Latest news with #leopards
Time of India
5 days ago
- Science
- Time of India
Rare clouded leopard spotted in the wild: Viral video inside
Clouded leopards are among the most elusive big cats in Asia, which mostly remain hidden in mystery due to their secretive, nocturnal habits. Clouded leopards are one of nature's most mysterious big cats. With their beautifully patterned coats and secretive habits, these elusive animals are rarely seen in the wild. Mostly living high in the treetops of dense forests across Southeast Asia and Northeast India, they can be silently spotted at night and avoid human contact. Their quiet existence has kept them mostly out of sight, even from researchers and wildlife cameras. So it becomes a precious moment when one such animal is spotted in the wild. Viral video shows a clouded leopard mother and cubs in the jungle Susanta Nanda, a former Indian Forest Service officer, recently shared a video on the social media platform X that shows a clouded leopard mother with her cubs moving through the lush forests of Northeast India. He captioned the video as, 'Elusive. Ethereal. Endangered. With barely ~10,000 left in the wild & scattered sightings in NE India, the Clouded Leopard is our most secretive big cat. Here, a rare glimpse — a mother with her cubs, guardians of an ancient rainforest. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like No annual fees for life UnionBank Credit Card Apply Now Undo A sight so rare that it's mythical'. This footage is exceptionally rare, taking into consideration how seldom clouded leopards are seen. Their secretive nature makes such wild encounters significant and fulfilling to conservationists. Clouded Leopards are vulnerable and fast vanishing Clouded leopards are officially listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, with fewer than 10,000 mature individuals remaining globally. Smaller populations are scattered across Northeast India, the Himalayan foothills, Southeast Asia, and southern China. They are known for their beautiful cloud-patterned fur, exceptional tree-climbing abilities, and long canine teeth, which are also the largest in proportion to body size among all cats. These cats face significant threats from habitat loss, poaching, and human‑wildlife conflict. In Northeast India alone, forest fragmentation and illegal wildlife trade are contributing to their decline. What are the efforts taken by experts to protect them According to a study named, Forecasting Suitable Habitats of the Clouded Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) in Asia: Insights into the Present and Future Climate Projections Within and Beyond Extant Boundaries, experts have advised the need for strategic conservation actions, including establishing protected areas and creating transboundary wildlife corridors to reconnect fragmented habitats and maintain genetic diversity among populations. A new roadmap identifies 18 critical corridors across the clouded leopard's range. This study also tells that clouded leopards often coexist with larger predators by adjusting their activity patterns and using arboreal spaces effectively playing hide-and-seek to avoid direct encounters. In Manas National Park, Assam, researchers found a density of about 1.73 individuals per 100 km², revealing their preference for dense, canopy-rich forests.
Borneo Post
08-06-2025
- General
- Borneo Post
Paving way for progress – Balancing development with conservation in Sabah's road networks
A Bornean elephant grazing in the wild. This regular op-ed column features WWF-Malaysia's perspectives on pressing environmental issues and events unfolding in Sabah. As an environmental conservation NGO, we also use this space to share our views on potential policy shifts that Sabah's leaders can implement to foster a greener and more sustainable future for the state. Sabah is a land renowned for its lush nature and wildlife. Today, more than ever, the state stands at a critical juncture where the imperative for socioeconomic advancement with infrastructure development must be carefully balanced – with environmental and biodiversity conservation. Roads and highways are arteries for progress. They facilitate trade and transport of goods, improve access to healthcare and education, and create better employment opportunities. However, the recent tragic death of a baby elephant on Mother's Day in Gerik, Perak, serves as a stark reminder of the dire consequences when infrastructure development proceeds without adequate consideration for biodiversity safeguards. The death of the baby elephant hit by a lorry highlights the pressing need for a paradigm shift in approaching road construction in ecologically sensitive regions like Sabah. The impact of roads and highways on large species such as elephants is of particular concern. Elephants have large home ranges. They are known to feed along road shoulders due to the abundance of grass fodder found there. In Peninsular Malaysia, a staggering 2,361 wild