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Our hills have leopard eyes! ing in Limpopo, helping to protect rhinos as well as endangered cycads. He says the current ban on wildlife trade and consumption in China, in the wake of the Coronavirus, is “a wake-up call to governments” to do what they can to prevent animal trade in the future.
Writer Sarah Taylor
I
t’s confirmed: we are fortunate in Hermanus to have, as neighbours, a family of Cape Mountain Leopards. In the last two months, four sightings of the elusive felines have been picked up from remote motion-sensor field cameras in Fernkloof Nature Reserve, which contains part of the dramatic Kleinriviersberg, which soars to Maanskynkop at almost 1000m and plunges through rich, indigenous forests and across golden beaches into the Atlantic Ocean. The images were taken by three remote, motion-sensor-activated cameras set up in Fernkloof by the Landmark Foundation, a Riversdale-based non-governmental organisation, which focuses on the conservation of leopards and protection of the environment. Some of the images are clearer than others; some are just the blurry flash of a whisker as the elegant and curious creature passed by the camera. Other animals ‘captured’ on camera include honey badgers, baboons and small buck. The leopards found in the Cape mountains, whilst genetically the same, are almost half the size of leopards found elsewhere in Africa, with males weighing about 42 kg and females about 22 kg. However, their range is far wider, extending from 50 km² up to 1 000 km². They eat a range of food from dassies, to klipspringers and porcupines. They have spots known as rosettes, unique markings by which individual leopards can be identified. Last year in September, a female leopard (the mother of the cub pictured) was captured on the Langkloof Trout Farm east of Stanford by staff of the Landmark Foundation, and fitted with a satellite telemetry collar to enable her to be monitored via GPS locations. The data on her movement provided by the collar enables the Landmark Foundation to alert collaborative farmers in the area to her approach, so that livestock can be protected. The data gathered so far by Landmark shows her roaming from Raka Wine Farm across to the Fernkloof Nature Reserve. Dr Matthew Schurch, human wildlife conflict coordinator and researcher from Landmark,
Giorgio Lombardi, warden of Vogelgat Private Nature Reserve, which borders Fernkloof, and a member of the Hands off Fernkloof group, says: “The purpose of Fernkloof is to protect the flora and fauna of the Caledon region and that is what we stand for.” Hands off Fernkloof has been active since 2017, following a municipal Integrated Management Plan for the reserve, which proposed developments such as a zipline and astronomy centre, while the bypass plans which could cut into Fernkloof remain on the municipal books.
This image of a young Cape Mountain Leopard cub, estimated to be about 14 – 16 months old, was ‘captured’ by a remote field camera in Fernkloof Nature Reserve in the past month. PHOTO: Landmark Foundation/Vogelgat says leopards are considered vulnerable in southern Africa, facing the risk of extinction in the medium term, and in the Cape they are probably more correctly described as critically endangered. As with other large carnivores, they are threatened by the loss of habitat, human interference and the isolation of small populations. “Carnivore populations are critically important to maintaining healthy ecosystems. As top predators, the presence of large carnivores in an area has many important ecological consequences, such as the regulation of prey numbers, population control of mesopredators through competition, and maintenance of a functional biodiversity balance in the local community,” according to Schurch. The foundation has been involved in collaring leopards in the Eastern, Western and Northern Cape since 2007 in an attempt to gain greater insight into their spatial requirements in terms of territory and social dynamics, habitat selection and avoidances, genetic vigour, population density, hunting activity and management. The areas targeted for study include, amongst
others, the Garden Route, Overberg, Piketberg Mountains and Lower Orange River. Schurch says the monitoring of leopards is particularly important in areas outside of protected land. To date 33 leopards have been monitored using collars, and many more identified from the 300 monitoring cameras, with their movement and biology studied within different landscapes. “With the use of GPS collars, camera traps and DNA analysis, the population densities in the respective areas of focus can finally be determined. From the latest peer-reviewed papers, less than 500 leopards are estimated to exist in the Western Cape. This population is fragmented with less than 20 individuals in the Agulhus Plain, from Kleinmond to Cape Infanta. This indicates that the species desperately needs conservation priority and management in the region, and that its conservation status in the region is critically endangered,” says Bool Smuts of the Landmark Foundation. Arno Harmse, a new field ranger for the Overstrand Municipality, has worked in anti-poach-
PHOTOS: Sarah Taylor
ABOVE: The Landmark Foundation’s Matthew Schurch (left), citizen scientist/photographer Glynn Channer and new Overstrand Municipality ranger Arno Harms scouting for leopards above the mist around De Mond se Kop in Fernkloof Nature Reserve (MIDDLE). FAR RIGHT: Dr Matthew Schurch from the Landmark Foundation (left) and Giorgio Lombardi, warden of Vogelgat Private Nature Reserve, recording data while replacing a memory card in one of the remote movement-sensor cameras in Fernkloof Nature Reserve.
The reserve has been actively managed by the Hermanus Botanical Society for 60 years. In 2017, the society entered into a co-management agreement with the municipality, in which HBS cared for the buildings it had built, including the visitor’s centre and maintained the educational and informative flower displays. HBS has also taken care of the 60 km of hiking trails within the reserve. In 2018, HBS published the informative field guide, Fernkloof Nature Reserve, a celebration of 60 years of the reserve’s existence. It is a veritable love story of dedication to this 1 800-hectare treasure trove of the Cape Floral Kingdom, compiled by 16 volunteers – all HBS members. As custodians of nature, we as humans are responsible for ensuring that future generations also experience nature. We are lucky enough in Hermanus to have beautiful, richly diverse and protected wilderness areas around us where leopards roam on our mountain doorstop. We should do our utmost to protect this incredible biodiversity and find beneficial ways to live alongside nature. For more information about the Landmark Foundation, contact Bool Smuts on 083 324 3344 or bool@landmarkfoundation.org.za. If you have information on leopard sightings please contact Matthew Schurch on 076 795 1365 or matthew@landmarkfoundation.org.za.
