Stewart was born and raised on Nuweplaas, one of the small communities around Wupperthal, towards the drier part of the land. The lower rainfall means that livestock farming is more important compared to the rooibos tea plantations elsewhere in the Wupperthal area. Stewart has a deep love for nature and wanted to become involved with the Cape Leopard Trust to learn how to farm with nature and better understand predators in order to keep his livestock safe.

Steward 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.