The "friendly" leopard of Yellowwood Amphitheater has made his or her thrilling acquaintance with several climbers in the last year or so - see my article, African Time in the June-August issue of SA Mountain magazine (see http://www.walkinginbalance.blogspot.com/2012/02/things-that-go-growl-in-night.html) and Any Wood's article Nighttime visitor in the latest (2011) MCSA Journal, as well as previous posts on the Climbza forum http://www.climbing.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=6887&hilit=hey+pussy+pussy. This leopard's behaviour seems highly unusual for a Cape Mountain leopard.

The Cape Leopard Trust is an NGO doing conservation research on Cape Mountain leopards, and using camera traps to identify individual leopards. The Boland section of the project has so far identified 52 different individual leopards in the Boland mountains.

Given our intense interaction as climbers with this particular leopard in the Du Toits Kloof Mountains, I thought it would be great if the climbing community (particularly those who love to climb in Du Toits) gathered the funds to put up a camera trap at Yellowwood and thereafter serviced the camera (battery changes and data downloads) on climbing trips up there. In this way we can learn more about this particularly unusual leopard, and contribute to the conservation of these stunning creatures with which we share our beloved mountains. The Cape Leopard Trust is very keen for us to do this, as it will usefully supplement their data collection in the Boland.

We require about R3,500 to put up a camera. We can easily collect this if climbers club together. If you are willing to contribute towards this, please contact me at johannlanz at vodamail dot co dot za. I will collect the funds and arrange to set up the camera. All those making donations will be kept up to date with what we see and learn up there.

Also feel free to comment, make suggestions etc on this forum to give the initiative some energy.

Thanks, Johann

That's a cool idea, I'm in.

Since my request for donations, I have received R2,150 in deposits into my account.

Many thanks to: Rolfe Eberhard, Chris Jansen, Snort / City Rock, Douw Steyn, Eve Watson, Adam Roff, & Rob Zipplies.

A number of additional people indicated that they were also keen to contribute and be a part of this project. I am just chasing up those who have not yet made a deposit, to do so. And if there is any body else who also wants to join in, please contact me. With the good interest shown, we should achieve the target of around R3,500.

I will make updates as the project progresses. Looking forward to heading out there soon to set up the camera, and then to see what images it delivers.

Johann

Hi Johan.

This is not about leopards, but about your article you wrote which is why I am coming down to Cape Town in December. I can't find your email, so email me at basecamp@telkomsa.net

Gerald

After a few unplanned delays, we finally got the camera up and operating at Yellowwood on Friday, while the other side of the Du Toits valley burned. I chose to start with it down below the amphitheatre, and have mounted it where the path goes through the forest against a little cliff. The location of the camera is important to optimize sightings. It should be somewhere where most passing traffic is forced to follow a single path. I think this position is a good one, but it will depend on whether our friend is visiting that part of its territory. The camera is trained on a tree which the leopard scratches as part of its territory marking. We will capture it passing along the path beside the tree as well as scratching the tree if it does.


The set up team

There did not appear to be any very recent scratch marks on the tree, and scat in the are is old. If we don't capture the leopard in this area, I will move the camera up where the path goes around Smalblaar Ridge or in the vicinity of the Smalblaar Ridge bivvy site. It's just a little less accessible for battery changes up there.


The camera in its new home

The camera works on motion detection, and it will be triggered by anything travelling the path. It will be interesting to see what other species all use that path. You should spot the camera if you're going up to Yellowwood. And it will record your passing. Don't get a fright if you pass in the dark. The camera has quite a potent flash.

I will probably head up there out of inquisitiveness in the next few weeks to see what we've captured. The batteries last about a month, or more I think. But if you are going up to Yellowwood and are up for doing a memory card swap, let me know. Also please keep a look out for any leopard activity and signs, and let me know what and where you see anything.


Now if you'll just step this way...

Every individual leopard has a unique rosette pattern, like human fingerprints. So when we get a shot of our leopard, the Cape Leopard Trust will be able to identify whether it is one that has already appeared on other cameras in the general area, or whether it is a new one. There have been, or are, cameras to the south on Fisantekraal, on the way to Agtertafelberg, and to the north along the upper Witte Rivier Valley (Springstuigbeugel). To fully record a new leopard, we need to get photos from both sides, as they differ.

The Yellowwood camera was made possible by donations from Chris Jansen, Snort / City Rock, Rolfe Eberhard, Douw Steyn, Eve Watson, Adam Roff, Rob Zipplies, Herman van Zyl, Rob McKay, Ant Hall, Roger Diamond & Brendan Argent. Thank you.

Good work! Not sure about the ethics of using children as live bait though.

Great work, Johan, thank you.