Long after the last safari jeep has left Yala for the day, the land around us gets busy. Civets leave the trees, mouse deer step out from the undergrowth, and somewhere beyond the camp boundary a leopard is starting its rounds. Most of this happens out of sight, at hours when we are asleep. For the last while, our trail cameras have been helping us see it. If you’ve arrived here from one of our trail camera videos, welcome. Here is the bigger story behind the footage. Knowing our neighbours Makini sits on the edge of the Yala buffer zone, on land that belonged to its wildlife long before it belonged to us. The animals here are the original residents, and we see ourselves as the newcomers. Respecting them starts with knowing who they are and how they live. Just over a year ago, our team carried out a detailed habitat mapping survey of the Makini property. It recorded the plants and vegetation, the heights of trees and the extent of the land, along with 100 species of birds. That gav...
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