A FAREWELL NOTE THAT NEVER REACHED THE INTENDED AUDIENCE

NB
I wrote this note for the staff of Bumdeling Wildlife Sanctuary when I moved to Trashigang in February 2012 on transfer but never reached them. I know I wrote it but never really gave to them. 

Dear friends of BWS,

Much against my will, I am leaving Bumdeling Wildlife Sanctuary and all of you know the reason. I am keeping this note for all of you so that you cherish the sanctuary as much as I do. I like this sanctuary for several reasons and the most heart touching ones I note here to keep you in touch with it. Plain, baffled, anxious and enterprising, I joined BWS in May 1999 and a decade long service to this sanctuary has given me enough experience about itself. Therefore, within the four walls of Bumdeling Wildlife Sanctuary, I have something interesting to share, something that you will not disagree and something that you won’t forget.

Photo 1: View of Thangchenpo area (Photo courtesy of Late Dr. Pralad Yonzon, 2003).

A rough and a know-nothing guy, I first started with a biodiversity survey with an ecologist call Kieth Shaw (I don’t know where he is now) which I still remember afresh. Phurba Lhendup our former staff member and Karma Wangdi were other two fellows in the group. It was through that trip that I knew Laou as a beautiful place, home to the life stretching medicinal plant Panas-pseudo ginseng. I also learnt how to behave with the foreigners during the trip as I later understood that the consultant did not like me much. It was but a lesson to be remembered. You may keep in mind that they do not like naive people like me. So, better be better than me the next time you are with a foreigner on duty.

After a short willy-nilly life in the sanctuary headquarters which was then run from the present Dzongkhag Engineering Cell of Trashiyangtse Dzong, I started Bumdeling Range in April 2000, then a Beat Office under Yangtse Range known only through hearsay. The fat Sonam Tenzin, an ever active person is supposed to have been the in charge of the Beat that time, but I did not see him. He later told me that he was Bumdeling Beat Officer.

Bumdeling then was a quintessential place away from the hustles and bustles of town. I rented a room for my office-cum-residence in a dangerously cracked double storied building on Hobson’s choice. You will feel the difference if you compare Bumdeling in 2000 and 2010 in photographs which are available in any computers of BWS, thanks to the digital technology. If you walk up towards the crane roost early winter mornings you will hear the nature talking to you and if you understand what it means, it would further interest you. And this is one of the several reasons that I have not taken transfer outside Bumdeling Wildlife Sanctuary. Look at the valley for yourself, deep inside you will find that it has the best components of nature. The flood plain, a meandering Kulong Chu, the gradually falling hills of Tshigmar, the end of the plain at Dungzam, a huge Ngalimang village overlooking the plain and the beautifully flying cranes (especially in winters), do not complete the description of the valley.  Dungzam Park Range has the responsibility of safeguarding this beautiful place, the wintering home of the endangered Black-necked Cranes. Hope you guys in Bumdeling would love this place as much as I like it.

Beyond the plains of Bumdeling, Dungzam Range has the opportunity of enjoying the numerous glacial lakes, Rigsoom Latsho, Jang Youmtsho Ngoenmo, Namdha Thruelgi Tsho, Shinjay Latsho and Shar Dungtsho Karmo to name a few. I have had opportunities to see them time and again and enjoy their beauty, I look forward to see them again. You may keep in mind that only few lucky people on the earth have such opportunities. These chances should not be considered less than visiting United States of America (if America is your dream land). If we cannot see their landscape they can’t see ours, so we are equals. While I talk about the lakes, I wouldn’t forget the meadows of Yorpeng, Thabjoor, Changpangtse and Shaliteng. These meadows are home to several wild animals, the purpose of our very existence. Watch carefully, these meadows give you lots of life.

Edward Abbey said “The love of the wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth which bore us and sustains us, the only home we shall ever know, the only paradise we ever need - if only we had eyes to see.” Read behind this line, you will certainly understand what nature means to us, the humanity.

Religious places wise, Dungzam Range can pride Rigsoom Goenpa, Dechen Phodrang, Pemaling and Tarphel Lhakhang (not so popular but with very good Nangten). Advertising these places and documenting their importance can help them become popular (which means it will help our mandate of conserving tradition and culture will flourish).

