Nepali New Year (1st Baishak), all the hills around the valley are visited by people mainly as religious beliefs and for recreational purposes. The Champadevi hill (Hindu Goddess shrine) and Chandragiri hill (Bhaleshwor temple) are also among the main charms during this day for the inhabitants around the valley. A recently started cable car service in the Chandragiri hill (Sep 2016) has been attracting many people from the valley. The cable car line connects Thankot Godam to Bhaleshwor temple (Lord Shiva) in duration of just about 8 minutes. The same travel would take 3-4 hours for hikers and 1.5 hours for vehicles. There is an established hiking route expanding across the ridge line of this range from Pharping to Chandragiri hill via Champadevi and Bhasmasur hills. At the eastern edge, there lies Hattiban Resort which is a recreational resort/hotel near Kathmandu that attracts both internal and external tourists. Other religious sites that lie on different edges of this landscape are Matatirtha, Macchenarayan and Sheshnarayan temples.

BIODIVERSITY

The hills around the Kathmandu valley have similar type of vegetation while differing in the landscape a bit at different places. The Chandragiri hill is one of the steepest hills with dense forests from the bottom of the ranges, and slowly opening up the canopy into shrub-covered meadow-like terrains towards higher altitudes. Mostly, the hilltops and southern slopes are covered with Oak and Blue-pine forests. The northern slopes facing the valley are mainly dominated by broadleaved sub-tropical forests of mostly Schima and Castanopsis along with some Chir pines. This dense vegetation and steep slope might be quite challenging to travellers. While the local people depend on the forest resources for their livelihood, their activities in the forest can be rarely observed. This dense habitat supports a wide range of wild flora and fauna. A biodiversity survey by a conservation-driven organization done at seven adjoining community forests around Thankot Godam area of this forest region have recorded 137 species of birds, 13 species of mammals, 9 species of herpeto-fauna and 53 species of butterfly (SMCRF 2015). They have documented three globally, five nationally threatened and two protected mammal species of Nepal. The Critically Endangered Chinese Pangolin was camera-trapped along with their burrows observed throughout the hills. Among the small carnivores camera-trapped were Yellow-throated Marten (Martes flavigula), Large Indian Civet (Viverra zibetha), Masked Palm Civet (Paguma larvata) and Leopard Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis). The forests also serve as perfect habitat for variety of rodent species, bats, macaques, barking deer and wild boars providing ample choices of wild prey for the small as well as large predators such as Leopards (Panthera pardus). Similarly, an ornithological survey around forests of Chitlang village by Nepal Bird Watching Club recorded 160 species of birds (NBWC 1992). There are very few sources of natural spring water on this landscape, mostly on the southern slopes. You can come across small streams along Pharping highway. There is a river in Chitlang flowing from Chadragiri hill and finally draining into Indrasarowar lake. And, there are some natural ponds in religious places Sheshnarayan, Macchenarayan and Matatirtha. To entomologists, this place could serve as a haven for studying invertebrates. The whole forest comes alive with ear-wrenching crackling sounds of cicadas. A variety of grasshoppers can be observed throughout the walking trails in the deep jungle. Other invertebrates like different types of spiders, beetles, millipedes, butterflies, caterpillars, dragonflies were regularly observed during my hiking trips, and not to mention the blood-sucking raining leeches during monsoon.

Leopards in News

The forests surrounding the valley are prime habitat for leopards, yet there has not been much study dedicated to them here. These large cats are being encountered in different outskirts as well as sub-urbs of the city more often in recent times, they are usually thought to have come for dogs that are frequently available in the city. Some areas nearby the Chandragiri range forests where there have been cases of leopard conflicts or sightings are Chalnakhel, Chovar, Kirtipur, Matatirtha all of which lie on bases of the landscape. In January 2016, a large male leopard was captured by zoo officials from a house in Kirtipur. The big cat injured one man but no any fatalities occurred. Later in September 2016, a leopard straying into Matatirtha had to be killed by locals while they were trying their best to chase it into the direction of the forest. Just a month later, a female with four cubs came in same area, the locals succeeded in chasing them into the forest this time. Based on perrs comm with eye witnesses, they’ve sighted leopards on the Pharphing highway, one near Chovar and other near Chhaimale. These cats seem to be doing quite well in such disturbed habitat, however the future of these leopards will hugely rely on our willingness to co-exist with them.

