In mid-June, Quinton, Elizabeth and I spent a week at Phinda Nature Reserve in northern KwaZulu-Natal. The purpose of our trip was to exchange knowledge and ideas with the team from the Mun-Ya-Wana Leopard Project, a Panthera project (www.panthera.org). This project has been running for nearly 10 years, during which time they have captured and collared over 70 leopards. While the area and environment are a world away from the harsh mountains of the Western Cape, we hoped to learn some lessons that could be applied in our respective study areas as well. Obviously one of the aspects of the…

The Black Eagle Project was initiated in 2011 by Megan Murgatroyd, a postgraduate student from the Animal Demography Unit (ADU ) at the University of Cape Town in collaboration with the Cape Leopard Trust. The Black Eagle Project’s research will focus on the effects of land use on the diet and hunting habits of the Black eagle (Aquila verreauxii). Research will take place in the Cederberg Mountains, which remain relatively pristine and the Sandveld, which has undergone extensive land conversion for agriculture. The outcomes of the project will enable an assessment of the effects land use has had on the…

The end of April 2011 marked the conclusion of the four month Boland southern survey, which was conducted in the Jonkershoek and Hottentots-Holland Nature Reserves, the Kogelberg Biospere Reserve, as well as privately owned mountain land adjacent to this core area. The majestic peaks of the southern Boland Mountains. a) Assegaaiboschkloof from Bergrivernek; b) Landdroskop from the Shamrock hut; c) False Bay from Landdroskop neck; d) Simonsberg from Square Tower Peak. a) False Bay from Hans se Kop; b) Franschhoek mountains from Pofaddernek; c) Jonkershoek valley from Bergrivernek; d) Klein-Hangklip mountains from Hangklip peak; e) Kogelberg mountains from Hangklip; f)…

Event: Public Presentation on The Cape Leopard Trust When: 9 June 2011 Where: Cape Union Mart Eastgate Adventure Centre store, Johannesburg Cape Union Mart invites you to a talk and slideshow by the founder of the Cape Leopard Trust, Quinton Martins. Find out more about this initiative, the work done to conserve the majestic Cape leopard, and chat to the man that makes this happen. Join us at no cost at the Cape Union Mart Adventure Centre in Eastgate. Talk starts at 18.15 for 18.30.

When: 26 May 2011 Where: Cape Union Mart Canal Walk Adventure Centre, Cape Town Event Type: Talks Wild Card and Cape Union Mart invite you to a talk and slideshow by the Cape Leopard Trust. Find out more about this initiative, the work done to conserve the majestic Cape leopard, and chat to the team that make this happen. Drinks and snacks will be served and Wild Card members can enjoy discounts on Cape Union Mart gear. Join us at the Cape Union Mart Adventure Centre in Canal Walk. Talk starts at 18.15 for 18.30. The talk is free but…

At the end of last year the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF) pledged huge support to the Cape Leopard Trust’s Environmental Education and Outreach Programme, amounting to over R1,3 million over the next three years. One of the approved items budgeted for was a selection of hiking boots for the children who participate in the Cederberg enviro-clubs and camps to use. Many of these children have only one pair of shoes, or completely the wrong kind of shoes to be exploring the mountains in. With this in mind, the NLDTF have provided the funding for a supply of appropriate…

The IKAMVA youth group in Masiphumelele are a collection of upper high school students who are committed to achieving a high quality Matric pass (and therefore choices of better futures) through attendance of regular weekly enrichment sessions held at the Masiphumelele library with the aid of facilitators from the NGO ‘IKAMVA Youth’.  Most members are residents of Masiphumelele, an informal settlement in the Fish Hoek valley. Their trip into the Cederberg was enriching and enlightening on an academic level as well as providing personal challenges and victories that will always remain in their psyches. 

In late March we picked up 17 enthusiastic participants from the Camphill village outside Malmesbury for three nights of camping in the Cederberg Mountains at our camp at Matjiesrivier. The group was made up of 4 young volunteering co-workers, 2 permanent older co-workers and 11 “villagers”. Camphill villagers are a diverse group of people whose various personal challenges have led them to live out fulfilling existences in a small integrated farming community. Camphill does not discriminate between genders, race, age or religion as to whom it accepts as residents.

With the southern survey of the CLT Boland project rapidly drawing to a close, we are thrilled to report that the number of leopards for the Jonkershoek, Hottentots-Holland, Helderberg Nature Reserves and the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve currently stands on 16 adult individuals!  Once the survey is finalised towards the end of April, we will give a more detailed breakdown of our southern survey results.  Below are two of our beautiful southern spotted cats! Top left: BM14, adult male in Jonkershoek NR. Top right: BF11, adult female at the back of the Bergriver dam. Our original plan was to survey the…

Published in the latest edition of Environment magazine. "This is no Spaghetti Western - the complexity and controversial nature of human-wildlife conflict issues and the management surrounding these are tangled up in a hot debate in South Africa. Currently there are two potjies simmering on hot coals – one brewing discontent in farmer/agricultural circles. The other, a bubbling pot filled with concern and strong views by conservationists and humanitarians...read on"