A BMG Talk by Tara
Pirie, 4 February 2016
Tara
explained that she had spent ten years in South Africa, as a guide
for the first seven and then embarking on a PhD toward the latter end
of her time there, while working at Ingwe Leopard Research. (‘Ingwe’
means ‘Leopard’ in the local language.)
Leopard
Conservation
Like
other animals leopards are threatened by habitat loss, food depletion
and conflict with humans, and Tara made the case for their
conservation, and that of similar predator species. One argument is
ecological – often the loss of an apex predator will cause a
trophic cascade in the food chain, or a meso-predator release.
Another is economic – leopards are highly charismatic animals and
the tourism they support is economically beneficial to host
societies.
Threats
to leopards
Most
important is conflict with farmers, though livestock deaths are not
always caused by leopards: disease, accidents, etc can create an
exaggerated impression. Even the presence of its spoor does not
necessarily mean the leopard killed the livestock. (If the wound is
not obvious it is possible to lift the skin to see where bruising
occurs: leopards go for the throat.) Other human-related threats
include:
- Hunting. Permits for culling, taking out problem animals and trophy hunting
- Trapping, snaring, poisoning – often for food
- Road deaths – accidental and avoidable
Tara
cited the instance of a road with tall grass growing on either side,
on which four leopards had been killed a year; this was one of the
triggers for Will Fox to set up Ingwe Leopard Research. When he
arranged to have the grass cut there were no known deaths in the
following three years.
Ingwe
Leopard Research
Ingwe
Leopard Research in Mpumalanga Province was set up in 2011 with a
triple purpose: research to support conservation with evidence;
raising awareness, and supporting sustainable tourism.
Research
Although
Tara is back in the UK, the research work is ongoing, supported by
the income from running safaris. Government sites offer legal
protection, but contain only 25% of the leopard habitat in South
Africa; up to 75% falls outside formally protected areas and
leaopards are known to roam freely. Permits to kill leopards cost
R10,000 (£500) and are relatively affordable. Ingwe undertakes the
only leopard research in the province outside Kruger National Park,
generating data to formulate informed decisions. It also gathers
data on other carnivores such as genets and hyenas.
Raising
awareness
One
of the fundamental tasks is to encourage an interest in conservation
among the local people, and an attitude where leopards are valued
rather than perceived as a threat. Tara described a two-pronged
approach:
School
visits
Ingwe
helped with fund-raising, offering lessons in computing, repairs to
building etc. After some months of involvement in the school Tara
finally discussed the purpose of Ingwe’s work with the headmaster,
but only once he had raised the subject. It transpired the locals
were concerned about the presence of leopards as a threat, much as
with the lethal snakes that abound in Africa. Gradually Tara
encouraged them take a more positive view.
Work
with farmers
Influencing
farmers was difficult to start with, but by listening to them in the
pub – rather than preaching at them – and indicating she
understood their wish simply to earn a living, she was given a
month’s trial with one of the more prominent locals to demonstrate
the leopards were not an active threat. The trial was successful and
the leopards remained untouched thereafter! All permits have
subsequently been rescinded.
Leopard
Ecology
In
describing the characteristics of leopards Tara quipped they often
“hadn’t read the script”. Received wisdom suggests they are:
Highly
adaptable.
They
are known to eat as many as 92 prey species ranging up in size to
eland calves and juvenile giraffes, and one has even taken on a 3m
crocodile. They can carry their own body weight up into a tree. But
the optimum size is the 25kg impala. Surprisingly, they will also
eat fish.
Solitary
Not
always. Though males usually are, mothers spend 90% of their time
with cubs. However, Tara has also seen males spending time with
their offspring (sons) up to three years old, even from different
litters. Such behaviour has also been reported in the lower density
populations of Namibia, so is not unique to Ingwe.
Territorial
Both
males and females have their own, often overlapping, territories.
Acquaintances are more likely to be accommodating, and submissive
individuals will tolerate incursions. ‘Territory’ is not
absolute: more of a ‘core area’, one that will be defended. They
defecate in prominent places as a visual sign of their residence, and
will claw trees, scent mark (their odour smells of popcorn) and call.
The sound of the leopard call is like that of a saw, usually four
repetitions for a female; as many as ten for a male.
Nocturnal
Not
always. Though adult males seldom appear, females can be seen in the
heat of the day, and are more likely to come out on overcast days or
in winter.
Savannah
dwellers
But
they also live in rocky environments and they are the most widespread
of the felines: from Cape Town to the Amur Valley in Siberia and down
to Indonesia. The leopard is the last of the ‘Big five/ to remain
free-roaming.
They
were classed ‘near threatened’ in 2008, but are so elusive there
are no accurate records. One estimate of 600,000 in South Africa has
been dismissed as absurd. But there are 150 CITES in South Africa
every year, and seven in the province. See Swanepoel 2013 for
distribution of suitable habitat based on knowns populations both in
the Transvaal provinces and the Cape.
The
Thabo Tholo Wilderness Reserve
The
work of Ingwe Leopard Research’s work in the reserve has helped
establish density, calculate home ranges and characterise habitat
selection.
Spoor/tracks
Tara
trained volunteers to locate and identify leopard tracks. They have
a three-lobe pad and four oval toes with no claw marks. Left and
right are distinguishable. Trackers were to take photographs with a
ruler included for scale (see
page 4), but there
was considerable difference in determining accurate measurements –
typically the margin of error is between 1-2 cm.
