King Henry's First Witnessed Hunt

It was a memory day on Jan 27th. I witnessed King Henry's first witnessed hunt! It was 6am in the morning and I heard distressed bird cries coming out of Madonna's camp. I could not see anything from the side of the fence I was, so I rushed over to the other side. At the far end of the camp along the fence, I saw King Henry plucking a feather off something though my camera lense. Then I saw some thing ran off and KingHenry went after it. Then I lost sight of him.

Some time later, I saw a little cub in the branches under the big tree next to where I saw them first time and saw something was dangling off King Henry's mouth. I tried to get closer, but in an effort to protect his hard earned bread, KingHenry started eating the birdlike creature, with noises of bone being crunched. I was so excited. I hd witnessed Madonna's cub's first witnessed hunt in the wild! I feel like congratulating King Henry, but he took it in such a stride that he just wandered off as a matter of factly, as if he does this everyday. Maybe he does!

It was overcast and cool next morning and all the tigers were cheering and played happily in the wind. A whole Springbok carcass was given to Madonna and her cubs as a normal feeding process. The carcass was laid down for Madonna inside the small feeding camp, from where she normally would carry it back into her camp for her cubs. To our surprise today, instead of carrying it all the way back, she left the carcass just at wrong side of the gate, where her eager and curious son King Henry nearly made a quantum leap into this fearful unknown camp to get the food. Madonna was teaching her babies to get the carcass on their own!

King Henry's full attention was dedicated to getting his mouth on the right place to be able to drag the carcass across. He gave up after a few minutes of unsuccessful tries, and joined his mother and sister in the trees to play. But his heart was still on the carcass, so he went back to his food again after a few minutes. A king he must be! The all powerful little cub, to my great surprise and admiration, eventually managed to drag the 30 kg carcass across! What an achievement that was! I am so proud of her and I am sure so was his mother!

However, opening the carcass to eat was another challenge and Madonna was determined to let her baby learn this on his own. King Henry tried and tried, standing at one stage with all fours on top of it but sprinbok skin was tough leather. King Henry ended up only eating the eyes of it. He then joined the play between his little sister and mum and they dashed off merrily into the trees.

We know that tigers never learned from their teachers -the small cats- how to climb but our cubs proved the traditional wisdom wrong! Because soon after, I saw King Henry high up in the big tree under which they were first seen by me, with Princess at the lower side of the tree. For a moment, I though King Henry was not able to come down the tree as he tried every position to find a way down. I was worried he might make a desperate attempt by jumping down, injuring himself. Again I underestimated his intelligence. King Henry figured it out quickly and with head down, he climbed down the tree safely.

Having given her son enough opportunity to try, Madonna eventually came and dragged the carcass into the ditch..

Jen-B & Bros Enter 40 Hectare Camp

Jan 30th came. We were about to let Cathay's cubs go into a new stage in life, by introducing them into the 40 hectare camp, where they would learn to hunt, as there are still 6 blesbok left from the hunts made by their parents in the last few months. But first we must pull their parents back from 40 hectare into the Tree camp, where Hulooo used to live. To get to the tree camp, Cathay and TW have to pass through the 9 hectare camp. The afternoon before, we opened the connecting gate to the 9 hectare. Haven't been here for a while, Cathay and TW refused to go further, sniffing around the new fence under construction to establish a new camp within the 9 hectare camp. They must be wondering what this new fence was for, since it did not form any enclosure of any kind.

After a while, I decided to let them stay in the 9 hectare to explore for the night, confident they would be hungry and ready to be enticed into the Tree camp. Indeed, it was peacemeal to do so in the morning of Jan 30th.

Afterwards, we let JenB and Coco out into the 9 hectare camp, leaving Hulooo in the quarantine camp for the moment. The two were having a field day, chasing one another merrily in the grass and stalking one another in the bush and trees. They were also interested in their parents, thus refusing to go any further. Eventually, we tried using the food truck to seduce them, but even food could not compete with the new smells of the 9 hectare camp, even less the appeal of their mother and father. They ended up back in the area next to the Tree Camp, watching their parents with great interests. As the sun shone on with great intensity and it was time for day dreams,I left the young tigers there for the day.

