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Report by Leigh Potter

Leopards of Ladismith

We have had some amazing leopard photographs since putting up cameras on the Ladismith side of the Rooiberg Mountain.

At 9am on Saturday 21st March, the staff of the Cape Leopard Trust was met with an unusual sight in the Cederberg – a 60-seater bus. Our camp group from the Kouebokkeveld Training Centre had arrived. The group consisted of 17 students, 5 women and 12 men, ranging in age from 27 – 48 years with their two supervisors, Jacob Coetzee and Archie von Biljoen. The students, Archie told us, were farm workers, specially selected from commercial farms to take part in their agriculture course, based on their leadership potential. Many of them were already in managerial roles.

This was an important weekend, both in terms of the effect of the experience on the group, and of the potential for the Cape Leopard Trust to find a way to influence farming practices which lack a sense for the importance of maintaining a balanced eco system.

 Koue Bokkeveld Training Centre Photos 316.10 Kb

(see English translation below)

Ek het begin op die 6 Febuarie 2006 vir die CLT te werk. Die eerste dag het ek en Quinton 5h:00 vertrek om een van die luiperds op te spoor. Houdini was die luiperd se naam omdat hy self die hok oop gemaak het en ontsnap. Vir my was dit moeilik om luiperd op te spoor vir die eerste dag. Daarna het ons die cameras gaan sien wat in die veld op gestel is. Ek het besluit om dié werk te los. Maar ek het gedink om die geleentheid met al twee hande te gryp. Na drie maande het Quinton gesê dat ek voltyds vir die projek kan werk.

The Cape Leopard Trust’s Education and Outreach Programme officially began in January 2009. Elizabeth Martins (neé Bond) is co-ordinating the programme. “This is the beginning of a very exciting programme, with endless possibilities”, says Elizabeth. This Programme is primarily aimed at children, providing them with quality experiences that teach them more about the wilderness and themselves. Outlined below are the main thrusts of the Programme.

The Namaqua Project is fully funded by Conservation International (CI) and the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF). Thank you for this amazing support!

The CLT Namaqualand project has been quite something! About as extreme as the weather in the area, it has been through lows and has come through it all and is now on the road to success. It all started with our most magnificent leopard photo to date – that of a beautiful female leopard (Rachel) and her two cubs captured on film earlier in the year.

“That’s my track!” yelled Roonie in utter excitement. Ten children, fine Cederberg sand, swept smooth with a broom and Liz leading each one blind-folded round and round and then making a print with their shoe they would later need to identify. “This is an exercise in observation which is one of the focuses of this project” says Elizabeth Bond leader of the Cape Leopard Trust Children’s Education Project. “Each child successfully recognized their respective ‘spoor’ – something that would surely help them if they were lost and needed to find their way back…”