animals have been killed by vehicles since 2020 (including eight elephants). In Sabah, the first known road accident involving elephants was reported in 2022. As Sabah plans for more roads and highway projects such as the Pan Borneo highway that criss-cross wildlife habitat over the next few years, we can expect more wildlife-vehicle collisions and human-wildlife conflict. Creating a safe coexistence between humans and wildlife To prevent such wildlife-vehicle collisions, we need to create wildlife-friendly road infrastructure. Doing so requires wildlife data to determine locations of biodiversity hotspots so that the road can be aligned away. Where the roads must cross such hotspots, we need to construct wildlife-friendly road infrastructure. While this is obvious, ongoing projects do not have them. For instance, Phase 1B of the Pan Borneo Highway project connecting Ranau to Sandakan. The alignment and budget was finalised before biodiversity concerns were fully addressed. The result: a 13-kilometre stretch cutting through the Tawai Forest Reserve, a Class I Protection Forest. This vital forest is a sanctuary for highly endangered species, including Bornean elephants, Bornean orangutans, Bornean peacock pheasants, and Sunda clouded leopards. Under business as usual scenarios, in the absence of biodiversity safeguards, we will see roadkills on this new highway segment – exacerbating human-wildlife conflict, and posing a significant threat to these already vulnerable populations. Road users too are at risk, when they slam the breaks to avoid them. On the Pan Borneo Highway, the planned Phase 3 serves to enhance connectivity in Sabah's southern interior. The new road links the main towns of Tawau and Keningau via the remote districts of Kalabakan and Pensiangan. While it ultimately improves access and supports drastically needed socio-economic development, the planned road alignment passes through vast intact Forest Reserves – habitats to many wildlife species. We can prevent future occurrence of roadkills with proper road alignment and provision of budget for wildlife-friendly infrastructure. Pan Borneo Phase 3 is still pending confirmation, therefore presenting us a critical and timely opportunity. This is Sabah's chance to design road infrastructure that truly coexists with our iconic wildlife and minimises its environmental footprint. The technical know-how is already there. Just recently on 6–9 May 2025, the Sabah Wildlife Department hosted a workshop on constructing wildlife-friendly infrastructure in Maliau Basin. The workshop was co-organised by WWF-Malaysia, the Center for Large Landscape Conservation, and the IUCN WCPA/SSC Asian Elephant Transport Working Group. The meeting featured an IUCN's 'Handbook to Mitigate the Impacts of Roads and Railways on Asian Elephants', and sought to enhance collective understanding and foster multi-stakeholder collaboration in addressing the impacts of linear infrastructure on wildlife. One of the key objectives of the workshop was to provide recommendations for Phase 3 of the Pan Borneo Highway Project. Workshop participants reached a clear consensus on the need to integrate environmental screening assessments early in road planning to avoid environmentally sensitive areas and ensure effective mitigation measures. These measures include wildlife-friendly crossing structures such as viaducts and overpasses, anti-poaching safeguards, and speed management measures like rumble strips, speed cameras, optical speed bars, and electronic message signs, particularly in high-risk wildlife crossing zones. Additionally, proper motorist alert signage is essential to ensure the safe movement of both wildlife and road users. Wildlife-Friendly Infrastructure: Applying the Mitigation Hierarchy In 2023, WWF-Malaysia introduced the training module, Green Roads and Highways: Protecting Biodiversity, followed by the Green Budgeting Checklist in 2024. This initiative results from a collaboration between the Ministry of Works Malaysia, WWF-Malaysia and Aurecon Group, aimed at mainstreaming environmental considerations in road and highway projects. The IUCN Guidelines mentioned above provide invaluable practical resources on elephants. In essence, all road and highway development projects should apply the mitigation hierarchy to manage environmental impacts responsibly. First, using topography maps and wildlife data, efforts must focus on avoiding sensitive areas such as high conservation value (HCV) forests, water catchments, steep slopes, and key biodiversity zones. Second, where avoidance isn't possible, impacts should be minimised by realigning routes. Third, in biodiversity hotspots, mitigation measures — like viaducts, culverts, and canopy bridges — can then help reduce harm and maintain connectivity. Finally, affected areas should be restored through habitat rehabilitation and reconnection. This comprehensive approach supports both biodiversity conservation and sustainable infrastructure development. Far