ADVENTURE

Being an avid hiker and having deep connection with hills surrounding the Kathmandu valley, my quest to explore the wilderness has taken me about 8 times until today at this forest area. During my first hike to the Chandragiri hill, the beauty and the mighty hilly forests of this area emotionally attained my heart that made me return to this forests over and over again. The mesmerizing sounds of the forest wind and the lovely songs of variety of exotic birds make you feel like you’re into a very heavenly place. There are lot of walking trails throughout the forest, each one challenging at its own level. Exploring any wilderness on foot lets you observe any wildlife or indirect signs of wildlife directly. As you start reaching higher altitude, you would most likely come across groups of monkeys, and if very lucky, you will hear calls of barking deer. Along the main road trail from Thankot Godam in early mornings, the foot-prints of animals are observed as later in the day, local vehicle services to Chitlang village would have overridden most of the nocturnal signs. The narrow trails through the dense vegetation of the forest are the most adventurous ones, and can be really challenging during monsoon. These trails are also paths taken by wildlife mostly as you can come across scats of carnivores most often here as compared to the vehicle roads. Once you’ve reached the top, you can travel along the ridges of this hilly range throughout. The view of the mighty landscape can make you feel very minute. During clear weather, the Himalayas at north will smile at you all the way making you forget all physical misery of the steep hike. It is guaranteed that the trek into this mountain forest will be one of the most memorable trips for anyone.

During one of the hikes, I with my brother, Sulav, happen to take a shortcut trail which only appeared to look like one until we realized it was actually a landslide-inflicted cliff. We had reached a point where we didn’t have choice of returning as the cliff had already gotten very steep and we continued ascending. This was the day we will never forget as lot of things happened during this adventure. We were actually doing a natural rock-climbing without any gears. Every hand-holds, foot-holds we take was like an added life support to our unsuspecting journey. As we climbed, we could see people and vehicles on the main road very far on the edge of another hill, we shouted for help, but nobody could hear or even see us we supposed. Finally when we started hearing sounds of vehicles on road, there was a vertical rock which we had to climb in order to get to the road trail. Sulav got stucked at first but with his strong struggle to get away with the hurdle and not fall off the cliff, he managed to pass that most difficult hurdle, while I couldn’t gather courage to try that ascend. I was looking for any other options, while Sulav was constantly trying to get help from any passers-by. He finally found a way and guided me to it, but to reach there, it was very challenging. So challenging that I lost my confidence and even dropped my backpack with binoculars, digital camera and other items. Thankfully, I didn’t drop myself down the over-hundred foot drop. We also managed to find my backpack by climbing again from below, but lost the camera as it got thrown away during the fall, and the binoculars damaged. I always feel the mightiness of the mountains during the travels, but this was the day I really sensed it first-hand. These mountains are really the monumental structures of nature and the wildlife in those mountains are the living example of how supernatural they are. These vital gifts of nature should be always protected and conserved for the future of the mountains and for the future of people that depend on these mountains.

REFERENCES

1992 Nepal Bird Watching Club (NBWC). Ornithological survey of Chitlang forest.
2015 Small Mammals Conservation Research Foundation (SMCRF). Biodiversity of Chandragiri Hill, Kathmandu, Nepal.

PHOTO FEATURE

Nagarjun hill forest on 20Feb2015

Early in the morning, me and my dad left off in public vehicles to Balaju bypass where we would meet my cousin brother Akhilesh Manandhar. My dad has always been the source of inspiration to me for making me walk, walk and walk. Hence, accompanied by him and brother, we went for hiking into the Nagarjun forest sector of the Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park. The Shivapuri and Nagarjun sectors of the National Park are not physically connected due to villages and a highway that runs through these patches, and moreover the Nagarjun forest was made part of the National Park later only much recently. There after we reached the main entrance gate, and paid the entrance fee of Rs. 56.5 each, we ascended for hiking through the trail. As soon as we enter the forest or in fact from the vicinity of the park itself, the sounds of the forests makes us feel so live and charming and brings adrenaline into our blood for the exciting hike.

