Art Showing for The Clouded Leopard's Secret Storybook

Now that all the illustrations have been completed for our storybook, artist Heather Hudson stopped by the Zoo to show us all the original pieces. It was exciting to see the full-size versions of her amazing work, especially since I have witnessed the evolution of the pieces from idea to sketch to color draft to the finished product. Although it is purely Heather's artistry, I can't help but feel a close attachment to the work!

The amount of time and effort Heather invested in this project went well beyond my (and her!) expectations. I'm so pleased I selected Heather to be the illustrator for this book; I can't imagine anyone else being so dedicated to getting the images so right by both her and my standards. I'm sure I drove her crazy with some of the tiny details (tweaking a paw here, slimming a belly there) but she never complained. It was definitely a privilege working with her!

We hope to wrap up the graphic design and final translation within a month or so, then off it goes to print. I really can't wait to get this beautiful book in my hands and share it with the students in clouded leopard range countries!

Mr. Relaxation

Since I haven't had too much to report lately, I thought I'd share a nice photo shot by Ali Wallace, one of our staff members. Cloudies are masters at relaxing, as demonstrated nicely by Raja!

The Clouded Leopard's Secret Storybook Nears Completion!

After several years of planning and production, our bilingual storybook The Clouded Leopard's Secret is nearing completion. The last of the artwork was just completed, the translation is done, and we expect the layout to be finished soon so we can go to print. The book will be a great tool for teaching students in Thailand about clouded leopard field research and will hopefully inspire conservation action or perhaps even help nurture the next generation of scientists! We plan for this book to serve as a starting point for a comprehensive wild cat curriculum that will be distributed widely in clouded leopard range countries.