{"id":10230,"date":"2026-09-20T07:14:04","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T05:14:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/?p=10230"},"modified":"2026-09-20T07:14:04","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T05:14:04","slug":"bera-leopards-shepherds-rajasthan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/en\/bera-leopards-shepherds-rajasthan\/","title":{"rendered":"Leopards of Bera: Why the Shepherds Don&#8217;t Fight Back"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Every few weeks in Bera, a leopard takes a sheep or a goat from one of the herds. The shepherds accept it. Nobody retaliates, and nobody demands that the cats be removed. That is why I went to Rajasthan in April, and the result is a film that is now on YouTube.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=OTyfuNYjMnM\">Watch the film from Bera on YouTube<\/a> (in German).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Wo Menschen und Leoparden T\u00fcr an T\u00fcr leben \u2013 Bera, Indien\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/OTyfuNYjMnM?feature=oembed\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"why-bera\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why Bera<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bera lies in the Aravalli Hills in southern Rajasthan, in western India. It is not a protected area. Between the granite domes there are fields, villages and pastures, and right in the middle of it all live leopards, a surprising number of them. I went for the pictures. I did not expect the shepherds to stay on my mind longer than the cats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I had read a fair amount about Bera beforehand, and most of it made the place sound like a small miracle: predators and people in close quarters, for generations, without conflict. Stories like that often fall apart once you get there. This one largely holds up, but for different reasons than I had assumed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-2-1s15g9.jpg\" alt=\"Village street in Bera with a granite dome in the background\" class=\"wp-image-10215\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-2-1s15g9.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-2-1s15g9-1280x720.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-2-1s15g9-980x551.jpg 980w, https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-2-1s15g9-480x270.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) and (max-width: 1280px) 1280px, (min-width: 1281px) 1600px, 100vw\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Where the village street ends, the rock begins. From the motorbike to the nearest leopard is a few hundred metres.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"animals-are-simply-part-of-life\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Animals are simply part of life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even on the drive to Bera you notice how little fuss is made about animals here. Peacocks wander across courtyards, cows stand in the middle of junctions and traffic simply goes around them, and monkeys sit on the temples as if they had moved in. Nobody gets worked up about any of it. In Germany, every single one of these animals would first raise the question of who is responsible for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There were three of us: Ingo, who has come along on several of my trips, Ratik and me. In India, people like Ratik are called naturalists, roughly a nature guide. He knows the area, the animals and the families who live here, and with him doors opened that would have stayed shut for me on my own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-3-1dyct1.jpg\" alt=\"Group of Hanuman langurs on a temple roof in front of the Aravalli Hills\" class=\"wp-image-10216\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-3-1dyct1.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-3-1dyct1-1280x720.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-3-1dyct1-980x551.jpg 980w, https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-3-1dyct1-480x270.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) and (max-width: 1280px) 1280px, (min-width: 1281px) 1600px, 100vw\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Hanuman langurs on a temple roof. They are named after a god, and they sit there with matching composure.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Temples here come in every size, from ornate gilded buildings to a few stones in a rock niche. Many Hindu deities appear in animal form or ride on an animal, and big cats hold a special place among them. That is one reason a leopard is not seen as a pest here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"life-on-the-granite\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Life on the granite<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The granite outcrops are millions of years old and ideal for leopards: from the top they can watch the whole valley, the crevices stay cool even at midday, and the cubs can climb around without anyone getting too close. We usually set off before six, because as soon as it gets hot the animals disappear and only show up again in the late afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first half hour is always the same: the tracker sweeps the slopes with a torch, looking for eyes that catch the light. We stand next to him and see grey rock. Sooner or later the phone rings, something is happening on one of the domes, and the little jeep has to show what it can do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-4-9yj3q6.jpg\" alt=\"Female leopard with cub on a granite rock near Bera\" class=\"wp-image-10217\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-4-9yj3q6.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-4-9yj3q6-1280x720.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-4-9yj3q6-980x551.jpg 980w, https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-4-9yj3q6-480x270.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) and (max-width: 1280px) 1280px, (min-width: 1281px) 1600px, 100vw\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">We saw this female with her two cubs on the same rocks over several days.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One morning the smaller cub played with its mother's tail on the rock right above us. I rarely spotted the animals myself. Ratik and our driver often see them minutes before I do, and sometimes I only find them once someone points to the exact spot. A leopard on granite really is as well camouflaged as you would imagine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"the-rabari\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Rabari<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Rabari live around Bera, a pastoral community that has moved with its sheep and goats for generations. In the morning they drive the herds from the villages out to the pastures between the hills, and back again in the evening. Up in the rocks lie the leopards, and part of what they live on is exactly these sheep and goats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-5-17y0t1.jpg\" alt=\"Rabari shepherd with a flock of sheep on a pasture near Bera\" class=\"wp-image-10218\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-5-17y0t1.