Ingwe Leopard Research

Analysis of predator species at Kudu Game Ranch

2011-08-12T03:23:00.000-07:00

Throughout August Ingwe Leopard project will be conducting an in depth study to determine what predator species are found within the wetlands area of Kudu Game Ranch. Several methods of recording predator movements are currently in place including the use of 11 camera traps spaced throughout the wetlands area along major roads and junctions. Sightings of predators are also recorded as well as all signs which include all spoor and scat encountered. So far the camera traps here recorded 13 different species none of which were predator species. However many tracks and signs of varying predators have been recorded. The spoor of Side Striped Jackal, Slender mongoose (see above image) and Water Mongoose have been recorded. There has also been a positive sighting of a cape clawless otter and scat samples of Leopard, Caracal and Serval have been found. So although at this stage no images have been captured on predators in the wetlands there presence is still very much known.

Written By Emma Loader, Ingwe Researcher

Is the an increase in small predator diversity

2011-06-30T09:15:00.002-07:00

The main focus of Ingwe Leopard Research is obviously primarily based around the leopard. However other factors are also closely monitored. A key issue that is currently under debate here a Ingwe is the behaviour of the smaller predators in the study area. When I first started carrying out research in this area, about year ago now, it seemed as though few smaller predators were active in the area. Finding tracks of honey badger, civet or genet for example were infrequent occurrences and they were almost never photographed. However within the last couple of months this appears to be changing. Civet, mongoose and genet tracks are being seen almost everyday and camera traps images of these little creatures are also increasing in frequency (see image above of water mongoose and below image of an African Civet). A simple explanation to capturing more images of these creatures is simply the cameras are placed in different habitats. This is definitely the case for mammals such as the water mongoose, who prefer dense vegetation around water for example streams as they feed primarily on amphibians and molluscs which are more abundant in such areas, and hence will therefore be photographed only when cameras are placed for example in drainage lines close to running water. However civets for example are not bound by such tight habitat ties and images and these critters are increasing in all habitats as are their tracks. The reason to why we are suddenly recording more activity of small predators and any possible link with leopard activity is something I intend to investigate further and will keep you all updated. Thank you

Written by Emma Loader, Ingwe Researcher

Brilliant Bounce Back For Black Tip

2011-06-28T04:41:00.000-07:00

I am sure you will all remember that one of the territorial males at the end of last month was photographed with a large open wound round his body just behind his front legs. Attempts to capture and treat Black Tip, MS21, were unsuccessful. No further images of this male were recorded and we began to doubt whether he had been able to recover. Until today!! On today’s check of the camera traps we discovered a beautiful up close image of this massive male taken almost a month after we last recorded him. Although the image is off right side, which was injured to a lesser extent than his left, the miraculous healing powers of these animals can clearly be appreciated. Looking at the above image, all evidence that remains of his injury is some scar tissue just behind is front right leg. When compared to the image below which shows a wide open flesh wound, this lucky leopard has healed fully in a very short space of time. Hopefully we will continue to see him being boss of these lands for a lot longer yet.

Written by Emma Loader, Ingwe Researcher

Leopard calls in the night but who!

2011-06-21T01:19:00.001-07:00

The night before last at around 3.30am I awoke to the sound of a leopard calling, the loud sawing roar close to the tent at Ingwe's new base, black leopard camp. He continued to call at half hour intervals until sunrise. Early this morning we again heard a leopard calling at around 6am, slightly softer than the previous but still close. As we not yet studied this area yet we are unsure to who this leopard is. On inspection of the area we two different sets of tracks were found from individuals we do not yet recognise. Luckily in the same area, a single camera trap was placed out. A few days earlier an adult zebra was found dead, we think it may hae been fighting with another zebra and on the rocky terrain lost its footing and unfortunately fell and broke its neck. We therefore placed a camera at the carcass to see what scavengers fed. The same night as the leopard first called we photographed an unknown male leopard feeding from the carcass. Quite possibly the same individual that was calling (see above). That same night a family of bush pigs and a small spotted Genet (see below) also scavenged from the carcass. Just shows how the death of one animal, as sad as it is, supplies a lot of food for many others. Will keep you updated as research continues as too who this leopard is. If this was the individual that was calling, he is most likely another territorial male that we previously did not know about.

