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SA 4x4 magazine were out in the Cederberg for a weekend recently – Patrick Cruywagen was the man on the scene. Note there will be an extensive article on our project in next month’s edition of this outdoor 4x4 magazine.

We are particularly pleased to see that the 4x4 public are obviously interested in conservation in our country.

The CLT are pleased to have facilitated the sponsored of an Anatolian Shepherd Dog to Gerrie Mathee, one of the local Gamka farmers who has experienced leopard problems in the past. He was very excited to receive “Woofie” who is now employed to safeguard Gerrie’s goats.

We visited the Gamka/Swartberg in December to look at potential camera trapping sites for the project. An area of 100 000ha was divided up into grids cells of about 5000ha each and areas within these were identified as potential camera trapping sites. Leigh & her assistants (Johnny from Cape Nature & Fiona Pamplin) went to set up cameras later in January, identifying suitable locations to try capture leopard photographs. The results...

Six leopards in six months!!

GPS collar data from the leopards in the Cederberg are revealing fascinating information on the ecology of these elusive animals. M11, the adult male leopard collared in Houdini’s territory last year, has taken over the exact same area Houdini patrolled.

We have managed to track this male on foot a number of times now using telemetry equipment, however, he is certainly not as confident and “visible” as Houdini was. It seems almost certain now that that old cat, Houdini, is no longer. Unless he has pulled yet one more trick over us, he may well have succumbed to one of his favourite prey items, namely, porcupines. A strategically embedded quill from one of these animals has often seen the downfall of even the largest African carnivore.

University of Bristol
Quinton is working hard on his PhD – this along with the 2 new projects has kept him pretty busy of late. The following year will be spent working with the substantial amount of data captured on leopards in the Cederberg over the past 5 years. If he doesn’t respond to e-mails within a week or 2 of it being sent, it’s because of an inordinate workload and not a lack of interest.

The Cape Leopard Trust (CLT) has lost its first collared female leopard – due to natural causes.

F6 (or “skinny legs” as she was known by children visiting the project) was found dead at the base of a steep cliff in the Cederberg Mountains. It appears she had been hunting on a treacherous slope where she miscalculated a charge, and fell to her death.

Quinton Martins, project manager of the CLT has been tracking this leopard for over 3 years now. After a leopard tracking flight with the Bateleurs, he managed to determine from the GPS collar data that F6 had not moved from an area for some time. “I knew that the collar had either come off or she was dead – I really hoped it was the former” A long hike into this rough terrain provided the dreaded answer.

DAAR word ook nou ’n groot poging aangewend om die geheimenisse van die luiperds van die Gamkaskloof (Die Hel) te ontrafel.

“Ons is besig om kameras in CapeNature se Gamkaskloof- en Gamkaberg-reservaat te installeer om meer van die luiperds hier te wete te kom,” het me. Leigh Potter van die Cape Leopard Trust gesê.

Dié projek, wat in 2003 deur Quintin Martins in die Cederberge begin is, is verlede Oktober uitgebrei na die Gamkaskloof en Gamkaberg, wat deel vorm van die Gourits-megapark. Martins is die projekbestuurder en Potter die assistent-projekbestuurder wat in die twee reservate woon en werk.

Dear Cape Leopard Trust supporters,
it is our pleasure to once again fill you in on all the latest news and developments on our project. We hope you enjoy reading it. Please remember to contact us if you have any questions concerning the project or these stunning felids.

We would also like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. If you are travelling by car, please drive safe, be patient and don't get too bugged with the impatient drivers out there. Enjoy the wonderful landscapes we have instead...

We can hardly believe that it is almost the end of another successful year with the Cape Leopard Trust. There has been steady progress with the project and all facets of our mandate are being fulfilled, namely conservation, research and education. We have begun with the expansion of the project, moving into the Swartberg/Gamkaberg Corridor as well as a strong possibility of working in Namaqualand. The Trust has also appointed a new assistant project manager for the Swartberg Project, Leigh Potter, who started at the beginning of October.

We have finally got all the vehicle branding done on Witblits. Our main vehicle sponsor Leopard’s Leap will be clear for all to see as well as our fuel sponsor, EcoAire, Market Toyota and Toyota SA who have come on board with the vehicle sponsorship. Rand Merchant Bank Fund, our other main sponsor of this vehicle, has chosen not to advertise on our vehicle as this may result in it being a hijack target with criminals thinking we are transporting cash. It is sad that crime in SA has become so bad. Perhaps we need to keep a leopard in the vehicle to keep it safe…

With leopard cage traps designed by Cape Nature’s Jaco van Deventer and built (& sponsored) by FlexiPave, we have targeted a number of leopards to collar in the Cederberg in order to fulfil the requirement of a statistically significant sample size - a minimum of six adult males and six adult females within the study area. We have had 9 leopard captures this year alone. Two females and three males were collared and one male (Johan) was re-collared. Most recently, we captured an adult male (M11) in Houdini’s area.

We last had signs of this charismatic cat (adopted by EcoAire’s Peter Turnbull) on the 28th May. He was fortunate enough to have his territory located in the Cederberg Conservancy for the two years we tracked him and where there were no chances of him being killed by any farmers. However, M11, after reviewing recent GPS data, looks to have taken over the whole of Houdini’s range, making it almost a certainty that Houdini is either dead, or has been kicked out of his area where we have no contact with his collar.