Just in a short while, we were met after by a local man, who sells candles up in the monastery. He told us about rhododendron high up in the hills, and to hide them in your bags so that the army wouldn't find out about. We asked him along about any leopard sightings he has had, he was fast, he said yes he has had encounter quite often, but the big cat either runs or goes his own way. Being a regular person, he shortly paced and outran us. We kept on our own speed. As my brother and dad were climbing the stone-stairs paved along the trail, I was constantly trying to explore any signs of wildlife along the path we took upon. Shortly after, we thought of taking a shortcut way from outside the trail, as there we saw a small unused path aside of the main trail. Thinking that it would meet with the main trail later in the way, we went through it. It was quite steep-path, a natural path that would normally serve as a highly for any local wildlife specially mammals. As we went forward, we soon discovered that its taking us to a different direction from the main trail and we would have to cut through into the forests in order to meet to the main trail again. There was no point of returning as we had traveled long way, then as we were trying to find a way out, there I noticed some feathers lying on the ground. As I inspected, it seemed it was of a whole bird that must have been the prey of some animal. The feathers were all over lying concentrated in one region mostly, I felt it was a good sign of a presence of a mammalian predator. The color of the feather was dark black to blueish black, looked kind of shiny. I thought for a second, it should be a clouded leopard's kill. That was my mind's first thought as it is so much enthusiastic about clouded leopards. But most probably, it could be from other mammalian predators such as leopard cats, civets, martens, jackals, jungle cats, and who knows could also be that of a leopards. Anyways that was a nice breakfast or last night supper for some elusive wild predator of the jungle. Then we moved forward and then took an uphill turn through steeps to meet the main trail. And yes we were almost lost as we had been moving in a wrong direction through that out-trail. We met some army persons after we got into the trail and they asked us why we were coming out from there, and they showed us the hiking path to take again. And there we went again climbing the stone-paved stairs but now the man-made pavements were slowly mixing with the natural pavements of blocks of medium-sized stones to rocky and muddy hilly paths.

After walking for some time, we reached an open ground that much of looked like a view-point as we could see much of the kathmandu valley from there. As we were viewing down into the valley, Akhilesh detected a movement in a tree just about 300 m away down the hill, and pointed it to me. I too saw a glimpse of movements there but could not really figure out what it was as it vanished into the forest before we could sight it. But whatever it was, it definitely was not a human activity, the tree was tall and the ground it was standing was very steep. Most probably, it should have been some monkeys, if not at least other medium mammals. And from there as we looked above, our destination - the Jamacho gumba was still so high above the clouds. After resting in the terrain for some time, we headed uphill through the dense forests again. Again with the sounds of birds all around and the shades of trees along the paths made us not even realize that we had already reached the summit, it felt so short way as we had seen the monastery from the view point to be still so far. But we have reached the place now. Then we started to eat what we brought with us, saw the valley and took photographs from the view tower there. Then we lit candles in the stupa there and prayed. After sometime, we had to move on most probably the same way we came from. But we thought of going still ahead after we have come so far, why not going just another high-point we were seeing from there. My dad was insisting to go back, but we made him convince as we two had majority. So there was again another quite unused path, and we moved ahead, there were the flags of buddhists prayers lying along the way from the trees and branches. We reached the point and there was a old army barrack which had been destroyed my maoist during the decade long people's war. It was vacant and most probably been serving as a refuge to the wildlife of the area. After spending some time there, we headed back towards the end of our journey. We passed the stupa and downhill through the forest, there again with the feel of nature and live jungle all around us. As we kept on going down, I stopped at a point with an excitement in me. I saw a poop in the way, I got excited as it was looking pretty fresh, another indirect wildlife sign. My dad and brother were joking as I was inspecting so curiously into the scat, and then my turn I said that's of a leopard and the leopard might have just walked by here about an hour or less ago. But it was not of a carnivore indeed, must be of a primate, thats most probably monkey. Then we headed downwards and reached the open field again. We sat to eat some fruits that was left with us. After finishing it, we started moving quite faster this time, it was starting to get dark slowly, we had to move fast. Then reached pass the army post we had encountered on the way. And then finally the main entrance/exit gate after about half an hour walk from there.