too often, it is only when roadkill has occurred 'too' frequently, and brought into media attention, that environmental experts are brought in to undertake damage control. By then, it's too late to influence road alignments or the design of critical wildlife crossings. Road construction, causing upwards to tens of billions of Ringgit, always involves well-planned and budgetary development, involving multiple layers of decision-making and approval processes. We fervently hope that guiding principles, such as those mentioned above and insights gleaned from dedicated workshops, will constitute part of early decision-making, so that the final approved plan contains all the necessary attributes in ensuring a wildlife friendly infrastructure. For sustainable infrastructure projects in Sabah to succeed, early involvement from all relevant government agencies is vital to integrate environmental and biodiversity concerns. Equally important are robust budgets for environmental and social safeguards, covering pre-construction wildlife assessments, temporary barriers, construction safeguards, and long-term monitoring. Every future road project must include a thorough Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA). This ensures long-term economic viability by factoring in not just immediate costs, but also potential environmental liabilities, social impacts, and the intrinsic value of natural heritage. Through early intervention, comprehensive CBA, meticulous planning, dedicated environmental budgeting, and strong political will, we can build roads that serve the people without sacrificing Sabah's irreplaceable forests and diverse wildlife. Strategically avoiding environmentally sensitive areas also leads to more climate-resilient and cost-effective infrastructure. WWF-Malaysia and NGOs like Coalition 3H are ready to collaborate, offering wildlife information and input to inform future infrastructure planning with agencies like the Public Works Department (JKR) to help inform future infrastructure planning and decision-making processes. By embracing a collaborative and forward-thinking approach, Sabah can demonstrate to the world that economic development and environmental stewardship are not mutually exclusive but can be mutually reinforcing. The path to progress in Sabah must be paved with asphalt and a profound respect for nature. Moving forward, WWF-Malaysia is calling for a strong commitment from government agencies to ensure the survival of Sabah's iconic wildlife is a priority in all future infrastructure planning.
The Guardian
21-05-2025
- The Guardian
‘My parents were crazy wildlife people': meet the safari guide helping tourists experience Sri Lanka's wild side
More than 2,000 years ago, a large Buddhist community settled in the Yala region of Sri Lanka at the island's southern tip. Temples were built, water holes dug and big areas of forest cleared for grazing, creating a huge monastic complex, parts of which survive today. Hundreds of years later, when the community went into decline, it left behind a landscape ideal for herbivores such as water buffalo and spotted deer. And where herbivores thrive, carnivores follow. Today Yala national park, Sri Lanka's first nature reserve, hosts one of the densest populations of leopards on Earth. At dawn and dusk, they stalk wild boar and sambar deer, before pouncing at a breakneck sprint. Living alongside them are countless insect and bird species, plus 43 other types of mammal from mighty elephants and buffalos to jackals, crocodiles and the endangered sloth bear. There's a home for them all in the reserve's vast and biodiverse landscape, stretching from coastal dunes to monsoon forest. In all, Yala covers 1,300 sq kms (500 sq miles) and areas are increasingly being opened to visitors. Hilton Yala Resort Travellers keen to explore this beautiful place will be hard pressed to find a more knowledgable and enthusiastic guide than Sajith Withanage, head ranger at Hilton Yala Resort, a hotel wonderfully sited at the edge of the national park with stunning views of the Indian Ocean. Withanage credits his parents with instilling his love of Yala. 'They were crazy wildlife people,' he recalls. As a baby, he would be driven to see the park's colony of Sri Lankan elephants in his family's Austin A30 car. It is perhaps not surprising that he chose to study natural sciences, and was then offered a job at Sri Lanka's Department of Wildlife Conservation. 'But my dad said: 'Sajith, if you join the department you'll be happy, but you'll never get close to the animals while you're holding a fancy camera.'' So he followed his heart and headed to game parks in Africa to train as a professional guide, honing his understanding of safety, ethics and tracking through the Field Guides Association of Southern Africa. The reserve is sited on lands originally settled by a Buddhist community, and is home to a wide range of wildlife Today he and his team take guests from Hilton Yala Resort on day or half-day safari adventures to explore different areas of Yala, often heading off the beaten track in search of wildlife. 