Leopard Research on Welgevonden - Introduction

Leopards are frequently found on private land outside national parks in South Africa. It is in these areas that leopards come into conflict with humans and are regularly shot in retaliation to game and livestock losses. Large carnivores have disappeared from areas of high human density and the species most exposed to human conflict are the most prone to extinction. In this respect, private reserves play an important role in the replenishment of impacted free ranging leopard populations.

On the other hand private reserves can be seen as source of constant “problem” animals for livestock and game farmers. It is thus of vital importance to understand the ecology of leopards on private reserves and their relationship to their immediate environment.

A leopard research project has been established on Welgevonden, and is being conducted by Lourens Swanepoel from the Centre for Wildlife Management at the University of Pretoria. The project will be used as a PhD study and will continue for two years. The objectives of this study are to determine the:

1. Population characteristics of leopards: age classes, size of leopards, population composition, population density, reproduction, mortality rate, population regulation
2. Home range and movement of leopards: daily movement of leopards, exploratory movements, movement patterns and home ranges, home range characteristics, home range occupancy, seasonal movements
3. Activity and habitat use of leopards: nocturnal versus diurnal movement, forms of activity, daily activity pattern, factors affecting activity, habitat availability, habitat use
4. Feeding ecology of leopards: method of killing of prey, behaviour at kills, feeding behaviour, savaging, diet, kill rates, impact on prey populations
5. Social organization or leopards: degree of sociality, land tenure system, spatio-temporal relationship among leopards, territories
6. Importance of the Welgevonden leopards to the stability of the leopard population in the Waterberg: recruitment of outside leopards, dispersal of Welgevonden leopards to the outside, impact of Welgevonden leopards on neighboring properties

Individual leopards will be identified with the use trip cameras, where after selected animals will be caught and fitted with GPS/GSM collars to track their movement and determine their habitat use of the reserve.

The project was launched in May 2008, so it is still in early stages, but excellent results are expected.

Click here for progress reports & photos taken from the trip cameras