Jaguars! And Piranhas For Dinner Finally

Photos from left to right:
Toucan; Cayman 1; Cayman 2; Cayman resting on branch;
Cayman caught fish; Giant Otter Caught fish; Me & Jaguar; Wilson the Beautiful;
Pretty Tame Macaws; Duda & Her sister; Capibara Mum & Baby

I am back in the Pantanal again, this time meeting with Charlie who runs a successful Jaguar Eco-tourist operation and learn from him how he has combined his expertise with eco-tourism to find solutions in sustainable conservation. He is an American PHD in biology who was a senior scientist with WCS before deciding to put academic research into conservation practice by starting his own eco-tourist operation. He has built eighteen eco lodges in different countries in Latin America and the Jaguar Research Center is one of his latest endeavours.

I have heard of him two years ago when I was here. Subsequently, I heard about him again through other friends in South Africa. He has a somewhat controversial reputation, having turned from a scientist into a business man. However, Charlie mentioned that George Schaller, a well-known conservation scientist did encourage Charlie to try unconventional technics to add value to intact nature.

The trip from London this time did not have any hiccups like two years ago: Stuart was not rejected at the border, and we did not arrive in the wrong airport. We were picked up by Charlie at the familiar Cuiaba airport at noon on Sept 26.

Two years ago in August, I spent a fantastic and unique ten days in the Pantanal with Dr. Peter Crawshaw-a jaguar scientist who has worked over 30 years in the field, and saw my first two jaguars two days before I was due to leave (see my blogs from August 2007). This time, having heard about the amazing jaguar sighting record Charlie's operation provides, I was very looking forward to not only finding out how he does it and also seeing the jaguars closer range.

We spent the 4-hour trip from Cuiaba to his lodge discussing and exchanging ideas and information. After breakfast the next morning at 7am, we set off on the river looking for Jaguars while continuing our discussions. Charlie has asked questions about many of the issues in conservation. For example, what is the difference between feeding wild birds from providing salt blocks to antelopes (which is a common practice in wildlife reserves in South Africa), since the former seems to be considered a faux-pas, while the latter is a common practice. Interestingly, we have come to the same conclusions on many issues, though he has approached them from biology perspectives, while I have viewed them with common sense. One of these conclusions is that planet earth has been significantly altered by humans, in fact destroyed, and the destruction is continuing at a faster speed. Many traditional conservation methods have failed. Not only do we need to think outside the box to help the planet, but we also need to ACT.

Our conversation was interrupted by news of a jaguar sighting. We quietly approached the spot and there were two of them about 2 years of age-probably having just left their mother. One of them has been named by the lodge's guests who first sighted her as Duda. They were lying in an opening-"window" of the dense bush and trees, quietly. It was evident these cats were very relaxed with human presence and might be as interested in their human visitors as we were in them, watching us without moving much. Duda is the slightly more active one of the two, moving behind the trees from time to time but not forgetting about showering some affection to her sister from time to time. They were so beautiful! I felt previledged to be so close to them. The sun was shining from the wrong direction so I battled to get a good photo. Still one can still see how dazzlingly beautiful these magnificant cats are from my poorly shot photos.

Charlie, who started coming out to the Pantanal since late 80s had learned
that local fishermen threw their Piranha catch at the jaguars. I wrote in
my blog two years ago that my host threw his piranha catch back into the river since locals find it to have too little meat to bother cooking it. The jaguars gradually learned that these little humans inside their little boats are not any threat to their lives and become quite accustomed to human presence. This is not dissimiliar to some of the leopards in some South African reserves where similar process took place, albert with more human intervention as I was told. The question is, does this practice actually harm them? And is it worthwhile if fund generated from tourists who spend good amount of money seeing the cats in their natural habitat is helping protecting them?

After the lunch break, we set out at 2.30pm for our afternoon ride on the rivers again. Having done these rivers exhaustively two years ago, I could remember the houses I visited and people I met at some of the locations. I was looking forward to seeing more jaguars though I wasn't that greedy to demand another sighting today. But one hour into our trip, we saw another boat quietly parked close to the Corichon Negro (black river), a tributory to the Cuiaba river. We slowed our engine and saw a jaguar under the trees on the river bank. This turned out to be "Wilson", whose reputation I have heard and he is indeed worthy of all the praise heaped on him by his human admirers.

Apparently Wilson was not seen for about a week, prompting speculations about his wherabouts and his fate, before he was seen again yesterday. He must just have gone wondering about looking for a little diversement with girls!

For next two hours, we watched and waited. Wilson's each move excited us with anticipation. But all Wilson did was a slight shift of position, either by moving a couple of meters to the side, or by switching position between his head and tail. He was feeling too comfortable watching all these humans coming and going to leave his vantage point!