Going to south of Bumdeling Wildlife Sanctuary is Serzhong Range, the youngest of the three park ranges curved out of Mongar Forest Division in April, 2004. Being a pioneer, I had the opportunity of starting the office like the one in Bumdeling. I kept its base office in Yadi purposely so that we could use the computer facilities as Serzhong did not have road link and electricity that time. With the team of dedicated staff we began our normal duty of patrolling the Sherichu River and other rivulets. It was here that we knew how diverse our park is.

We have Khoma Range under Lhuentse Dzongkhag jurisdication that looks after Singye Dzong area. How lucky have I been to have served this religious place into which Guru Rimpoche set his foot in? I have no words to express how beautiful Singye Dzong is? Thangchenpo (Photo 1), Rongmateng, Tshokar, Tshona, Youmthramey Latsho, they are all stunning. Please enjoy walking in the area. Never know when I will be able to return but given the chance I look forward to scour these areas again and again.

So, now I think I am keeping the Park Ranges in the hands of honest foresters and rangers. I wish all of you a good luck. Please enjoy your life here. You never know when you will be out of this beautiful place. And thanks to all of you for your sumptuous farewell dinner.

THE STORY OF BHUTAN SWALLOWTAIL - THE NATIONAL BUTTERFLY OF BHUTAN

Noto Bene
This piece was written in 2011 and posted in my earlier blog which has since been removed from the internet. It is reproduced here without any changes. The insect later became the National butterfly of Bhutan. 

I am not an avid blogger and I blog only whenever I get time. I also do not intend to be involved in the so called discovery games and really hate to be a part of a popular team in anything I do. So, even in this story that I am blogging I have no intentions whatsoever to support anyone or attack and harm anyone. It is just my side of the story and I have a strong belief that not many people will read this particular story. I am just penning it down only for my sake and my memory because the famous so-called the rediscovery of Bhutan Swallowtail, Bhutanitis ludlowi (Gabriel, 1942) (Figure I) is so close to me and my service life. But before going for the story straight I would like the readers (if any) to know who I am and why I am so much interested in this subject.

  Figure 1: Bhutan Swallowtail, Bhutanitis ludlowi (morphed, original right wing was clipped)

As my blog has my true identity as an individual, I would like to talk about my service straight away. Bumdeling Wildlife Sanctuary (BWS) where the rediscovery happened was started in December 1998 and five months later I joined this Sanctuary and I am still a serving member on studies (that is going to finish soon). I feel proud that I have served to conserve the habitat of such a rare animal, though I did not have any idea about such butterflies before 2009. The story I write here will not be twisted because I know BWS (Figure II) better than anyone else and the people of the sanctuary know me better than anyone else too (this is my self-stand and I am not bragging to show myself off). In April 2000, I on the orders of my superiors established Bumdeling Park Range and served this area (a Gewog by name but almost half of Trashiyangtse Dzongkhag). This area was curved out of Trashigang Forest Division and all functions such as management, protection and conservation was taken over from Yangtse Range.

Figure II: Map of Bumdeling Wildlife Sanctuary with Bhutan Swallowtail location

Since then, I have scoured all corners of the Gewog from as far as the Sino-Bhutan border to Indo-Bhutan border which the Sanctuary has in the northeast and the north. I know lots of individual villagers by name since I have stayed in their villages by weeks to mark trees for their fuel and housing timbers. Further, shortage of staff gave me more time to be with the villagers than in the office because we were only three when we started our office in an abandoned, cracked and going to collapse anytime building in Bumdeling Dungzam.

But the most interesting thing to me was the laggard-ness in us, the then staff of Bumdeling Park Range who ate, slept, drank, defecated, played and night hunted girls with those butterflies, Bhutanitis ludlowi for such a long time (till its identity in 2009). I remember beautiful butterflies flying over me when I shitted below the footpath between Longkhar (Figure III) and Tobrang. I am sure some of them were Bhutanitis ludlowi but since other butterflies are also beautiful one cannot rule out the possibilities that Ludlow Swallowtail appeared only after 2009. Is it possible? This question will remain unanswered for such a long time in my brain. If seeing for the first time after 1933 goes to become a record, I would like to claim that me and my colleagues have seen the species in 2000 (Team Ludlow II). If it is considered as a claim that do not have any substance, I would like to blame the technology (because then we in BWS had no digital camera for the staff in the field as well as management headquarter) and let the rediscovery date be in 2009.

Photo III: Longkhar with Frank Ludlow (inset) who found the species in this village in 1933.

