NHEG-July-August2022

NHEG WRITERS ARTICLES
Although their owners, armed with handguns and whips, tried to stop the mass escape, their efforts were
nearly useless in the tumult.[112] As Confederate troops raced to the scene, steamboats packed full of slaves
took off toward Beaufort.[114]
More than 750 slaves were rescued in the Combahee River Raid.[115][113] Newspapers heralded Tubman’s
“patriotism, sagacity, energy, [and] ability”,[116] and she was praised for her recruiting efforts – most of the
newly liberated men went on to join the Union army.[116] Tubman later worked with Colonel Robert Gould
Shaw at the assault on Fort Wagner, reportedly serving him his last meal.[117] She described the battle by
saying: “And then we saw the lightning, and that was the guns; and then we heard the thunder, and that was
the big guns; and then we heard the rain falling, and that was the drops of blood falling; and when we came
to get the crops, it was dead men that we reaped.”[118]
For two more years, Tubman worked for the Union forces, tending to newly liberated slaves, scouting into
Confederate territory, and nursing wounded soldiers in Virginia.[119] She also made periodic trips back to
Auburn to visit her family and care for her parents.[120] The Confederacy surrendered in April 1865; after
donating several more months of service, Tubman headed home to Auburn.[121]
During a train ride to New York in 1869, the conductor told her to move from a half-price section into the
baggage car. She refused, showing the government-issued papers that entitled her to ride there. He cursed at
her and grabbed her, but she resisted and he summoned two other passengers for help. While she clutched
at the railing, they muscled her away, breaking her arm in the process. They threw her into the baggage car,
causing more injuries. As these events transpired, other white passengers cursed Tubman and shouted for
the conductor to kick her off the train.[122] Her act of defiance became a historical symbol, later cited when
Rosa Parks refused to move from a bus seat in 1955.[123][124]”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Tubman
Harriet Tubman,
your legacy and dream continues,
until the day when slavery,
is abolished throughout the world.
The snow leopard is one of nature’s most beautiful creatures. As of 2021, the snow leopard is no longer considered an
July - August 2022
endangered species. However, the population is still at risk due to illegal poaching and the encroachment of society into the
cats’ habitat. So, although it has been moved from “endangered” to “vulnerable” on the Endangered Species list, the snow
leopard is still at risk. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the snow leopard is still on track to lose
over ten percent of its wild population over the next three generations.
The natural habitat of the snow leopard
is primarily in the mountainous areas of
Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan, and Pakistan.
Their defining features include a white pelt,
with a pattern of dark rosettes and spots.
Additionally, the leopard has a tail that is
longer than most other cats, in order to
assist with balance on steep mounds of
snow. Unfortunately, the snow leopard’s
distinctive coat makes it a prize for
poachers. The bones and other body parts
are also used in traditional Asian medicine.
Snow leopards are known to be extremely
elusive. Their territory spans over twelve
countries, and they live in snowy, mountainous terrain. This makes gathering data on the cat difficult. For this reason, the wild
snow leopard population is believed to be between 4,000 and 6,500 in number, and researchers are unable to narrow down that
number to a more specific figure.
In addition to poachers, snow leopards face a variety of other threats, including human encroachment on territory and
“retaliatory killings”--the leopards are killed by farmers in the area to protect their livestock. Due to humans pushing further
into their territory, snow leopards find it increasingly difficult to find food, not only due to industrialization, but because a snow
leopard’s prey is also hunted by the surrounding humans.
The Ghost of the Mountains
Written by: Erika S. Hanson
Snow leopards are capable of bringing down prey that is up to three times their own weight. A typical diet would include
blue sheep, Argali wild sheep, ibex, marmots, deer and other, smaller, animals. Because these animals are also consumed
by humans, the number of prey in these mountainous areas is dwindling, leading the snow leopards to attack local livestock
instead and the aforementioned retaliatory killings by farmers.
According to the Snow Leopard Trust, there has never been a verified instance of a snow leopard attacking a human. The Trust
focuses its efforts on protecting the snow leopard by partnering with local communities and creating incentives for those
communities to preserve snow leopards.
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