Afternoon was also no success to get them into the 40 hectare camp. As we tried ways to lead them on the right track, the young tigers must feel as if we were playing a game of hide and seek, and ended up stalking me and our staff. It was certainly great fun but no objectives achieved. I also discovered that they were scared of the pool of water collected in the little stream that ran through our camps, although they had submerged them in water trough before. They snarled at the dark water. Was it because the water looked too dark and they feared the unknown??

I started to through little stones into the water. As the circles from the fallen stone expanded, they became very interested. I also asked our team to cut some pieces of meat to throw into the water. The cubs seemed more interested. Coco at one stage got into the edge of the water, and must have liked the feel of the coolness of water, as he searched for the piece of meat. I start to strategize more ways to get them into water in the near future.As the sun started to set, we left them to explore the 9 hectare camp for the night.

Next morning, we embarked our endeavor to get the cubs into the 40 hectare again. As Jen-B and Coco showed some sign of hunger, Cleve tied a blesbok to the truck and the cubs followed, stopping to explore the environment from time to time. It was not too much of an effort to get them enter into the half hectare camp connecting to 40 hectare. They have never been here before so the millions of new smells attracted them to explore. Eventually, we left the carcass on the 40 hectare side of the fence that they could see from the half hectare and let them make their moves at their own pace. 20 minutes later when Cleve went back to check, both Jen-B and Coco had successfully entered into the 40 hectare camp!

In the afternoon heat, when we saw them again, the two brothers were walking along the fence, probably exploring, but probably also looking for Hulooo. When we got closer, I saw Jen-B's belly was wet, which meant he might have gotten into the river somewhat. However, when he tried to cross the river, I saw that he was still very cautious, tiptoeing as if afraid to touch the river water. Clearly, they need Hulooo to show them that the darkish looking stream contains the tiger's favorite essence of water.

It was time to get Hulooo into the 40 hectare camp. Being very bonded with humans, it was an easy job to get Hulooo through the 9 hectare camp to the half hectare camp. He simply followed us along his side of the fence, rolling and jumping in the long grass, tree-climbing and running wild merrily, along the way. When he reached the half hectare camp, however, he was also fascinated by the thousands of fresh smells of various grasses and sniffed around and around.

Jen-B and Coco came over to greet their elder brother, which prompted Hulooo to make a speedier move into the 40 hectare camp. Hulooo, despite a slight hesitation, jumped into it and joined his brothers. It was as if they hadn't seen each other for a long time. They embarked on a game of merry chase and disappeared into the trees.

Feb 1, 2009 Laohu Valley Reserve

New Year at Laohu Valley

My little Sisi cat was waiting for me when I arrived at Villa TigerLi around 7pm, on 22nd, and after a full day on the road from London. She showered me with welcoming affection throughout the night-rubbing her pretty little head against my cheeks & my hands, and leaning her lithe body against mine. 2008 was not a very good year for me, except that the tigers bred extremely well. I was looking forward to 2009, the year of the bullish Ox.

Our new Project Manager Cleve and his wife Bernice came on board a couple of weeks ago. Cleve worked in conservation for 30 years, including Kruger National Park. He will be in charge of our tiger project and our reserve management. Like his predecessors, he has not worked with tigers before, but is not shy to taking up the challenge.

Madonna's babies are just adorable! To my surprise, King Henry came very close to the fence checking me and my guests out, and then snarled at us. The next morning, when we were filming him, again he nosed up to about two meters from me where I was squatting down, and giving me a little snarl before turning away. I am very pleased with his progress of getting food out of the cage. We want our cubs to be wild and able to hunt on their own, but not too scared of humans so they get stressed in case we need to intervene for treatment, etc. Princess is still very shy, much like her mother when Madonna was little. She would run away to hide as soon as she hears noises from us, although her curiosity made her also nosing around us a little.