This way, our journey came to an end. What a wonderful hike it was, into the jungles full of wildlife, birds, nature and above all the exciting feel of the real wilderness at its best. Due to weather conditions, we could not see the Himalayas, but we did got the feel of the wind from the mountains flowing through our veins throughout the journey. It was a very splendid moment I spent my day on. I pray this pristine natural heritages of this wonderful country be always preserved through generations and generations to come. May all the wildlife living in it could take the full enjoyment of the rich nature here for decades and centuries and we humans to live in harmony with all these beautiful creations of nature. I plan to make this exploration again and again in coming days to get the feel of wilderness away from the busy urban kathmandu life.

Leopards of the higher Canopy

Cats from the clouds

Right from the beginning of evolution of Felidae, it is believed that the cats have gradually evolved from a life style that best suits them in the trees. With the ever occurring climate change, arose the grasslands and less-covered forests, when about cats started evolving into the grounds, while still possessing the instinct of climbing. Prehistoric extinct bigcats such as Smilodons and other saber and non-sabertooths, and today's bigcats lions and tigers have become fully or semi-land dwelling ones. While leopards and jaguars still are very much capable of ruling the third dimension of the jungle. There remains another bigcat even more agile in the trees, as well as have also evolved enough to be adaptable in further dimensions of forests. The cat I am describing here actually comes from the clouds, which is why they are also called as Clouded Leopard. Basically, cloud like spotted patterns in their beautiful fur have given them the name, but it has also very much coincided with the interpretation of the cats from high above the clouds.

Very highly arboreal among all Pantherinae cats, clouded leopards genus comprise of two species. The mainland clouded leopard Neofelis nebulosa distributed along the mainland south-east asia into as west as himalayan foothills of mid-western Nepal in south asia, while Sundaland clouded leopard Neofelis dairdi are distributed in the islands of Sumatra and Borneo in south-east asia. These cats are meduim-sized, although being much closer to Panthera bigcats than to any other Felinae small cats species. Highly believed to be dependent on dense rainforests, they have already gone extinct from Taiwan in last decade. Their habitat is very much fragmented throughout their range. Their main threat being the destruction of their habitat, where the south-east asian regions are facing today's fastest deforestation rate. Besides, due to their wonderful patterns, the demand for their pelt in the south-east asian illegal trade have worsened their status further, making them one of most illegally poached wildcat species in the region. 

Their elusive and very secretive nature have made most scientists almost impossible to study their ecology and behaviour in their natural environment, so most knowledge about the cat comes from studies in captive facilities. Very agile and skilled climber, they are believed to spent most of their time in the canopy regions of forests. Their prey ranges from small mammals to birds and to even some small deer species, monkeys, wild boars etc. So if the forest has a very healthy population of all these animals and less human disturbances, these cats are believed to be found in higher densities. Clouded leopards can hunt animals in the trees, stalking, chasing, as well as jumping through the trees. Their hind ankle joint can rotate horizontally allowing them to use their hind paws to grab the branches while descending or hanging upside down. They are the only bigcats which can descend headfirst efficiently like a squirrel, and move through fragile branches of lianas in the canopy of the forests hanging upside down as efficiently as monkeys. Like real leopards, they carry their prey high up in the tree to feed upon in order to avoid any disturbances from other competitors of the forests.

Very rarely able to see one in the wild, there is not a single documentary of the bigcat filmed in the real wild settings. A documentary Return of the clouded leopards attempts to document a rewilding measure of two orphaned clouded leopard cubs in a north-eastern part of India near Bhutanese border. My opinion on the sightings of the cat is somewhat in similar interpretations like that of the ghost cat from the mountains, the snow leopards. Snow leopards are regarded very elusive and majestic ones, one should be really lucky to see one in the wild. Almost same is for clouded leopards, maybe very few people have got the chance to see one in the wild. Here I report some sighting footages posted on youtube by such lucky person, Richard Howard. And I really praise them for sharing the rarest footage with us. The footage as mentioned in the description is captured in the forests of Borneo, so its the Sundaland clouded leopard species. The leopard is seen moving through branches high up in the tree, and also possibly carrying a monkey kill on its powerful jaws as it jumps from the branches to branches. It is in fact a very wonderful footage even if not in a very good quality, but very much worth it. 

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