Call for action to stop killing of leopards

THE Landmark Foundation has welcomed the Environment Department’s recent extension of the ban on leopard trophy hunting but has called for increased resources to help prevent leopards being killed in other ways.

The leopard is a protected species in South Africa and there has long been disagreement between government and conservation organisations when kill permits are allocated.

In its latest announcement, the department said it would be extending the zero-quota trophy hunting allocation that it put in place last year.

“The decision is based on the review of available scientific information on the status and recovery of leopard populations in South Africa,” departmental spokesman Moses Rannditsheni said.

Landmark leopard research manager Jeannine McManus said yesterday it was not clear how many leopard were left in South Africa but the most recent study showed there could be just 650 adults in the Eastern and Western Cape.

“So this is a good call from the department.

“But besides trophy hunting, there’s also conflict with livestock, less space, less natural prey and the discontiguous nature of what habitat the leopards have left.”

This fragmentation of habitat is as much a concern as the low numbers because good gene flow between the different populations is vital for the species’ survival.

Leopards are also facing increasing hostility on hunting farms where the natural prey they target are the trophy species the farm owner wants to offer to clients, she said.

“We need more officials on the ground and to develop our legal system to properly investigate all instances of confrontation where leopard are killed.”

Meanwhile, hunting farm owner Barry Burchell, at the centre of the January 12 Alicedale leopard attack in which houndsman Zwelake Dyan was mauled, has admitted he knew there might be leopard on his farm.

The foundation argued that the hunters on Burchell Game Reserve with their pack of dogs should have known confrontation with a leopard was possible, and called on the authorities to probe the possibility that they intended to shoot it.

According to Burchell, his hunters were targeting caracal and jackal, which are designated “vermin”.

He said initially neither he nor they knew there was a leopard on the farm, which was why he was happy to arm his men with only a small calibre .222 rifle.

Last week, however, he said: “It’s quite possible there are [leopard].”

Jaap Pienaar, a former member of the Green Scorpions and compliance and enforcement manager in the provincial environment department before his retirement 18 months ago, confirmed Burchell had at one point contacted his office about a permit to shoot a leopard on his land.

“I can’t remember when it was but he said he was having trouble with a leopard taking the game on his property . . . and he wanted a permit to shoot it.

“We didn’t issue the permit because if a leopard can’t eat buck, what the hell else must it eat.”

Burchell said this conversation took place several years ago. “I wanted a permit to kill a leopard killing our lechwe, but then it was caught by a neighbour.”

The latest incident is being probed by the Green Scorpions. — TMG