Cape Leopards are highly elusive apex predators that have somehow survived against the odds in the Cape’s fold mountain ranges. This makes them very difficult to study, and the Cape Leopard Trust (CLT) have launched a competition for the public to submit sightings of leopards or any signs of leopard activity across the Western Cape.
With fewer than 1 000 estimated Cape leopards left remaining in the wild, the CLT collects data on leopard activity and information on threats to the big cats.
In order to obtain as many records as possible, the CLT is specifically looking for citizen observations in three sparse areas:
- Southern Namaqualand: the Matzikama local municipality and reaching across the provincial border into the Kamiesberg and Hantam municipalities of the Northern Cape
- Southern Cape: particularly the Hessequa local municipality
- Central Karoo: the central Karoo district municipality including Beaufort West; Laingsburg and Prins Albert local municipalities
Though the CLT has launched a competition, the point is to gather more data points that could possibly contribute towards protecting the Cape’s mountain leopards .
Prizes will be awarded for the following categories:
- Best leopard camera trap photo from the Western Cape
- Most data submissions during the competition period
- Records from the southern Namaqualand – lucky draw
- Records from the southern Cape – lucky draw
- Records from the central Karoo – lucky draw
Sightings can consist of camera trap photos, leopard signs (spoor, droppings, scratch marks on trees, feeding sites) and direct observations. You can click here to submit your photo via email: [email protected].
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