'Hilton Yala Resort commits to an ethical kind of Sri Lankan safari,' says Withanage, rather than racing around to spot species, telephoto lens in hand. 'That's not a wildlife experience.' 'In Yala you see how nature is a symbiosis of different species, landscapes and trees,' says Withanage Yala is divided into blocks to make it easier to manage. 'Block one is geographically stunning because it's right next to the coastal belt,' says Withanage. 'We have open grasslands, bush, dunes, then brackish inlets, freshwater lakes, waterholes.' A Noah's Ark of wildlife treads the diverse topography here. The park's 300 resident elephants shoulder through the undergrowth. Each one consumes up to 150kg of plants a day – about twice the weight of an average human. Watch out for reptiles – there are nearly 50 species including the Sri Lankan flying snake, which can glide down from the treetops, making serpentine swishes in mid-air. They're non-venomous but can still cause an almighty shock. Withanage will often pause with his groups at lakes dug out more than 2,000 years ago for the Buddhist monks. Here, from the safety of their safari truck, guests may see mugger crocodiles, camouflaged in the shallows, waiting to ambush grey langur monkeys. Leopards too are known to stalk prey that have stopped to drink. 'Safari-chic' in the hotel's rooms At dawn or dusk, Withanage and his Hilton ranger colleagues take guests into block six, the park's most recently opened section. Monsoon rains and varied wetlands make it Grand Central Terminal for almost 200 species of bird. These include the long-tailed Sri Lanka sharma, endemic to the country and known for its loud and vibrant song. The largest bird is the spot-billed pelican, which belly flops in on wings up to 2.5 metres wide, then scoops up fish, frogs and crustaceans in an enormous pinkish bill. 'In Yala you see how nature is a symbiosis of different species, landscapes and trees,' says Withanage. From the resort, guests can visit ancient Buddhist temples and authentic local villages For even more wildlife, the resort runs tours to Bundala national park, a wetland an hour's drive away that is a bird watcher's paradise and important winter sanctuary for migratory birds. The Hilton Yala Resort itself promotes a nature-first philosophy so that it and its guests live in harmony with their surroundings. Wastewater is recycled into the bio-pond that hosts birds and reptiles. Soap is re-processed then gifted to local communities. The hotel restaurant, Lanthaaruma, prides itself on serving locally caught yellowfin tuna in a fairytale beach setting, illuminated by storm lamps and sunsets. The 42 guest rooms feature safari-chic decor including ceiling fans and contemporary wildlife art. Guests can write their own jungle book by logging species, such as the langurs swinging through arjuna trees. And when it's time to relax in the hotel's serene setting, there's a pool featuring tree-dotted mini islands. Withanage and his colleagues know exactly where to find local wildlife such as langur monkeys With sustainability at the resort's core, ayurvedic toiletries are sourced from Sri Lanka's leading herbal supplier and the spa uses natural oils in treatments such as abhyanga, a traditional rhythmic massage said to rub away stagnant energy. If you can be tempted away from safari-ing, there are many other ways to deepen your experience of this part of the world. 'The resort is like an activity hub with so much to do,' says Withanage, mentioning dune hikes, bush walks, stargazing and visits to ancient Buddhist temples and authentic local villages. And not forgetting the magical coral reef a little way off shore … the protected Great Basses Reef shelters a shipwreck dating back to the Mughal empire, from which silver rupees and brass cannons were recovered in the 1960s. The wreck is guarded by green turtles and surgeonfish, all in dive-friendly shallows. 'You get a little bit of history, a little bit of nature,' says Withanage. Just like in his beloved Yala national park. Discover Southeast Asia and Hilton Yala Resort today
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists capture astonishing first-of-its-kind footage from the point of view of wild leopards: 'An intimate glimpse'