Our luck stopped then and there however, as dark clouds moved in on Sept 28. The temperature dropped and as I learned two years ago, jaguars have no more need to come to the riverside to cool themselves down, therefore reducing the chances of humans seeing them by a large margin. For the next two days we scouted the rivers in cold wind, knowing the chance of jaguar sighting was small but still holding a sliver of hope some miracle may happen.

I was however finally able to get Piranha for dinner (see my blog from Aug 2007 on missed Piranha dinner)!

The experience is however not for the faint hearted. The cost is 800 US dollars per person (1600 USD per couple) per night but there is no running water in the tent, no flush toilet, and only about five minutes worth of water for shower coming out of a plastic bottle each night, not mentioning sitting inside a small boat for hours each day scouting the rivers for a potential jaguar sighting that's not guaranteed. Despite what one hears about the high frequency of jaguar sightings in this area, one thing humans can not control is the weather, which influences jaguar sightings greatly. And it will add another 600 to 1000 USD to the bill if you have Charlie as a guide.

The star attraction is Cida the cook, who, God knows how, manages to produce marvelous meals on the houseboat, where we gather for our three meals a day, and where one could also take a long shower in the public bathroom, shared by both guests (including camping guests) and staff alike. When I asked Cida when she sleeps, she just smiled.


Video from left to right:
Jaguar Yawn; Macaws talking to us;
Giant Otter caught a fish

Battle Field at Tigers Roars

Aug 5th. 2009 Hunting Intensified
I feel so privileged to witness what I saw today. Hulooo and brothers were let into Tigers Roars in the evening of Aug 2nd and they made a kill overnight. Last night they took down two more blesbok, reducing their numbers to 26. When I went to see them around 4.30pm today, I was surprised to see one tiger was stalking an antelope in the distance, probably emboldened by their success from last few days. I quickly drove up to the lookout point from where I saw one of the younger brothers on the prowl.
Just when I was wondering if this would be Coco, Hulooo appeared in my binoculars, also with a meaningful walk.

The two brothers kept some distance about twenty meter between them, sniffing all the way, tracking the blesbok, heading South West. In the North-Eastern part of the camp, I saw the big group of blesbok standing, keenly aware of the tigers presence and monitoring their every move.
Hulooo's brother was closer to the antelopes and used the little bushes to hide himself during the approach.

Both tigers got closer and the blesbok lost their nerves and ran off towards the Western part of the camp, tailed by the two tiger brothers. Just when I thought what a pity that the other brother must be feeding on the kills, the third tiger ran out from behind the trees in the Western part towards the Blesbok, who were shocked to see an enemy coming out of nowhere. I had but to admit that that was an incredible cooperation among the brothers!

Way cut off by the third tiger, the blesbok split in different groups, with the third tiger chasing them to the West and the other two following them eastwards. There were a couple of close encounters and my heart was beating fast, anticipating a kill. But to my disappointment, no capture was made.

The brothers regrouped playfully and then split off again with a mission.
They sniffed along the grass pushing towards East again. The full moon was rising in the East, and slowly the sky turned a blue-reddish hue. Hulooo and bros continued their pursuit with such energy and stamina and there was another near encounter soon. For the next half an hour, I could see the blesbok had lost their cool, constantly running back and forth, with the brothers on their sides with seemingly endless energy. The hunt continued as the sun disappeared completely and judging from the constant moving shadows of the blesbok, I can guess the tigers were still hard at work. I bet they would make another kill tonight!

Aug 6, 2009 Battle between JenB Bros and a Blesbok
Having not seen any kills, never mind a dramatic hunt for years since Feb 2006, I was totally taken by surprise today. My friend Nicky F and her family of five came in helicopter today from Johannesburg, bringing my husband Stuart with them.

After a leisurely drive around our reserve and a lamb burger lunch, specialty of Villa TigerLi, my guests wanted to go and see the tigers early so we arrived at the Tiger Rewilding Center around 4pm in two vehicles.
Madonna put in an appearance for a few moments in the Catkins camp before disappearing into the river, tailed by King Henry who kept on playing with her tail.

We went into Tigers Roars Camp and just when I was wondering which direction to go to find Hulooo and brothers, we saw blesbok running wildly in the hilly area in the western section of the camp, and shadows of running tigers from time to time. We quickly drove towards the west, seeing now blesbok scattered all over this part of the camp, running off. We saw two tigers not far ahead going behind the trees. We followed them down the river area and saw in the distance against the sun the silhouette a blesbok and a tiger!

My goodness!!! The blesbok was charging the tiger! My heartbeat raced as I anticipated the third ever fantastic witnessed battle between tiger and blesbok during the history of our rewilding! What followed after was beyond words can describe, as I pulled out my little video camera quickly and recorded the fantastic tackle of the blesbok by JenB. JenB tried, almost half-heartedly, to bite the blesbok by the neck but the blesbok kept avoiding it. However, standing in the pool of water, the blesbok kept slipping giving the tiger advantage to tackle him. After a few rounds, with my females guests wooing and aahing, and me screaming and shrieking, JenB almost confused what to do seeing the slipping blesbok, finally grabbed the blesbok by its neck tentatively, and dragged it behind the tall grass! The moaning of the blesbok died eventually, followed by a few minutes of dead silence.

