Ricardo is from the town of Wupperthal itself and was born in Clanwilliam. The reason why he became involved with the Cape Leopard Trust is because he cares about helping people, especially those with predation problems. He liked what the CLT was doing in the Wupperthal area and wanted to become involved. He is also the future son-in-law of one of Ben Farmer, another CLT verification officer, who was an important influence on his love for nature and decision to become part of the project.

Ricardo is one of several Verification Officers nominated by their communities and trained by the Cape Leopard Trust to monitor leopard activity in their respective areas. Working alongside CLT Community Outreach Officer, Chavoux Luyt, the Verification Officers have been trained to keep a predation incident register, photograph and log the GPS locations of predation incidents, use a camera trap for monitoring predators and use a Blackview smartphone for data collection with Cybertracker. It is hoped this recorded information will lead to an improved understanding of leopard behaviour and ultimately aid conservation. This outreach forms part of the Cape Leopard Trust’s broader environmental education project as well proactive human-wildlife conflict prevention.