Next week we will have another meeting with Willemijn from Wanicare Foundation/Chikananga Wildlife Rescue Center (see photo) about our association in the Javan Leopard Release Programme. Due to a lack of funds and time there wasn’t much progress in this programme. The surviving leopards at the Wildlife Center are doing fine.
A new strategy, a new plan how to make it work is a fact now, so a fresh start to the leopard programme. This will a.o. include new habitat surveys and assessments, translocation of (conflict) leopards, husbandry, new enclosure for the leopards that have to be (temporarily) kept at the Rescue Center and some serious fundraising.
Also a suitable person was found and will be hired to help out with the leopard programme and esp. with jobs like surveys and assessment, who can also communicate with the government and will update the leopard platform and push them to take action. Not completely sure this person will take the job, but things look positive.
A big thank you goes out to Helmut of “Fans for Nature Conservation” for raising funds for the new leopard enclosures and he is still working on it to get more in. So pretty good news and hopefully this will all turn out positively. Aim is now to be able to give a better (temporarily) home to the leopards, so that they won’t end up in a zoo, and the mission still is to be able to successfully release the leopards back to where they belong: the wild!
Soon more news!!