King Henry impressed me a great deal. He seems to take everything in stride and behaves like a little wise body, reminding me of Oliver Twist. Jen-B and Coco have overcome their shyness a great deal and become a lot more confident. Coco even dared to push his steps towards me when I was taking his photos. Hulooo has grown into a big boy, but still thinks he is a baby whenever humans are present, whining for attention and affection. As long as there are humans around, he would dedicate all his attention to us. Nevertheless, he and his brothers now live in complete harmony and it is such a delight to see them playing beautifully together!

Cathay has still not come into eostrus after five months of separation from her cubs and this is very strange. Zoo experts told me that once the mother is separated from their cubs, she would come into oestrus within two to three months. In the wild it is harder to observe the mating, pregnancy and births so it is difficult to tell the cycle. This means that no one can tell us why Cathay has still not come into eostrus after having been separated from her cubs. I could only presume this may be due to the fact that she could still sense the presence of her cubs in the vicinity, even if she could not see them.

The weather on Chinese New Year Day (Jan 26th) was cool and overcast, threatening with rain. Sadly there were only a few rain drops through the day. This was ideal hunting weather so I went to observe Cathay and TW. Since a few months ago, they have been put into the 40 hectare camp off and on, and they have reduced the number of blesbok from 20 to the current 6. At the beginning, they were found to have made 5 kills in just a few days. Now that the prey density has become very low, it has become very difficult to make further kills. Yet, I was hopeful based on past experiences.

I was disappointed, however, to find both tigers like sculpture guards at the gate, waiting for us, surely for food. I had to apply some strategies to lure them away so my and my staff's vehicles can enter the camp. Cathay and TW simply followed our trucks like shadows. I drove across the open grassland and the remaining 6 blesbok got skittish, starting to run. Cathay, raising her head from blind following, suddenly saw the prey and in a split second, her whole demeanour changed into hunting mode -body into stalking position, heading towards the antelopes. In the distance, I saw her galloping, trotting and walking amid the long grass. The scene was simply spectacular.

While Cathay continued for nearly two hours with her hunt, TigerWoods attempted only a couple of times and then laid down. In the end, Cathay was exhausted and took her frustration of a failed hunt out at TW and lashed out at him with all fours. TW did not want to submit and fought back, so the two had a Tango dance under the golden sunlight, in the long and lush grassland. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

Quan Li

All That Excitement at Laohu

Sept 15, 2008 Another Step

Back to Laohu Valley again and so many things have to be completed in next few weeks. I always miss the tigers when I am away so I looked forward to seeing them. I got a surprise this morning, for good and for bad! Madonna was pacing with a cub in her mouth along 9 hectare fence this morning, almost as if showing off to Cathay who was watching her lying in the grass on the other side of the fence. Every time Madonna passed Cathay, she would chuff at Cathay - the cub in her mouth did not seem to stop her. I was dead worried. Another cub was crying in the grass too. I told Vivienne to get Cathay and TW into the 40 hectare today so Cathay stops being a nuisance to Madonna.

Meanwhile, it looks like our experiment of putting Hulooo with his younger brothers has been a complete success. The three of them were now living together, playing together and resting together. The only time we must separate them is when they feed. Hulooo, very much like his dad, seems to have a bottomless stomach and would steal his brothers' food if he has the chance.

I made a decision to let Hulooo and his younger brothers go into 9 hectare camps tomorrow, given the good relationship of the three and in preparation for Cathay to be reintroduced back to all her sons after she has mated.

Sept 16, 2008. Foray Into 9 Hectare

An exciting day awaited the cubs though morning was with a freezing cold breeze.

Hulooo was waiting for us in the breeding centre; we walked in to greet him and startled a pigeon in the rafters. Hulooo’s attention was immediately drawn away from us and he contemplated the best way to reach it and decided that the most direct route was up the mesh. That didn’t help very much and he returned to terra firma and the pigeon took off. Having lost his meal he moved outside to pester the youngsters and ended up being chased by JenB, followed closely by Coco. Round and round they ran until Hulooo was tired out.