The recent popularity the rediscovery has gained is amazing. The species being very rare, very beautiful and being very important is worth praising. That the beautiful butterfly brought scores of Japanese entomologists and even helicopters (what a technology) is even more interesting. However, it is enigmatic that 2009 discovery did not bring any funds or people to BWS, although we reported the matter through Kuensel (I was the one to write the report that was sent to press through the department) while 2011 discovery made such headlines that it appeared several times in several media. We even had pictures of this species from the 2009 trip of our three foresters, viz. Karma Wangdi (Figure IV) , Tashi Phuntsho (Figure V) and Tsheten Wangchuk (Figure VI) and if anyone would have wanted it for publication we could have happily shared. These three foresters were sent for searching this particular species on the behest of the then Sanctuary Manager and I am proud to have been involved in sending them because I was the one to issue order for their travel. If these three foresters were first people to have photographed the butterfly I was the second person on the earth since 1933 to have seen the species in the photo as they brought their camera to my office to show their field progress with pride. Are there any connections to my pride and the rediscovery? Sorry readers (if any)! well it is for me and not for you all, do not be serious.

Figure IV: Karma Wangdi (we then call him Ap Kharee), then BWS staff at the habitat of the species in 2009. He was the head of the Team Ludlow III. 

Being their supervisor, I had the privilege of keeping their photographs in my computer and at one point published one of the pictures in an online website “India Nature Watch”. I did not know how important the picture was neither did my colleagues in India Nature Watch as there were no reactions whatsoever from them. Some of them commented “it’s beautiful” while some wrote "amazing' and that’s it. If it is such a rare species, why there wasn’t any response from people using online resources, is another question that runs through my veins. After few months on the web, a young officer, who was and is perhaps interested to pursue studies of this species called me up to say that posting such rare pictures is unethical. I was told that the matter could become sensitive if the picture is kept on the web. And on his suggestion, I deleted the picture from the web instantly. Laggardly is a bad thing.

  Figure V: Tashi Phuntsho (we then called him Tortola), then BWS staff who was part of team Ludlow III.

But interestingly, I saw televised interviews and newspaper making lots of hue and cries about the rediscovery in 2011. Where the media sleeping in 2009 is yet another question that is haunting? How come they are active only today? May be the answer is technology once more. What I intend to say through this piece of writing is that the species was indeed rediscovered (if it’s applicable, because I also read an article in Kuensel questioning the credibility of the word rediscovery) in 2009 by three foresters from BWS and that they were working for an entomology project funded by Bhutan Foundation and that the date of rediscovery should not be recorded as 2011. I don’t know if entomologists made the popularity difference otherwise we saw the species long ago (with eyes in 2000, that cannot be proven as reasoned above); and with eyes and specimens collection in 2009.

Figure VI: Tsheten Wangchuk (we then called him Udzorong) was also part of team Ludlow III.

Since I am not an entomologist, I do not know much about them but I write this in my blog to emphasize that the Ludlow’s Bhutan Swallowtail was discovered by the staff of Bumdeling Wildlife Sanctuary, their own owners and not somebody out of blue. No one should take the pride of being a re-discoverer other than the three foresters, the staff of BWS and the Royal Government of Bhutan. For further research, I do not want to care who does it as it involves money and knowledge, but for rediscovery, sorry others can’t take the credit. It should not be the case of “Khucha yak gi ba Ngo Bjob ki taen”.

I called the Team Ludlow III because they were the ones who could catch the species and photograph a number of individuals not forgetting the Team Ludlow II who did not have cameras to take photos including poor people like me.

 

Disclaimer

This is my personal thought and anything written here is not intended to harm or promote people or things mentioned here. No one is authorized to use the content of this blog for either personal or private purpose. People mentioned here in are fictitious characters and any resemblance to anyone with some characters or more are purely coincidence.

