On Thursday, after a brilliant and exciting leopard tracking flight with Rooibos tea farmer & Bateleur member Johan Ferreira, I went to set a camera trap in the area where our cage was set. I was horrified to discover that a female leopard had walked into the trap & managed to jump out before the doors had closed. These females have been eluding me for FAR TOO LONG!
On Friday morning I was out hiking on Jannie Niewoudt's farm in the Breekkrans when I was summoned from a distance by Jannie, " Daar is 'n luiperd in die hok!" ( There is a leopard in the cage). Gut wrenching stuff. The sensation, after all the effort put into this project, to get this form of "pay-back"...is indescribable.
I called our vet, Dr
Andre van der Merwe for his assistance. He cancelled all his
appointments & raced out to Karukareb at the same time as Rika,
Johan Ferreira & I. The darting & collaring procedure went
exceptionally well. Rika is a brilliant assistant in these
circumstances & Andre a superb vet. This time it was Johan
Ferreira's time to come along for the ride - after all the flights he
has taken me on...It was a great day. A day I really wanted to share
with all of you!