Rachel Riley Instagram – It’s World Wildlife Day today, which gives me a good excuse to post this pic taken just as Pash was getting bitten by ants when we were in India a few years back! 😆🫣
You’re supposed to tell wildlife conservation success stories today, so it made me think of our first nature trip together, which sparked a whole load of others and is pretty much our favourite way to spend our time.
Back in 2016 we went to Brazil, and one of the highlights was visiting the Onçafari jaguar conservation project in the world’s largest wetlands – The Pantanal.
It was in its infancy then, conservationists had visited Africa, and brought techniques back like staking (already killed in nature) prey out in open spaces vs dense forest, so tourists have more chance of spotting cats returning to the carcass to eat at nightfall, in order to boost eco tourism, collecting data showing jags weren’t the culprits eating cattle, and generally that jaguars are more valuable alive, than dead.
As is so much in life, the financial arguments often have more sway than anything else.
Since then we’ve been to The Galapagos, Napo Valley in the Amazon Basin, Sri Lanka, India, The Maldives and can honestly say wildlife trips are where our happiest memories are. Hopefully more trips to follow when the kids are a bit bigger! (Any suggestions on where and when with them for future are much appreciated!)
PS sorry for the terrible home videos at the end (Pantanal capybaras, jaguar, giant anteater), I’ve definitely not missed my calling as a wildlife camerawoman but happy memories nonetheless!
#wildlife #conservation #ecotourism | Posted on 03/Mar/2025 23:21:50
