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Wild cats are some of the most beautiful, iconic, and charismatic species roaming the planet. From the jaguars and pumas of the Americas, to the lions, leopards and cheetahs of Africa, and the tigers and snow leopards of Asia, these top predators span many of the world’s wildest landscapes. But with their habitat increasingly lost and fragmented, their prey often wiped out, and the cats themselves killed as pests or hunted for their body parts, many wild cat populations are threatened with extinction. While the current situation seems dire, Panthera recognizes that all of these cat species can persist and thrive if the correct actions are taken - across their entire range.

In November I'll be travelling to one of the most remote parts of the Himalayas in Nepal to take part in a challenging two week trek to the top of Pike Peak. 

After two and half days of travelling we'll get to the start of the trek in Jiri, and from there we make our way up through the jungle (dodging ticks and leaches) through the foothills and up into the mountains. From there it's several days of non-stop uphill...

Pike Peak is just over 4000m (that's 13,000ft in old money) above sea level, so the lack of oxygen and threat of altitude sickness won't make the trek any easier! 

I'm doing this to raise money for Pathera (http://www.panthera.org/) .

Panthera was founded in 2006 with the sole mission of conserving the world's 36 species of wild cats. Utilizing the knowledge and expertise of the world’s top cat biologists, Panthera develops, implements, and oversees range-wide species conservation strategies for the world’s largest, most imperiled cats – tigers, lions, jaguars and snow leopards. By working through partnerships with local and international NGO’s, scientific institutions, and local and national government agencies, Panthera has brought together a critical mass of passion, expertise, and large-scale strategic thinking.

Panthera guarantees that 100% of your donation goes to field conservation of wild cats, and as I'm covering the costs of the trip myself you can be sure that every penny you give goes to where it's needed.

If you need any persuasion of how important this is please check out the BBC documentary series "Lost Land of the TIgers" - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00ty69k - and in fact you can hear more about the work Panthera are involved in there.

Please help save the incredible animals that the big cats are - there are few things in the world that are quite so beautiful!

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.