Scientists have captured remarkable footage showing the world through the eyes of wild leopards, giving us an exciting new way to protect one of India's most misunderstood animals. The Wildlife Institute of India has successfully used camera collars on leopards for the first time in the country, in Maharashtra's Junnar region, News18 reported. The project offers a unique view into how leopards navigate their world, particularly in areas where they live close to humans. WII scientist Bilal Habib and his team collected three months of video footage that will help researchers understand leopard behavior in sugarcane fields, where the cats often hide. This technology is an advancement in wildlife research, evolving past traditional radio collars to see what the animals see. These camera collars can change how we manage human-wildlife conflicts in agricultural communities. For the people of Junnar, located about 90 kilometers (56 miles) from the city of Pune, this research could help reduce dangerous encounters with leopards. Last year alone, seven people lost their lives in leopard incidents over just eight months. By understanding how leopards use the landscape, researchers can develop better safety measures for both the cats and local farmers. The video footage helps conservationists design more effective solutions like properly placed solar fencing, which protects families while allowing leopards to thrive in their natural habitat. "We have video footage that was recorded by the camera collar over a period of the last three months. We will analyze the data (that will be helpful to understand the behavior of leopards)," said Habib, who is leading the project. The team has been working in Junnar since 2019 and has identified 14 leopards in the area, with 13 receiving traditional radio collars and one getting the experimental camera collar. "For the first time in India, a camera collar has captured the world through the eyes of a wild leopard," Habib shared on social media, per News18. "This groundbreaking footage offers an intimate glimpse into the life and landscape of one of India's most elusive big cats — a remarkable step forward in blending science, technology, and conservation for deeper understanding and coexistence." Do you worry about air pollution in and around your home? Yes — always Yes — often Yes — sometimes No — never Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Times
10-05-2025
- Times
This is the perfect country for your first (easy) family adventure
When the alarm rang at 4.45am I wasn't sure I wanted to go throughwith it. We were up at sparrow's (Sri Lanka junglefowl's?) fart for a morning safari in Yala, a 378 sq mile national park that is in parts tussocky, woody and lagoony, in the southeast of the south Asian nation. Leopards were on our mind. During the game drive we'd done the afternoon before we'd glimpsed the rear of one of the 350 or so that live in the area, but that blink-and-you'll-miss-it look had left quite a lot to the imagination. Yala was where I was spending the second part of a week-long family trip to Sri Lanka, which would take my husband, our five-year-old and me on an easy loop from Colombo to Yala, via tea plantations in the Kalutara Highlands southeast of the capital; the gorgeous south coast beaches; and the fortified city of Galle, founded by Portuguese colonists in the 16th century. This was a holiday that had been building for some time. Our son had finally started primary school, which had the twin advantages of the end of crucifying nursery fees and the appetite for a bit more soft adventure, the sort we enjoyed when child-free. Sri Lanka seemed to tick the boxes: not too gnarly, survivable jet lag (5.5 hours time difference) and varied enough to get a flavour of it in a short period of time. I tried not to think about how much easier a lovely Greek all-inclusive might be with a young child as I packed bug spray and anti-sickness tablets. There was proper coffee waiting outside our tent at Kulu Safaris — and hot chocolate for Samuel — which we sipped as dawn began to break and our synapses began to fire. By the time we arrived at the Galge gate at Yala's Block Five area, it was bright and warm, and I had adopted my best jolly mum voice to ramp up the enthusiasm for this wild scavenger hunt. Leopards, I trilled! Crocodiles! Painted storks! Yala, the second-largest national park in Sri Lanka, is made up of five separate 'blocks' — enclosed conservation areas so leopard numbers can be tracked. Block One has the highest number of leopards, but as a result is often unbearably busy in peak season. So Block Five it was. • Best hotels in Sri Lanka Four hours later, bouncing across mud tracks in the Jeep in moves that threatened my pelvic floor, we'd still not seen more than a leopard's flank dashing across the path. Some days are like that, sighed Praba Premasiri, our Tamil guide — which to me seemed like an important lesson in life, let alone in the art of safari. But we had gawped at an elephant sticking its trunk into another safari-goer's breakfast (there was some tutting from our vehicle about only eating outside the park), at hundreds of grey langur monkeys and a crocodile with its mouth wide open like it was smiling, so there was that. There were also hundreds of peacocks trying to seduce peahens, plus gazelles, and a fat mongoose scurrying up a tree, which appealed to my middle-aged tastes. Ooh, look, I said to my five-year-old, an eagle with something in his mouth! But he was asleep in the front seat. We'd have seen more in Africa, most likely. But there a family safari typically costs