I could not contain my excitement at having witnessed this most fantastic hunt-only the third one I have ever witnessed during the entire nearly 6 years of rewilding. I am so proud of JenB, whom we thought had been the lame duck.

Another surprise laid in store, as we discovered another kill lying on the hilly rocks of the river bank a bit later, as Coco and JenB tried in turn to drag it down to a more accommodating area. Only after much effort, Coco managed, in a clever move, to dislodge the blesbok whose legs were caught in the rocks. Afterwards, all three young tigers came to where our vehicles were and lied down watching us as if seeking praise and approval. I was impressed that Hulooo did not come and jump on our vehicles as if having erased past memories from his childhood. Or maybe he is just getting less attached to humans as the wild side took over.
After much compliment and encouragement we showered on them, we left them before it turned completely dark. We got out of Tigers Roars just before they arrived at the gate, as if not wanting us to leave.

I must say the progress of these young tigers were remarkable. I counted 24 blesbok left this morning, so two kills were made overnight, and now we counted 21 blesbok remaining which means they made three kills during today, bring the total number of kills to 8 in the last 4 days since Sunday.

Aug 8, 2009
Heaven forbids! Hulooo brothers took another blesbok overnight, AND a springbok!! Springbok are famously fast runners and can spring 7 to 8 meters in one jump. They can also run through the fence when faced with danger. Two Springbok came into Tigers Roars a few months ago and have managed to survive through the onslaught for a few months. But clearly, one has now lost its life last night. This brings a total number of hunts to 10 kills in past five days. I can't but congratulate the brothers for their achievement.

Save China's Tigers to Fund Wild Cat Conservation Worldwide

Save China's Tigers, a charitable foundation funding pioneering work with the South China Tiger, has broadened its scope of conservation goals from tigers to include all wild cats around the world. Today it launched the "Wildcat Fund” to encourage and support wild cat research, conservation, as well as reintroduction efforts for highly endangered and vulnerable wild cats.

There are currently thirty-seven species of wild cats, with many facing uncertain futures. The best known are the big cats including tigers, lions, and jaguars. Of these, the South China Tiger is the most endangered and is on the verge of extinction. However, three-quarters of the world's wild cats are smaller species and many of these are also highly endangered such as the Iriomote Cat, the Andean Mountain cat, Borneo Bay cat, and the Flat-headed cat.

Historically, funding in wild cat conservation has favoured the large, charismatic species such as lions, cheetahs and tigers. While giving priorities to cat species having the IUCN “Endangered” status or above, Save China’s Tigers’ “Wildcat Fund” also encourages projects conducting pioneering biological and ecological research of little known cat species in an effort to increase understanding of these species and help design improved conservation actions.

Ms. Li Quan, Founding Director of Save China's Tigers said: "My passion has always been for all cats of the world. I am very pleased to be able to contribute to the conservation of all of them through Save China's Tigers’ Wildcat Fund. Over the years, we have realized that for some endangered species to survive in the wild, a multi-disciplinary approach combining captive breeding, rewilding, habitat protection and restoration, and re-introduction can make a valuable contribution to wildlife conservation and the environment. Save China’s Tigers was the first to experiment with this alternative in big cat conservation and we have made a number of significant breakthroughs in tiger conservation. We would like to apply our expertise and share our experience to help save other endangered cats of the world", says Quan.

Projects applying for funding must be proactive conservation projects led by wild cat biologists and ecologists with proven academic record, but more importantly over eight years of field experience. Proposals should not include office and administrative expenditures. "We would like to focus on field activities to counter the trend in conservation where valuable donor funding pays for office infrastructure and expensive conferences. And, we would like to make the projects we fund accountable for our benefactors", Quan added.

One of the first projects that Save China's Tigers will be funding is Brazilian Jaguar expert Dr. Peter Crawshaw's research vehicle to support his various wild cat conservation projects including jaguars, cougars etc. Another is the rewilding and reintroduction of a female Oncilla (aka "Tiger Cat" and "Leopardus tigrinus") in Brazil to learn if it is feasible to think of reintroducing individuals into the wild from captive conditions, as well as to study the behaviour of wild individuals of this little known cat.

Funding applications can be made at any time by completing an application form which can be downloaded from our website. The grant committee will be chaired by Save China's Tigers founder Li Quan with a panel of experienced cat scientists. Any inquiries must be sent to: info@savechinastigers.org

Save China's Tigers would like to use this opportunity to thank all its supporters for their tremendous contribution to our historic Chinese Tiger conservation effort.

WE ARE GRATEFUL FOR THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF:
Conservation Finance International
FOR MAKING THIS NEW INITIATIVE POSSIBLE
Photo by: Yuan Ye