Recent comments in /f/IAmA

leopardusmdd OP t1_j4grwzl wrote

Reply to comment by FamousComb3649 in I’m an ecologist protecting 7400 acres of Amazonian rainforest and preventing wildlife trafficking. AMA! by leopardusmdd

Loki was a margay. There is a pretty large size difference between a margay (4 kilos) and an ocelot (14 kilos). There is often intraguild predation and killing (sometimes even for energy gain) within the felid guild. When we release an ocelot, we worry about pumas and jaguars. When we release a margay or an oncilla, we worry primarily about ocelots. It's a tough world. And yes, was the saddest thing that's ever happened to me.

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ukbeasts t1_j4cnggj wrote

Reply to I’m an ecologist protecting 7400 acres of Amazonian rainforest and preventing wildlife trafficking. AMA! by leopardusmdd

Hopefully you're still doing the AMA... Sometimes protecting more land and nature can have an impact on local groups and communities as it could restrict them from protecting their own land against wildlife that harms their livestock.

How do you overcome this? Is there any way to compromise?

Thanks!

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lbman t1_j4cn4y7 wrote

Reply to I’m an ecologist protecting 7400 acres of Amazonian rainforest and preventing wildlife trafficking. AMA! by leopardusmdd

Background: I’m currently a statistical physics PhD student in the US, though I’ve always had a deep passion for nature and wildlife conservation. After my PhD, I’ll seek to apply more technical skills such as data analysis, project planning, and programming towards conservation.

Question: Where do these types of skills fit into an organization such as yours? If they currently don’t, can you imagine ways in which a technically skilled physical scientist could benefit a forest conservation effort in conjunction with your organization?

I watched Wildcat and was absolutely astounded by how strong willed you are with your organization. I’m always inspired by conservationists such as yourself that can really do it all and commit to their project. I wish you nothing but strength and success.

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leopardusmdd OP t1_j4c3a1n wrote

Reply to comment by FamousComb3649 in I’m an ecologist protecting 7400 acres of Amazonian rainforest and preventing wildlife trafficking. AMA! by leopardusmdd

Yes! They are all related to wildlife // wild life haha. All kind of nature-y / elegant in style.

My first tattoo is my whole forearm. It is of Khan, our first ocelot, which my tattoo artist created from a photo of him climbing down a tree. In the past years I've surrounded it with more jungle foliage.

I have a tattoo of the Hoja Nueva logo, and so does our codirector Dylan.

I have a blue morpho butterfly on my hand. To me it represents hope and perseverance in the face of tragedy.

Behind my ear is a snake called the Clelia clelia. It is a very calm, beautiful snake, that eats other snakes (usually venomous ones) :)

Have you heard of Ikigai? It's about finding your reason to live. My tattoo artist recreated the venn diagram into a jungle flower and that's on my arm.

I also have the word "solace" on my neck.

On my opposite forearm is a tattoo that somewhat matches Khan's. It is of my boy, Loki, who I raised from 2 months old through release 1.5 years later. Unfortunately he was killed by an ocelot. I would use his collar to track him every 2-3 days and found his body. Since then I haven't gotten any more tattoos because, all I can think of is him and how I just want more of him/ that remind me of him. </3

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leopardusmdd OP t1_j4c1vra wrote

Reply to comment by mir514 in I’m an ecologist protecting 7400 acres of Amazonian rainforest and preventing wildlife trafficking. AMA! by leopardusmdd

Sorry to hear it.. I wonder if I have any connections where you're from?

That's a hard one, because I would love to provide mentorship but I know how specific it should be to at least your country or region. My journey from graduating to now has been... difficult to say the least and would have been made easier and more efficient with some guidance. If there's very little progress being made in terms of wildlife conservation, I commend you for wanting to stay and change that. Email me and maybe I can get more info/look for potential contacts! sjzwicker@hojanueva.org xo

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leopardusmdd OP t1_j4c0vt6 wrote

Reply to comment by cookie_addicted in I’m an ecologist protecting 7400 acres of Amazonian rainforest and preventing wildlife trafficking. AMA! by leopardusmdd

We experience wildfires in the dry season due to agricultural practices. Farmers will set their land ablaze - it's the most efficient and economical way to clear large pieces of vegetation. Unfortunately, the fire can "skip" over to neighboring lands, and threaten the few intact forest patches that we do have in these areas. The issue is overall habitat destruction/deforestation - but in this particular case it's more an issue of fragmentation. The smaller the "island" of intact forest, the easier it is for fire to take it over. And of course fires have so many edge effects. Very sorry to hear about the issues in Chile -- it sounds similar to areas of the mountains here like Ayacucho, which still experience drug-related violence and land issues. :/

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mir514 t1_j4bi21k wrote

Reply to I’m an ecologist protecting 7400 acres of Amazonian rainforest and preventing wildlife trafficking. AMA! by leopardusmdd

What was your journey like from graduating to reaching where you are today? As a fresh zoology graduate with a specialization in wildlife and fisheries biology coming from a country with very little progress made in the way of wildlife conservation, I have very limited streams of guidance for how to progress in my field, and people like you constantly inspire me to want to do more. But i feel at a loss of how and where to apply myself with zero mentoring and guidance.

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