Camera
traps
Tara
established a camera club to fund camera traps in return for access
to the best photographs, and somewhat against expectation this was
highly successful. As many as 50 cameras were obtained over a
three-year period. They were placed 45cm above the ground, 2.5 km
apart (the smallest leopard range is 3.2km), and were distributed
accorded to biome: grassland (30%) or savannah (70%). Several of the
traps were productive in generating evidence of leopards. However,
other creatures were photographed too: samango monkey (a forest
dweller), Cape fox (on the edge of his distribution), and several
others. Interestingly the trackers found evidence of these creatures
long before the cameras, the presence of leopards being the only
exception!
ID
Kits or ‘Spot the Difference’
Each
animal has individual markings that can be checked against the ID
guide, comparing say three or four areas of the pelt: neck, leg,
flank, etc. Many leopards have a ‘necklace’. Often it is only
the leg that is in sufficient focus in photographs, momentarily
static when passing a camera trap.
Sex
Size
or build is not always a reliable guide. The leopard known as Long
Legs was large and muscular, and it was only later she was identified
as a female when pictured with a cub.
Age
Their
initially pink noses get blacker with age. Diamond Girl was about 8
or 9; Ru about 4 at the time (now 6 or 7). Look for scratches on the
nose and tatty ears as a sign of age. The dewlap forms when older,
though it was less noticeable at Ingwe where the leopards do not have
much competition and so do not hoist their prey into trees, thus the
neck muscles are less developed.
The
local leopard population
Spatial
Explicit Capture Recapture Model software was used to analyse data.
28 individual leopards were identified over the three-year period –
15 adults, 9 sub adults and 4 cubs – with four resident in the
reserve. 11 cubs were born on site.
Diamond
Girl - dominant female, with territory in the central area
Pippa -
to the west
Ru
- a young male, based in the south
Big
D - male with a large territory overlapping all three of the
above
Six
cameras displayed a lot of activity, including shots of otherwise
unknown leopards. Tara thought this particular area could be a
dispersal route for leopards passing through and the hypothesis was
supported by groups of holes in the fence at NW and SE extremities.
Golden
leopards
A
sandy coloured leopard with brown spots appeared on three cameras
over two nights. Another similar variant, a six-month-old born to
normal-coloured Pippa, has also been seen. That’s two with a
particularly rare colour variation, possibly caused by a recessive
gene. There are only five records of similar creatures between 1900
and 1950 – all in India. The next was in 2012 in Madekwe. In
total there have been 12 in the world; 7 in South Africa. Five of
these (71% are in the Lydenburg area and 29% in Thaba Tholo. This
suggests inbreeding.
Black
panthers
These
are caused by an excess, rather than insufficiency, of pigment. They
appear in greater numbers and are to be found notably in Tanzania and
Malaysia.
Summing
up
‘Empathy
and Education’. Combined with active research, KLR’s approach
has paid off. Pippa was one of the leopards licensed to be shot, but
is still alive. Hunting licences have now been banned for the year
(despite their value as an income generator) and Mpumalanga Parks and
Tourism Authorities wish to make use of Ingwe’s data.
DISCUSSION
Is
the threat of poaching or even trophy hunting, exacerbated by the
publication of research information? Yes, though on the other hand,
conservation requires the cooperation of local people who won’t
know if not informed. It is a balance; there is no easy answer.
Do
leopards take livestock as easy prey or just when game is inadequate?
Generally an individual sticks to a preferred species if the option
is available. They seldom get a taste for sheep – indeed they are
on camera as turning up their noses at sheep carcases. Problem
animals are few and at Ingwe they all appear well fed.
Why
the colour variation at Ingwe? White impala and black serval are
also in the area inhabited by the golden leopards. The latter may
have increased through isolation caused by key leopards being taken
out.
Is
the colour variation associated with health problems? Not known, but
the black colouring of Malaysian leopards has equipped them well for
the jungle.
Are
the smaller leopards of the Cape a sub species? Not at present,
though some scientists are pushing for this classification.
Do
we know anything about the historical density trends; has there been
a bottleneck? Not known.
There
has been little dialogue between the various leopard projects being
conducted, though that is starting to change.
The
ratio of sexes is roughly even.
What
is the level of human population at Ingwe? Low density; sparse
farming at the borders.
The
surrounding game fence is the normal type, but now has 1,500 holes,
of which 900 are leopard sized. It is now thought best to keep the
holes, as fences do not keep leopards out. One has even been through
an electric fence!
25
kg of prey lasts for about a week, as the leopard changes from full
to empty. Females hunt more frequently when they have cubs. If
relying on guinea fowl, say, hunting may be required twice a day.
But leopards are opportunists and if they gorge on kudu, will take a
week and a half and more, to digest.
“Listen,
don’t talk!” – Tara reiterated her approach. Locals will
tolerate a degree of loss, but only up to a point. Work with them to
meet half way, she urged. At Ingwe many children have seen no
wildlife locally and are now looking with fresh eyes.
Edwin
A.R. Trout
Berkshire
Mammal Group
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identifying
pelt markings
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identifying
pelt markings
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Distinctive
paw prints (above)
Photos courtesy of Tara Pirie
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