We opened the gate connecting the quarantine and 9ha camps and laid a piece of old meat to attract the attention of the cubs. Contrary to expectations, Coco was first to go through the gate; sniffing as he walked. Unsure of what his next move was, he retreated into the quarantine camp. Gathering his nerves together with both hands he again ventured into the 9ha enclosure. This time he was positive that he was on the right track he disappeared into the long grass full of fresh new smells, forgetting about the meat all together.

JenB had also plucked some courage together by this time and also made a move. Just as unsure as Coco he sat down in the gateway to ponder; deciding that if Coco could come out of it unscathed, then so could he! He hopped through following speedily in his brother’s footsteps. Next it was Hulooo’s turn and unsurprisingly he ran through eager to explore. All three of the cubs enjoyed themselves tremendously running around, stalking one another and investigating every blade of grass.

Hulooo stole my camera bag and we all chased him around trying to get it back. It was a challenge! At one point he took to the edge of a rock with residual pool of stream water underneath and I was so sure that my bag with all its content would be lost there! Thankfully, the bag was caught in some branches when Hulooo jumped down and we managed to salvage my bag, now firmly carrying it across my shoulder so not to give Hulooo any chance again. I was so pleased to see how happy the three were.

Hulooo found a bird in the afternoon and went first after it but lost interest after the second squawk. JenB and Coco took advantage of the hiatus and stole the bird, running off to parts unknown and fighting intermittently. Eventually all was quiet in that sector. As dusk began to settle we returned to the breeding centre with Hulooo in close attendance. We fed him, to his delight, but saw no sign of the other two; so we left the gate open should they wish to return, content that this move had proven a popular one with the young tigers!

Sept 17, 2008. Microchipping the Young Tigers

It has been a month as of yesterday since we separated Cathay from her cubs. Last time she came into oestrus after 22 days, which is longer than other tigresses as observed in zoos - normally between 5 to 10 days. Madonna had the same post partum oestrus cycle as well so I wonder if this is a characteristic of the South China Tigers, or a result that they live in natural conditions?! No one can tell me. Cathay's normal oestrus cycle is about once every month, but now, a month has past there was still no sign. Is this also because she lives like a wild tigress? I had planned, based on her post partum’s oestrus cycle, or normal monthly cycle for her to breed now so she could give birth in the hottest time of the year - January. I also wanted to supervise the reintroduction of her back to her cubs - including Hulooo (which is supposed to be a risky step) before I head back to London to look after the increasing number of affairs awaiting me. So I feel anxious.

It was going to be another important day, as we prepared for the microchipping of the three Cathay cubs. Hulooo was in the quarantine camp when we arrived and ambled into the breeding centre without any coercion and we closed him in. We had to entice JenB and Coco (who got his new name recently through a contest ran by one of our sponsors, Asian Tigers Group) back into the quarantine camp and into the breeding centre by dangling some meat up-wind from them. Madonna also smelt the meat and came galloping up to the fence to see if she was perhaps going to be treated to some, when she saw that she wasn’t going to receive any she walked away into the long grass; back to her hidey-hole.

The micro chipping turned out to be much more challenging than I had expected. When Madonna was treated for her dehydration at the age of 7 month, wild as she was, we easily caught her with a blanket. However, the two younger brothers proved to be truly wild! They were together in the outer section of the breeding centre ensconced in a breeding box, anticipating the upcoming events.

When our Vet Joseph arrived, I assigned tasks and chose a number of the bravest personnel to enter the cage armed with a blanket and a spade. JenB shot out of the box like a bat out of hell, growling ferociously as he was herded into a corner. He leapt up, ripped the blanket out of their hands, and retreated back into the box.

A second failed attempt and we retreated in good order to re-plan our strategy. Joseph asked if we had any cages and I was so relieved to let him know that not only we do, we have also been training them to use it, thank goodness! The cage was carried up to the sliding door and positioned it in such a way as to be the only escape from a gang of pursuers. JenB found himself deprived of free movement and, Joseph also decided, received a small amount of tranquiliser. This dose proved to be too small and when Dr Van Heerden dragged him out by his tail he spied a gap and took it; bolting around the cage and into the open.

