Cederberg camera survey complete

Published: 12 August 2013

Corlé Jansen and Arné Stander joined the Cape Leopard Trust in November last year to help Quinton Martins start up a long-term camera trapping survey in the Cederberg. Using individual spot and rosette patterns of the leopards captured Corlé will be able to determine to what extend leopard densities in the Karoo differ to that of the Fynbos biome.

The first survey runs for a year collecting seasonal data and will be compared to results of Quinton’s PhD using data from 2004 - 2007. Arné will in turn be investigating prey activity between seasons.

The two students have been dedicated and determined - despite adversities such as floods, freezing cold, unbearable heat, fires and impenetrable vegetation. The final 2 months of the year’s survey are underway at which point they will introduce and help choose 2 new students to continue the work, adding additional variations for sampling purposes.

As with Corlé and Arné, the students will be co-supervised by Quinton and Dr Alison Leslie of Stellenbosch University. Lastly, with over 40 cameras active in the field, we would like to thank Energizer for sponsorship assistance with batteries as well as the landowners and CapeNature in the Cederberg for allowing access to their land. 

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