thousands more and involves a complicated mix of flights and transfers, plus privately I thought the shattering emptiness of the savannah is wasted on the young. To capture the attention span of a reception-aged kid and his knackered parents, Yala was pretty unbeatable as an entry-level wildlife experience. Back at base, a breakfast of Sri Lankan hoppers (pancakes), coconut sambol, honey and buffalo curd was waiting — thrillingly, 30 metres up in Kulu's treehouse, reached bya set of rickety wooden stairs. It overlooks a lagoon with scary-looking signs warning of crocodiles. Storks flew across the water, lily pads swayed and monkeys jostled for position in the rosewood trees, which only I noticed as the other two were playing Uno No Mercy and I Spy. • Read our full guide to Sri Lanka We'd spent the first two days in Sri Lanka acclimatising in the Kalutara Highlands, two hours (ish) outside Colombo, staying at Glenross Living, a 19th-century Scottish hillside mansion turned wellness hotel buried in a tropical tangle of tea, cinnamon and rubber plantations. This provided an education, the type my son thought he'd left behind for the spring term: we learnt that Sri Lanka is the world's fourth-largest exporter of tea, that rubber produced here is used for latex and tyres — and small bouncy balls that he wouldn't let go of for the next week — and that cinnamon tea is a far superior sharpener than Earl Grey. Samuel learnt how to tap a rubber tree on a walk around the 98-acre estate; the adults blissed out to the heavenly scent of cinnamon as we napped overlooking misty hills of fern and ivy. Over breakfast on Glenross's terrace on our first morning we ogled Bengal monitor lizards slithering up the coconut trees, were deafened by chapping geckos and later sat silently as lightning struck the hills opposite and thunder rumbled over the heritage building. Our home in southeast London felt a galaxy away. Welcome to the tropics, kid. After the Kalutara Highlands it was on to Yala for a couple of days — an easy five-hour drive along an empty, new highway, marvelling at lush palm tree groves, lagoons and road signs warning that peacocks were ahead — and the south coast beaches to finish our Sri Lankan trinity. By the time we reached the hippy beach town of Mirissa, between Galle and Tangalle, we were all in need of a bit of doing nothing, and so gratefully flopped beside the 42m-long saltwater pool at Sri Sharavi Beach Villas & Spa. If I were 21 and could still fit into my elephant harem trousers, I'd love the town's main drag of backpacker joints, cheap spas and cafés called things like Sunset Bar, Lost Paradise and Coconut Kitchen. As it was, three days of doing pulse-slowing activities, such as eating Sri Lankan chicken lamprais, a sort of fried rice wrapped in a banana leaf, for lunch, picking up king coconuts and frangipani flowers from the sand and playing volleyball in the pool, where the only wildlife was other people's children, were just right. Well, we were almost doing nothing. I'm not the sort to take it easy, even on holiday. One morning we kicked things up a gear with a morning cycle ride with Idle Bikes, taking on an eight-mile loop around the paddy fields on the outskirts of Galle, laughing at egrets balancing on water buffaloes' horns as they lolled in big puddles (adults £15, children £8; Another night we took a gentle boat trip around Garadu Gaga lake, stopping in the middle to explore an island that looked like it belonged in Enid Blyton's The Faraway Tree and to nudge mimosa flowers, which would close coyly when touched. We knew dusk by the bats that would wake up shrieking (relatable, I thought) and fly in their thousands across the water, darkening the sky above us. Samuel made all the right noises but I think he was secretly more taken with the four pigeons living on our hotel balcony. We had timed our visit with Sri Lankan new year (next year on April 14), which meant fireworks and sundowners at one of the bars along the beach, Lantern@71 (cocktails from £8; It was one of those perfect parenting moments — drinking something boozy with a straw in it, watching your kid and husband kick a ball about in the sand as the sun dripped into the sea. And as in the UK, we were still blissfully asleep by 10pm. • 13 of the best Sri Lanka tours Had we stayed in Sri Lanka longer, we would have explored the cultural triangle in the centre of the country, encompassing the ancient cities of Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Kandy plus the Unesco sites of Sigiriya rock fortress and the cave temples at Dambulla. I'd have liked to have taken the train from Kandy to Ella; and one day perhaps see more than just leopard puzzle pieces. Perhaps that was just too adventurous. Our week looping around southern Sri Lanka's highlights was ideal. The five-year-old survived. So did his Adams was a guest of Stubborn Mule, which has seven nights' half-board from £2,702pp, including flights, transport, tours and some extra meals (