He ran outside the breeding center, half way down the length of Hulooo’s old camp with all my staff members after him. Realizing that he was now in unfamiliar territory he turned around and was herded into the tiny camp in front of the quarantine camp. Here we witnessed to what lengths a cornered cat will go to, to escape! He climbed up the fence and through the electrified wires at the top -all the while being shocked by the current. However he was impervious to their throbbing and dropped down into the camp. Taking advantage of his predicament; the vet, himself in a lightening speed, was able to dose him with a slightly stronger sedative. This had the desired effect and he fell asleep, allowing the good doctor to implant the microchip. Three minutes after the sedative had been reversed JenB woke up.

Hulooo was next and the only trouble was he just wanted to play. Given the excitement surrounding him, he was even more hyper, again picking up my camera bag as a trophy! He had to be given a blanket to play with and the vet quickly injected the microchip under the skin of his neck. He whined for being grabbed at his neck but fortunately it was soon over.

Coco was last and we now had more experience. He was also chased into the crush cage and received a full dose of the sedative, putting him to sleep in a matter of minutes. He was also dragged out, the chip implanted and the sedative reversed. Realising how stressed they must have been we left them to recover.

Cathay Leaves Cubs, Hulooo Meets Younger Brothers

Cathay seemed to know what was happening this morning and did not need any convincing before she dashed into the 9 hectare camp, where TigerWoods was eagerly waiting. Having been apart for so long, the two showered each other with affection - chuffing, rubbing heads, hugging, chasing one another and more.We separated her from her cubs so Cathay could mate again in a few weeks and she can give birth in January - during the hottest time of the year, so we won't have to worry as much about cold weather interfering with rearing her babies and therefore also reducing human intervention. She could still see and interact with her cubs but the termination of suckling would make her come into oestrus again in a few weeks.

Cathay sniffed around the 9 hectare camp from which she had been absent for a long time. Cathay loves TigerWoods so much and had wanted to be with him for a while. In the past weeks, she got more and more impatient when the cubs disturbed her peace of being alone and often would get up and leave when the cubs drop themselves on top of her. Still, she is a fantastic mother and loves her cubs. After frolicking with TigerWoods for a while, she would go back to the commonly shared fence from time to time checking on her cubs. I am relieved that she seemed to be just checking to make sure her cubs were ok, instead of wanting to get back with them. I am torn as I just love to see them being together, but we had to do this for the big goal of the project.There were a lot of distractions for her besides TigerWoods. Once the potential threat by two Hadida birds to "take" the ostrich leg away (we had given to TigerWoods yesterday) made her rush to protect her food and she carried it into the dense trees next to the river.

Another important event was to take place today: we will put Hulooo in with his younger siblings - JenB and Jix, so Hulooo will acquire company and possibly also get re-accepted by Cathay in a few weeks. None of these had been attempted before so we must be both cautious but daring at the same time. It requires close monitoring, supervision and control. Thank Heavens Hulooo is so easy to work with and just followed our "directions" into the quarantine camp where he was going to meet the cubs physically at their home territory.

As soon as the iron sliding gate of the breeding center opened, the cubs dashed out of the breeding center to show Hulooo who are the boss! My concerns were gone when I saw it was Hulooo who was the weaker of them! JenB and his brother bared their teeth emitting threatening growls and rolled on the ground picking a fight with Hulooo. Poor Hulooo! His only resort was to avoid them. From time to time Hulooo would come to his human parents giving us a cuddle or a rub, as if to receive some courage in order to face those menacing cubs, or to beg us get him out of here and away from the cubs.

The cubs would not let Hulooo alone and followed him wherever he went. They roared menacing roars at Hulooo who would just lower his head as if showing submission. Cathay came over to check what was happening and cubs only remembered her absence when she showed up. Cathay seemed to be satisfied that the cubs were not alone and would disappear again after her regular checking.

