Ford Extends Its Claws

RESEARCH: PARTNERS WITH CAPE LEOPARD TRUST

- Jim Freeman

Leopards are reclusive by nature, but those in the Western Cape are much harder to spot than the species elsewhere in South Africa because they are fewer in number, have far greater roaming areas, and also because their domain is largely inaccessible to man and vehicle.

These are three reasons why the Cape Leopard Trust (CLT) has partnered with the Ford Wildlife Foundation in their studies to determine the number and behavior patterns of animals in the Boland Mountain Complex (BMC), which covers about 2,500km².

A group of us joined trust researchers at Klipbokkop Mountain Reserve outside Worcester this week to see firsthand just how difficult their task is to perform.

Overall leopard numbers are low, as indicated by their "vulnerable" status on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list of endangered species.