The snared leopard that was found on the Lourensford Wine Estate during September this year is alive and well.
During September, Biodiversity Management staff from the City of Cape Town’s Environmental Resource Management Department received a call from the manager of the Lourensford Wine Estate located on the Helderberg Mountain. A leopard had been caught in a snare thought to have been placed by illegal poachers, probably attempting to hunt small antelope species.
City Biodiversity Management staff responded immediately and the animal was sedated in order for it to be released from the snare and its wounds attended to. This was achieved with the assistance of Owen Wittridge of the City’s Biodiversity Management Branch and Dr Andrew Grey, a veterinarian from Drakenstein Veterinary Clinic.
The Cape Leopard Trust Boland Project team was also notified as the area where the animal had been caught was within their research study area.
The Cape Leopard Trust (CLT), established by Dr Quinton Martins, has partnered with the City’s Biodiversity Management branch for two years and has been involved in a camera trapping study of Cape Leopards (Panthera pardus) across the Boland Mountains, including portions of City-owned land.
The captured animal was fitted with a tracking collar so that its recovery can be closely monitored. The information received through the tracking collar will aid the Cape Leopard Trust in collecting invaluable information towards the CLT Boland Project’s research, which focuses on the abundance and habitat use of leopard in the Boland areas. It will also provide information about where these animals move, as well as about their behaviour and adaptability in areas of human habitation and activity.
Over the past weeks the young male leopard’s progress has been monitored closely. Data collected from the collar shows that it is moving across its range again, and a sighting of it has indicated that its wounds have healed completely.
This once again highlights the importance of partnerships between municipalities, the private sector, academic institutions and organisations.
For more information on the City’s Nature Reserves, visit www.capetown.gov.za/naturereserves
For more information on the Cape Leopards Trust and its projects, visit www.capeleopard.org.za