Hulooo seemed to have fallen in love with the same pole of the pole shelter, just like the other adult tigers, and rubbed affectionately against it, hugging and smelling it (we always wondered what it is about that section of the log!)... To avoid the growling JenB, he even developed affection for another pole just opposite the usual one. After a while, he even ignored the menacing growls and continued with his love affaires with the wooden poles almost oblivious of the bullying growls.

JenB was the one that carried his threat through by trailing Hulooo whereas Jix went to follow Cathay and continued following her from his side of the fence whenever Cathay showed up. However the cubs in general seemed to forget Cathay's absence as long as she was out of their sight. Cathay, as if not to arouse further attention from her cubs, would quietly slip away into the trees after making sure her cubs were in good hands. It seemed that having Hulooo around also occupied the cubs' minds so they did not whine about their mother being on the other side of the fence too much.

Hulooo discovered the smells of the other tigers on one of the tree trunks. The Amazing thing he did was to "spray" it too. Funny that he was not yet mature so the "spray" that came out of him was not the normal transparent white sticky matter, but rather his Pee, which shot horizontally across onto the tree trunk. It is incredible that at this tender age he knew to cover the other tigers' smells.

Things were going well as the cubs and their older brother getting more used to one another. The day was getting hot-time for the tigers to have naps. So I decided to rather leave Hulooo in the cub’s camp and Vivienne and I would monitor them alternately. Hulooo just wanted someone around, preferably human. So I decided to go away a bit around at one stage and see what would happen. While I had walked "away", suddenly, I heard roars and commotion coming out of the far corner of the Quarantine camp where several other camps meet. I ran close and saw Hulooo being bullied and even pawed at by the cubs. Hulooo had probably wanted their company and had gone over to the cubs when he saw me going away... He seemed a lost soul being also shocked by the electric wires a couple of times as well. Both Cathay, who had been lying in the shade on the other side of the fence and Madonna who came out to investigate the commotion, watched with interests.

I called Hulooo's name out, and he saw me and quickly ran across the camp towards me. He came into the breeding center, where he chuffed at me non-stop, grateful I was back! I had no doubt he would have hugged me if I were inside with her, wanting consolation. Thereafter, no matter how I called him to come out, he wouldn't, fearful of the bullies. After a while, he would only come out briefly and chuff at me, but returning inside the Breeding Center immediately as if that his refuge.

Hulooo was enticed out of the breeding center in late afternoon, to spend more time with his younger brothers. JenB, though growling on the one hand, actually wanted to play with Hulooo. He tried to stalk Hulooo and even reached out to grab Hulooo's hind leg to play. However, it is apparent to us now that Hulooo, having only played with humans, has no idea how to play with other tigers. He was so scared of his little brothers, while he was four times their size. It will be one of our main tasks to get Hulooo re-socialized as a tiger and learn to interact with other tigers.

Low and behold, Hulooo did demonstrate he was a tiger when it came to food! When two pieces of wildebeest meat were brought in, Hulooo embarked on eating his immediately. However, when he saw, from the corner of his eyes, another nice chunk being eaten by his brothers, he ran over to it in a lightening speed and grabbed the meat, pawing one of the cubs and escaped. His speed took his brothers by surprise to say the least. However, he forgot the other piece of meat, which was promptly stolen by JenB. Before we knew it, Hulooo staged another coup - he ran over to JenB and stole his meat back, carrying it to where the other piece of meat was lay, wanting to monopolize both. We scolded him, and picked up the second piece of meat to give to JenB, who carried it between the Pole shelter and the tree trunk next to it. Jix tried to use the same trick on Hulooo to get his meat, but Hulooo was on good guard. Jix went to JenB, only to be growled at. JenB did not know how to protect his meat from being stolen by his brother and tried all he could: lying on top, hugging it, dragging it to the top of the tree trunk, etc. But Jix would not give up and managed to grab hold of one end of the meat.