Written by Emma Loader, Ingwe Researcher

Little Female alive and well!!!

2011-06-18T01:41:00.000-07:00

Excellent news everybody!!! Over the last three days we have had excellent sightings of leopard. On Wednesday night we got a call informing us that there was a leopard feeding on a wildebeest carcass and it may be the young female we believe was shot the other week. However when arriving on the scene we discovered it in fact her brother. A beautiful sighting, but still left us worried of his sister fate whom no one had sighted since the shooting. Then the next evening however we went to check out the carcass again and to our relief there sat one very full and healthy little female. After sitting with her while we left to return the following day. Still content with the wildebeest she had remained there overnight and the full day giving us beautiful sightings of her scanning the area from a vantage point in a nearby tree, rolling and laying in the grass and even stalking wildebeest that were happening to walk close by despite already having a very round full stomach. This really shows what opportunistic predators they are. Fantastic news that this little female is safe and well. A huge relief to us all.

Written by Emma Loader, Ingwe Researcher

Section E , An area for the boys!!

2011-06-11T06:21:00.000-07:00

The end of May marked the end of the cameras being placed in section E of the study area, also marking the halfway point of the initial study in this area. A total of 21 leopard images were captured by the 13cameras in place. Three of the images are unidentifiable due to blurring or too much flash etc. We are unable to positively identify two of the images however strongly suspect that at least one of these is MS22 the young sub adult male we regularly experience visuals of. Of the 16 images that were positively identified were majority male. Only four of the images taken were of FS40, a female we have photographed infrequently in the previous section (see below). It seems this area may be more the heart of her territory with its boundary being the boundry of section D. One image was of MS22 and one of Lucky, one of our resident males. The remaining 10 images were all of Black Tip, who i am sure you will all know is injured badly after being caught in a snare. In the ten months we have been study this area we have photographed this large male in every section but only every few weeks. Therefore it is unusual to photograph him so frequently in the same area over a period of weeks. The most likly explanation is that he is unable to travel the large distances he once covered at prescence due to weakness the injury is causing. Thelast picture we have ofBlack tip was the 24th Mayand we may not get more.
Written by Emma Loader, Ingwe Researcher

Maybe some good news?

2011-06-06T00:36:00.000-07:00

For those that are following our work closely you will know it has been a difficult couple of months for the leopards. In just this small period of time we know of four leopards to be injured or killed. One a young male was knocked down and killed instantly, another large male was caught in a snare but luckily rescued in time and is now recuperating well at moholoholo rehab center. Black Tip, one of the resident males we follow is also in a snare and we are unable to locate him so we do know if he has made it or not, but without medical help soon this is unlikely. Then recently a leopard not far from our study site was shot. There may be some good news though. We speculated earlier in the year whether or not diamond one of our females would be expecting cubs in April after being photographed with black tip earlier in the year. Shown here is the first image we hae captured of her since the end of March. All take a close look and leae your opinions on whether you think she may be lactating or not?

Written By Emma Loader, Ingwe Researcher

2011-06-05T03:50:00.000-07:00

Following on from many of the comments we have received regarding the recent killing of a leopard on the edge of our research zone, many people are asking how they can help.

The bottom line is we need to carry on the work that we started with the Predator Protection Plan by which I mean we need to actively liaise and communicate with the farming community, with two aims 1) To listen and not judge 2) To work with farmers (many of whom have expressed a loss of faith with Parks board), to see find solutions.

We started this work last year and continued to fund a survey of the farming community until February when the company who sponsored this work fell victim of the global recession and pulled out. At that time we were very grateful for donations from our friends around the world and the folks at Kudu Game Ranch, which allowed us to keep going for the last months.

