A glimpse of spots. That may be all you’ve seen of a wild leopard, even if you are an avid game watcher. Counting these elusive cats is near impossible because of their nocturnal and solitary behaviour. The lone rangers of the bush, their swift pads move quietly and cleverly through coverage to escape curious human eyes. But their shy nature has not made them immune to strains on habitat, booking them a spot on the IUCN Red Species List as a near threatened species.
Which is why local NGO, the Wildlands Conservation Trust has endorsed the Northern Zululand Honorary Officers Leopard Project currently running in the recently gazetted Zululand Rhino Reserve near Mkhuze in Northern Zululand. The project, started by the Northern Zululand Honorary Officers of Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife two years ago, is an effort to protect these beautiful cats. ‘We need to collect baseline data in order to develop a conservation management plan for the leopards in this area. Very little is known of current populations of leopards, their numbers and distribution,’ says Roelie Kloppers, Biodiversity Management Support Programme Manager at the Wildlands Conservation Trust.
Leopard Project manager Shannon Chapman and her team use motion sensor cameras to estimate the leopard population of the area, identify individual resident cats and record leopard behaviour. The project has offered a peek into the mysterious lives of the reserve’s leopards. Using spot patterns Chapman has drawn up an identikit of each of the leopards captured and revealed things that are new even for the local rangers. Wildlands has donated a total of R25 000 towards the project in addition to sourcing an additional £6000 (R66 500) from the Global Nature Fund which will see the completion of the project on the reserve as well as the continuation of the project in the bordering Somkhanda Reserve.
The expansion of the project will also involve a community development and conservation education exercise as it moves to the community-run Somkhanda Reserve. Here assistants from the Gumbi community will be trained to continue the project alongside Chapman. ‘One of our prerequisites to supporting the project was that it should benefit the local community and be expanded by including the Somkhanda Reserve,’ says Kloppers.
Raising awareness about leopards, their nature and the areas they roam, it aims to change perceptions about the feline predators in such a way that the community will be able to recognise the cats as an asset to their reserve instead of a threat to cattle. ‘[The progress we’ve made] has been very exciting and we’ve learned unexpected things, so we are looking forward to the new challenges that Somkhanda will bring. The widening of the scope of the project is especially exciting,’ says Chapman.
Photos:
1. A lone male leopard rests on a termite mound – the cat’s favourite past time. It is unknown exactly how many leopards remain in Zululand and the cats have been placed on the IUCN Red Species List as a near threatened species. Picture: Stewart Nolan
2. Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife Honorary Officers Debbie Rodrigues (left) and Victor Meyer (center) assist Project Manager Shannon Chapman with a battery change at one of the camera traps. Picture: Dalena Van Jaarsveld
Caption
3. ‘Camera-trap’ pictures of the leopards being monitored in the Zululand Rhino Reserve – this one of a female and her cub. Leopards in KwaZulu-Natal are under threat from poachers who kill the cats for their valuable skins, which fetch high prices on the black market. Different body parts are also used for traditional medicines.
WILDTRUST (registered as the Wildlands Conservation Trust - IT No: 4329/1991/PMB)