Hulooo had finished his food in no time and sneaked up to the cubs, wanting to also steal theirs again. We had to stop him and he seemed to know he was behaving badly, showering us with head rubs. JenB finally let go the food and let Jix have his way. He went to look for Hulooo. He was part playful and part threatening. Hulooo just did not know what to do. How I wished he would just play with his brother as if he was playing with us! How I was afraid he might become another 327 when he grew up! Hulooo seemed to improve a bit at one point, lying down on the ground just like JenB, growling - the right way of facing it. However his nerves wavered very soon and he would go away again. He went inside the breeding center, but JenB followed and continued growling at Hulooo. Hulooo sniffed around other sections of the breeding center, but I am not sure if it was out of curiosity or just pretending to find something to do.

The sun was setting and I thought Hulooo had enough today and we started calling him to get out of breeding center so we could take him back to his Tree camp. Hulooo was eager to get out but the terrorist JenB was guarding the gate. Hulooo paced inside not knowing want to do. He tried another time, only to be bullied back inside again by JenB. We continued to call Hulooo, who became more and more anxious that he eventually threw himself down on the floor and cried in a helpless voice. It was both comical to see him terrorized by a little cub and heart breaking to see him cry like that. We continued to encourage him: "Hulooo, Hulooo, come on! Get out! Don't be bullied." Hulooo understood. He got up and in a determined stride, walked past the growling JenB, who suddenly stopped growling, probably perplexed by Hulooo's courage. Hulooo needed a cuddle as consolation, and was rewarded with it. He ran back to his little tree camp with excitement. He is such a sweet natured cat but now it is time we build him up as a tiger.

TAMIL TIGERS & YALA LEOPARDS!

JAN 10 2007 I said to Stuart at the outset of the new year that one of my goals in life is to be a good wife. I put this into action: for four days I endured the air-conditioning in the car, even though my body has a long history of getting incredibly ill with it since 1986. On the fifth day, I lost my voice and fever ensued. My good-wife actions stopped there and then -I made both my husband and the driver travelling without air-conditioning, and I become entirely anti-social drifting off to sleep at the back seat of the car. With my fever refusing to go down despite all the paracetamols, I had to take hot baths to sweat to force the fever down a number of times. Needless to say, we had to skip a few scenic areas including the Horton Plains National Park! Healthcare in Sri Lanka is very good and it was an interesting cultural experience. A visit to a small town doctor set me back by 3 US dollars and yielded me three kinds of antibiotics, three kinds of pain killers, one cough syrop and one sleeping pill. All the medicines were prescribed for three days though. Since I had no voice, I didn't want to argue for 5 days of presriptions, which is the norm in the West. When I fell ill with something similar during my visit to Syria, I was able to succesfully convince the village pharmacist to sell me an extra 3 more days of antibiotics.
I won't state the obvious such as one can't be mistaken this is a Buddist land- with Buddha statues everywhere. Travel guidebooks do this much better. But I must say I don't know how Sri lanka can hide this treasure island from the eyes of the world! It has incredible ancient monuments-palaces, temples, rock paintings etc and abundant wildlife-the most famous being the leopards! I regret not having come here much earlier. Sri Lanka had very developed agriculture in ancient times and the land was heavily cultivated. It now offers a fine example of nature rewilding. Natural looking reservoirs called tanks- ancient and new, dotted all over the landscape. One can hardly imagine many of the wetland are also man made.The jetwing Vil Uyana lodge where we stayed is a mini-restoration project returning rice paddies to wetland, establishing a healthy eco-system. We sighted a variety of birds, including peacocks and even crocdiles next to the hotel restaurant. Even the Yala National Park was rice paddies two thousand years ago, which was turned into hunting ground and later declared National Park/Nature Reserve, with a small section open to the public. Srilanka had its famous problems with the LTT-Tamil Tigers separatists. Although cease-fire stopped in 2002, guerrila war continues till today. However, it is not that much different from Irish terrorist movement in England in the 1990s. The LTT angers the average Tamils more than the majority Singhalese. It gives them a bad reputation and prevents them from going about their business. Thanks goodness no major activities happened to disrupt my trip, except two suicide bombs which went off in Colombo, one actually on the last day of our trip which killed a government minister. We happened to pass that road a few hours later and saw all the rubbles and on-looking crowds…. At least for me, no matter how breath-taking man made monuments are, nothing can compare the natural heritage we have inheritaed on this planet - the fresh air, the trees, plants, and of course the animals. I was very pleased that Yala was finally opened on New Years day, although the military had to do morning search for another two weeks so entry to the park started only at 7.30 instead of 6am. I could not believe how beautiful Yala is, situated right on the Indian Ocean. And call it Eden if you wish-I saw spotted deer, jungle hen (national bird of Sri Lanka), wild boar, and numerous peacocks perching on the very top of tree branches within the first ten minutes entering the park. And I am not even counting the birdlife. At the end of the morning, I had seen a bathing elephant and a leopard! The leopard view was a bit of a struggle. Our very first "sighting" turned out to be an armed solider! Then when our guide heard the coughing sound of a leopard, we patiently waited for about half an hour. After all the other vehicles had lost patience and left, the leopard came close to our jeep, albeit lied down underneath the thick bushes. We struggled to see him through the tree branchese but we did see him-stretching out his graceful limbs leisurely! this is certainly better than first time I went to Africa! The South Luwanga National Park in Zambia is reputed to have the highest naturally occuring leopard population but it pales compared to Yala which has about 50 leopard in 1000 square kilometers-an average of 1 leopard per 20 sq km. Yala's 1000 sq km is devided into 5 blocks, with only block I's 350 sq km open to the public on normal days. But due to the recent terrorist movement, > only 40 sq km of Block 1 is currently open. Yet just within this small area, we saw plenty. During our fourth and last game drive, just when I had given up hope to see any more leopards, one was spotted. It was a big male, perching on top of a huge rock overlooking the Indian Ocean. All the tourist jeeps in the park rushed over to see him, as if on a mission. The leopard was a bit far but with the aid of binoculars, one can see this magnificent work of nature. I stayed on watching him watching the ocean, wondering how much more or less he appreciates the surrounding beauty, than my admiration for him.... Reluctantly we had to leave before the park's closing time at 6pm. Luckily for the leopard, he could stay on that big rock looking ever so magnificent under the sky, now he was left undisturbed by his human admirers.

