The Forest Was Alive. I Was Numb.

I should be excited. Seven grey-shanked douc langurs, alive where we thought there was nothing left. The kind of find that gets you published, quoted, maybe even funded. But all I remember is the ache in my legs and the silence in the tent after the fieldwork, staring at my notes, wondering if any of this will matter. We tell ourselves these discoveries mean hope. That they justify the months away, the missed calls, the grant rejections piling up in my inbox. But the truth is, every time I write "urgent need for conservation," I feel like I’m screaming into a void. The forest is vanishing faster than I can document it. I want to care. I do. But some days, the only thing I discover is how tired I am. #ScienceFatigue #ConservationBurnout #FieldworkTruths #Science