EDINBURGH

The sun has long set and the stars are aplenty but my eyes are still not closed. It is 0125 hrs at the BAIRD HOUSE - one of the so many homes in Pollock Halls (Photo I) at Edinburgh but I am sure it is 0625 hrs in my country. Travelling up to here have been not so easy because I had to change three air buses. A small one from Paro to Delhi, a bigger one from Delhi to Amsterdam and finally another smaller one from Amsterdam to Edinburgh. The journey that started from Haa, Bhutan on 30th June, 2017 ended on the morning of 2nd July, 2017 at Edinburgh with halt at Paro and Delhi. Paro treated me good and I know I will never be treated bad there because my host is my host but Delhi was bit tough but why would it be so good. It has every reason to treat me the way it treated. Why choose air buses that make you wait a long time in Delhi? It is your choice. You must toil for you have chosen so. A long wait! Reached Delhi by 1110 hrs as planned and waited up to 0340 hrs there until the morning of 2nd July, 2017. You know how many hours. Seventeen hours is a pretty long wait. But where is the choice. When I sought a seat inside the waiting lounge of the Indira Gandhi International Airport, a Police Inspector on the Flights Departure gate suggested that I should visit Gate Way of India and come back when it is time for me to fly out. But, a lone traveler would not like to go for sight seeing alone and aloof risking so many things including the loss of baggage and missing the flight in the fast and furious Delhi City where the traffic rules are based on drivers, crowd is enormous and people are not so trustworthy. Who knows you may just be lost in the sea of people in Delhi city? Who knows you just get stuck by a brake failing vehicle and who knows you may just come across a group of vagabonds on the street? So, why take a risk? There is no reason for you to come out of the safe zone and expose yourself. Therefore, waiting was the best choice. Perhaps.

Photo 1: Pollock Halls - Residence of the University Guests and Visitors

But the otherwise boring wait was boosted when I met a guy from Zhemgang who was going to Kuwait. I hope I meet such a guy on my way back on 9th July, 2017. We took turns in going to toilet and he was pretty helpful. I asked him several funny questions about his work in Kuwait and his colleagues working in several middle east countries because I saw him honest and a free thinker. I think he told me some facts about our people working in spas and hotels in the Middle East countries and you know what I mean. So, I don't want to elaborate the matter here. He left me at about 2200hrs all alone at the waiting lounge since his flight was at about 0130hrs and hour later I checked in myself and flew to Amsterdam at the right time set in my tickets 0340hrs, landed in Amsterdam at the right time and connected myself to Edinburgh at the right time. From Edinburgh I took a shuttle to the Forrest Road, the road to my University, the University of Edinburgh (Photo 2), where Charles Darwin, the father of theory of survival of the fittest studied and postulated his theory and hypothesis. This University gave me a Master of Science Degree (Biodiversity, Wildlife and Ecosystem Health) of my choice and interest without my government having to pay anything. If I have made any contribution to my government, it is this degree that I obtained myself with the blessings of this University (funding my studies), otherwise, I know I can study masters using government funds which I feel is too much an investment for an individual because I know I studied everything up to Bachelors with the government funding. Well, I am not trying to be patriot here. Today, I am here not on government funding. I have been invited to give a talk on community forestry in Bhutan which happened to be the topic of my M Sc thesis. Well, I did it today and I am okay with what I did. I will be here until 8th July, 2017 and explore what Edinburgh has to offer based on the programmes made by the Course Director.

Photo 2: The University of Edinburgh alumni community complex

The school was interesting. I did my part as an invited Guest Speaker (Photo 3). I talked on community forestry (CF) in Bhutan with specific examples on CF in Trashigang which was also part of my M Sc thesis. Students from US, Malawe, Holland, Italy and UK made their presentations and I found their talks really interesting. I learnt lot of interesting things like re-wilding of animals, invasive species, and how other forest and wildlife species play their ecological roles.

   Photo 3: Presenting community forestry in Trashigang

After three days of school seminar, the group visited Northern Scotland's Cairngorm National Park and saw collection of high altitude animals (Photos 4-8).

Photo 4: European Forest Reindeer

Photo 5: White-lipped deer

Photo 6: Snow Leopard

Photo 7: Markhor

Photo 8: Tragopan

We also visited very interesting places some which are put below (Photo 9-13)

Photo 9: View of Northern Ireland from Scotland's highest mountain

Photo 10: The group at Scotland's highest point

Photo 11: At the distillery of one of the students.

Photo 12: At the topmost of Scottish Mountain

Photo 13: My friend Mathew Desmond

Photo 14: Selfie at the highest restaurant in Scotland- people say I am lucky but I find it otherwise.

 

 

Disclaimer

This is my personal thought and anything written here is not intended to harm or promote people or things mentioned here. No one is authorized to use the content of this blog for either personal or private purpose. People mentioned here in are fictitious characters and any resemblance to anyone with some characters or more are purely coincidence.