Good day to you my fellow Adventure seekers!!

                Sorry I could not post anything last week, hadn't received any updates on the team's progress. But there is some very exciting news so let us not delay but get right into the thick of the jungle.

                Two weeks ago, I mentioned a couple of places, in the previous blog write up, and did not provide a picture of a map, my sincerest apologies. However. I am now going to correct that mistake hopefully providing some clarity and giving you all a chance to orient yourselves as to where the Nepal Tiger Project team is. So without further ado- here is Nepal, its right in between India and China.

Map of Nepal

Map of Jiri to Shivalaya (team's next location)

It has a population of about 27 million and has several district zones, approximately 75. The Nepal Tiger Project team was in Jiri, which is in the Dolakha District, within the Janakpur Zone. This zone borders reach from the Indian border on the south side to the Tibetan border on the north side.

I hope that clarifies things a bit, and again my sincerest apologies J

Present Day...

                After touching down in Jiri, the team continued to Shivalaya while it was STILL raining. Between these two cities is very hilly or mountainous, and with the rain and multiple species of leeches the trek is a very difficult one. In  John's words: "...our two day trek the hardest of the three times I've visited this country. It got so bad at times that I really wanted to quit and turn back. Even the local guys I hired to carry supplies where having a tough time of it". Because of such unfavourable conditions, they were unable to make it to their base camp right away; but were able to stay at the home of local team member to wait out the rain. And while taking this temporary, weather dependent breather; a few of the local team members went scouting to see if they could find anything, and one of the members came back with what is believed to be scat samples of a tiger!!!! It hasn't been analyzed as of yet since it was so fresh, but keep those fingers and toes crossed that it is indeed from a tiger! They stayed at this location for 2 before heading out again ONLY to be stopped by the rain! Luckily, they were able to make it to another local team member's home to again wait out the rain- and after another 2 days they were able to make it to their base camp. WHEW...that's a lot of rain. And while they were hoping that the rain would be a blessing, making the process of tracking easier, it appears no leopard or tiger tracks have been reported near the site they were seen last year :(

                But fear not fellow adventureans, as they are spotting some other wildlife near their base camp area. They have so far spotted the Asian Black Bear, Barking deer, Hog deer,  the Sloth Bear,  Nilgai antelope (locally referred to as Black deer) ; despite the last two are not part of Nepal wildlife according to the Wild Mammal's of Nepal field guide- and if anyone has more information on that, please let us know!! The Nepal Tiger Project team have managed to collect samples of all these animals and I save the best news for last J! After moving their campsite closer to the village's corn crop, more so to the edge of the forest, a 'suspected' tiger print was found!!!!!!!!!! The tiger print was found in the highlands, by one of the team members- although there was a slight mishap in measuring the tiger print. Hopefully there will be no more kinks in their tracking and a little less rain. As John said "Rain is good for tracking bears and deer but not cats".

Hog Deer, Hyelaphus porcinus

Asian Black Bear, Ursus thibetanus

Barking deer, Muntjacs

Nilgai Antelope, Boselaphus tragocamelus

Sloth Bear, Melursus ursinus

If you would like to read John's original posting, it is posted on the Nepal Tiger Project Facebook page (they just posted some recent pictures too it looks like):

https://www.facebook.com/Nepaltigers?hc_location=stream

                And since this post is so long I will be doing an entirely separate one for tiger facts. And it will be up very soon. I also want to mention if you are interested, do not hesitate to donate! John would really like to get a few more biologists going with him on these trips but finances can be tight sometimes. But that is it for me, for now but I will be back soon, very soon, with some more wonderful tiger knowledge!

Till next time adventureans!

Sources for pictures: 

Map of Nepal-http://www.hikenepal.com/nepal/map.php

Map of Jiri to Shivalaya-http://www.everest.cc/diashows/jiri-shivalaya/

Asian Black Bear-http://true-wildlife.blogspot.ca/2010/11/asian-black-bear.html

Sloth Bear-http://www.treknature.com/gallery/photo196407.htm

Barking Deer-http://walkthewilderness.net/animals-of-india-9-muntjac-barking-deer/

Nigali Deer-http://www.accuratereloading.com/nilgai.html

Hog Deer-http://entertainmentstar.blogspot.ca/2009/10/wallpapers-of-animal-hog-deers.html