Cape Leopard Trust's 2025 Camera – Trap survey unveils promising insights

THE Cape Leopard Trust (CLT) research team has completed a large-scale camera-trap survey of the Boland Mountain Complex (BMC), documenting 38 individual leopards 22 males, 11 females and 5 of unknown sex. At least two of the females were accompanied by cubs.

- STAFF REPORTER

The survey area stretches from Bainskloof in the north, through the Limietberg, Jonkershoek, Hottentots-Holland mountains and Groenlandberg, to the Kogelberg coast in the south overlapping both the Cape Winelands and Kogelberg Biosphere Reserves.

The CLT explained that they had previously conducted intensive surveys of the leopard population in the BMC during 2010 - 2012. These were the first extensive surveys of its kind in this region and provided a baseline leopard population density.

“Between May and September 2025, we conducted another resurvey of the BMC, mimicking the original survey design and making use of 90 paired camera trap stations spread across ~2500 km2 of mountain landscape. The survey encompassed four CapeNature and two City of Cape Town Nature Reserves, two other state-owned properties as well as 29 private properties surrounding these Protected Areas.”

They said the survey was not without its challenges, as flood damage to roads meant that some sites were no longer accessible by vehicle, resulting in some very long hikes (up to 25km!) for field teams.