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-5-17y0t1-1280x720.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-5-17y0t1-980x551.jpg 980w, https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-5-17y0t1-480x270.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) and (max-width: 1280px) 1280px, (min-width: 1281px) 1600px, 100vw\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The herd below, the leopards up in the rocks. Each knows the other is there.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Rabari are shaped by Hindu tradition. As it was explained to me, an animal taken by a leopard is not considered a loss but an offering to Shiva, who himself wears a leopard skin. That is the oldest reason the coexistence works, and the most resilient one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-6-1x35jl.jpg\" alt=\"Portrait of an elderly Rabari man with a red turban\" class=\"wp-image-10219\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-6-1x35jl.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-6-1x35jl-1280x720.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-6-1x35jl-980x551.jpg 980w, https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-6-1x35jl-480x270.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) and (max-width: 1280px) 1280px, (min-width: 1281px) 1600px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One day we were invited to a family's home. Not an interview, we just sat down with them. I asked what happens when a leopard takes one of their animals. A shrug. It had happened again only two weeks earlier, that is just how it is. People here talk about leopards the way they talk about the weather, and they do so among themselves too, not just when visitors are listening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">People are still afraid of the animals, but that fear does not turn into retaliation. Ratik and Shatrunjay Pratap, who grew up in Bera and founded the first lodge here, told me that no leopard in the area has ever attacked a person. Nobody takes that for granted. And yet a shepherd will lie down at midday on the same rock where a leopard lay that morning and take a nap while his goats graze around him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-7-16wzfk.jpg\" alt=\"Shepherd resting on a rock, surrounded by his goats\" class=\"wp-image-10220\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-7-16wzfk.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-7-16wzfk-1280x720.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-7-16wzfk-980x551.jpg 980w, https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-7-16wzfk-480x270.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) and (max-width: 1280px) 1280px, (min-width: 1281px) 1600px, 100vw\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A midday nap on the leopard rock.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Faith alone would hardly have carried this through generations, Shatrunjay says. There is also a simple promise: anyone who loses an animal gets it replaced, and quickly. In the end a shepherd is no worse off than before, so faith never comes under economic pressure in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"the-real-problem-is-granite-mining\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">The real problem is granite mining<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One afternoon we drove past a quarry, less than half an hour from the rock where the female had been lying that morning. Freshly blasted edges, dust, a truck pulling out every few minutes. There are still leopards in the area, but every rock that gets carted away is lost to all the animals living in these hills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What pushes back is mainly tourism. Nobody wants to holiday in a quarry, but a rocky landscape with leopards is a different matter. The more people come for the cats, the more expensive it becomes to tear down the hills. It is also the least reliable factor: it depends on people willing to take on the mining lobby, and on guests actually showing up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"why-it-works\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why it works<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-8-21eg9l.jpg\" alt=\"Leopard in side light on a granite rock in dry scrub near Bera\" class=\"wp-image-10221\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-8-21eg9l.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-8-21eg9l-1280x720.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-8-21eg9l-980x551.jpg 980w, https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/blog-inline-8-21eg9l-480x270.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) and (max-width: 1280px) 1280px, (min-width: 1281px) 1600px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The coexistence holds because several things come together: faith, quick compensation for lost livestock and, more recently, tourism. If one of them falls away, the others start to wobble. So far, it has worked for generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What stayed with me most is how unexcited it all is. No fences, no monitoring. When a shepherd is missing an animal, he shrugs, and the system makes sure it costs him nothing. Anyone who has followed a debate about wolves or lynx in Bavaria knows how far we are from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"going-back\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Going back<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From 6 to 15 November 2027 I am going back to Bera: ten days, a maximum of eight participants, organised by Gaia Tales. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.juliuskramer.de\/en\/workshops\/leopards-shepherds-bera-2027\/?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=artikel&utm_campaign=bera2027\">All details about the trip are on the website<\/a>. What I am looking forward to most is the rocky dome where the female lay with her cubs in April. It is still there.<\/p>\n\n<span class=\"et_bloom_bottom_trigger\"><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In Bera, leopards live among fields and villages, and the shepherds accept it when an animal goes missing. The story behind my film from Rajasthan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9722,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","_jk_blog_lede":"","_jk_blog_tldr":[],"_jk_blog_sections":[],"_jk_blog_takeaways":[],"_jk_blog_faqs":[],"_jk_blog_author_note":""},"categories":[3,414],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-erlebnisse","category-experiences"],"acf":{"tag":"Travel","lead__tagline":"Ten days in Rajasthan, a film, and the question of why this has worked for generations","meta":"Bera \u00b7 Aravalli Hills \u00b7 Rajasthan, India"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Leopards of Bera, Rajasthan: Why the Shepherds Don&#039;t Fight Back<\/title>\n<meta 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