Going to Sri Lanka to see Asian Leopards

This is the third time I try to go to Sri Lanka in the past three years. Sri Lanka always fascinated me but I never made the decision to go until friends told me that one can reliably see leopards in the Yala National Park. Of course Sri Lanka then instantly became my next destination. But it is only this year that it looked like that I was finally able to make the trip.

I booked the trip and made payments. I double and triple checked that none of us needs visa to enter Sri Lanka to avoid the problems of this August when Stuart was rejected at the Brazilian boarder. But right afterwards I realized that Cathay was pregnant! Then my husband’s schedule began to look tight due to business engagement to raise funding for the South China Tigers.

I am glad that Cathay’s birth happened according to my forecast and that Junior is in good hands. I was prepared to go to Sri Lanka on my own if Stuart could not make the trip in order not to waste all the pre-payment. I know I should feel bad since we barely spent on average a week per month together this past few years, but hey, we are used to that by now and I already have the reputation of being unfit for marriage!.

Just when I was very pleased to know Stuart’s business engagement got postponed (good for our trip but bad for the project), I got bad news from the travel agent in Sri Lanka. Ajanthan, who has been enormously patient with me, informed us that the very destination I was most keen to visit-the Yala National Park, was now closed to tourists due to terrorist movements! I could not believe my bad luck! I was willing to take any risk to go inside the Park anyway, terrorists or not. However Ajanthan said that the government promised to open it after Christmas. But to give us the time needed for this park to open, he reshuffled our itinerary. And he also changed our hotel to another location to give us increased chance of seeing leopards. These days, without a big cat on my travel agenda, I feel the trip almost not worth taking.

I was also glad that the fever came during Christmas day so I am now fully recovered. With just one more day to go, fingers crossed that nothing else happens between me and my Sri Lankan Leopards!