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Catching leopards is seldom easy, but this year it has been especially difficult. At present we have three male leopards collared in the Rooiberg area, and I am hoping to capture and collar three more this year. Thus far the trapping has not been successful, but at the end of June we had a very close call with the capture of a young male leopard close to the Huisrivier Pass.

I received a call from Mr. Louis Smit, who has been very kindly monitoring the trap on his property, saying that there was something in the trap. Expecting to find a caracal, I was delighted to see that we had actually captured a leopard!

Twenty five years ago, a young man passionate about conserving leopards in the Cape mountains, studied the leopards in the Cederberg. His name is Peter Norton. Peter did some groundbreaking work on one of the most difficult animals to study, despite having the limitations of what we would now call "antiquated" tracking equipment. He collared and tracked 3 male leopards using VHF radio collars and found their ranges to be about 50 square kilometres. Apart from these data, he also collected extremely valuable data on leopard diet in various mountain habitats in the Cape. In total, 6 scientific publications were derived from his studies - these were the studies which formed the basis of my study on leopards in the Cederberg 8 years ago. Every bit I wrote had a reference of his somewhere. It was his work that was one of the motivating factors that led me to do my PhD.

The Cederberg leopard project requires the immediate assistance of volunteers willing to spend a minimum of a week at a time helping out. Preference is for singles or couples who can cover their own costs including transport to the Cederberg, accommodation and food (camping or reasonably priced fixed accommodation). Interested parties can contact Quinton:

In March this year, we started the first ever systematic camera trap survey of the Gouritz area. With support from the WWF Green Trust, UCT and Energizer, we were able to set up 68 cameras in the area, a far cry from the 12 cameras that were used in 2010! The aim is eventually to survey a 3000 km2 area from the Swartberg Mountains to south of the Rooiberg and Gamkaberg Mountains.

Obviously the main aim of the survey is to produce the first ever estimate of the size and density of the leopard population in the region, but as always leopards are merely the tip of the iceberg. This is by far the largest faunal biodiversity survey ever to be undertaken in this area, and we hope to gather information on a wide range of animals. In addition to surveying the mountainous areas where we know that leopards occur, we are also extending the survey to cover low-lying areas in between the mountains. This may uncover hitherto unknown leopard movement corridors through these areas. A survey of low-lying habitat may also identify species that don't share habitat with leopards, which will consequently need to be conserved and managed separately to those that live under the leopards 'umbrella'.

The Cape Leopard Trust and UCT's Animal Demography Unit are collaborating on an exciting new project in which you can take part. We are developing a Virtual Museum for Mammals (VIMMA), a website where the public can contribute photos of mammal species in southern Africa.

VIMMA consists of digital photographic records of mammals along with accurate geographical coordinates of where the pictures were taken. Register for a Virtual Museum (VM) account and start uploading your pictures (be it photos taken on a family holiday in a National Park, on a walk on Table Mountain, or a camera trap photo). As the saying goes - "a picture is worth a thousand words". Many animals have individually identifiable markings on their pelts, one can determine sex, activity patterns and sometimes record interesting behaviour from photos. So, by submitting your photos you will act as a citizen scientist!

One of the most important items sponsored by the NLDTF is a 21-seater Mercedes Sprinter bus. This makes a huge difference, as transport has been one of the main problems groups have faced when wanting to participate in the programme. The vehicle will be used for taking groups on camps to the Cederberg as well as educational day trips in the Cape Peninsula and Boland mountains, where a Cape Leopard Trust research project is underway.

In mid-June, Quinton, Elizabeth and I spent a week at Phinda Nature Reserve in northern KwaZulu-Natal. The purpose of our trip was to exchange knowledge and ideas with the team from the Mun-Ya-Wana Leopard Project, a Panthera project (www.panthera.org). This project has been running for nearly 10 years, during which time they have captured and collared over 70 leopards. While the area and environment are a world away from the harsh mountains of the Western Cape, we hoped to learn some lessons that could be applied in our respective study areas as well.

Obviously one of the aspects of the Phinda team’s work that we were particularly interested in was their method of capturing leopards. Both Quinton and I have received trapping training from Dairen Simpson, a professional trapper who travels the world capturing animals for conservation and research projects. Dairen has developed the innovative, effective and extremely safe ‘footloop trap’ method, which is now regarded as the best live-trapping method available. While Quinton and I were both trained relatively recently, Dairen has worked at Phinda on a number of occasions, and the team there are thus very experienced in the use of footloop traps.

The Black Eagle Project was initiated in 2011 by Megan Murgatroyd, a postgraduate student from the Animal Demography Unit (ADU ) at the University of Cape Town in collaboration with the Cape Leopard Trust. The Black Eagle Project’s research will focus on the effects of land use on the diet and hunting habits of the Black eagle (Aquila verreauxii). Research will take place in the Cederberg Mountains, which remain relatively pristine and the Sandveld, which has undergone extensive land conversion for agriculture. The outcomes of the project will enable an assessment of the effects land use has had on the Black eagle and its primary prey, the rock hyrax  (Procavia capensis).

Please follow this link to view the Black Eagle Project website and stay updated on Meg’s fascinating study: http://www.blackeagleproject.blogspot.com/

The end of April 2011 marked the conclusion of the four month Boland southern survey, which was conducted in the Jonkershoek and Hottentots-Holland Nature Reserves, the Kogelberg Biospere Reserve, as well as privately owned mountain land adjacent to this core area.

The majestic peaks of the southern Boland Mountains. a) Assegaaiboschkloof from Bergrivernek; b) Landdroskop from the Shamrock hut; c) False Bay from Landdroskop neck; d) Simonsberg from Square Tower Peak.