However funding for this program has dried up and to keep going we need your help. If we can reach out to the farmers, we have found them to be both amicable to conservation and keen to listen to ways and means of predators and farmers living alongside each other.

So we have two areas where we need your help

1) The immediate need is for funds. We need donations for fuel, maintenance and running costs for our vehicle. This totals to around $300/month.

2) People. Volunteers who come to assist with our research and in that help to off set our accommodation and general running costs. Also folks who will be willing to help lobby the authorities to give the leopard a voice.

If you can help with any of these things then please do. Of-course most pressing is funding, if we can return to a place where we can afford to get out and liaise with the farming community we CAN save the lives of leopards.

I want to create a war chest of $2,000 to be used only for cases such as this and pay the expenses. Everyone who can donate to that fund will get a monthly statement to show exactly how we spend that money and know it is going in the right place. Also to be able to help lobby for more support and in times where we need to speak up, add their voice to petitions or even Email the authorities directly and show them that the leopard conservation has a voice.

http://www.ingweleopard.com/Donate.html

Now its personal!

2011-05-31T00:52:00.000-07:00

As many as you have already seen it has come to our attention that a large male has been snared. He appears to have been caught around the chest and broke free with the wire embedded in his flesh. We know this animal is in great pain and suffering badly which is tragic for any any animal. However what makes this incident even worse is that this large ale is not just any leopard but Black Tip, the largest resident male we have been following for over a year now. He is the male we have photographed with diamond one of the female we follow, we captured an image of rare behaviour of him walking with another male and now to see this magnificent being brought down at the handsof poachers. The lower image was the first image wecaptured of himin the snare at the beggining of this month, as you can see already cutting into his flesh. The above image was taken on the 16th almost two weeks later, the same time the image that is already posted on our facebook page. He you can see his body condition has fallen considerably. This beautiful boy once a legend for size is nowloosing bulk and strength. Due to the image above and the factthat we photographed the Lucky, our other resident male, in the same location we fear he two males may have fought and the weakenedblack tip as come off worse as he seems rather sorry for himself and on close inspection of this photograph shows signs combat. We currently have a trap out in the hope of being able to help black tip however we fear it may already be too late.

Written By Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

Is this my old friend?

2011-05-29T06:17:00.000-07:00

As you all know, Lucky's collar hasn’t made a download since December. You can’t help start worrying if his ok. I was driving one cool winter’s morning when I saw fresh leopard tracks; at a close look I found that they were Luckys. I couldn’t help feeling relieved. The next day a friend and I went out to see if we could find him with the tracking device but it was to no avail. Then yesterday we received good news, he is still alive and well. The camera traps have captured a beautiful photo of him in a new location more north of his usual territory. What’s very interesting, this use to be part of his territory until he was pushed more south by Blacktip. What will the reason be for this new daring adventure? Read more about this in the next blog.

Written by Anton

Young male practising the hunt, but what a choice of prey!!

2011-05-29T05:47:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the late response everybody, I was in the UK for a few weeks. In the last blog I wrote about an amazing sighting of both the male and female sub-adults. After watching them relax and play together for a couple of hours, we left to carry on with checking the camera traps. On our way home we then spotted the male again but far up the mountain side opposite us. Parking at the bottom of the slope we climbed on the back of the landrover to observe him from a distance, never expecting to see what came next. The young leopard’s attention was caught by something moving in the grass close to him, a good 150m from where we stood. Then all of a sudden he is in full chase. The grass just a few meters in front of him rustling, the noise of growling heard as a desperate attempt of escape is made. Both prey and cat scaled the distance between us flying down mountain sides, sheer drops and a drainage line before running just 2m in front of the landrover into a beautiful clearing (See above image to get idea of just how close). It was here that we realised just what the young boy was chasing, nothing less than a MELLERS MONGOOSE, one of the most rare of all the mongoose species. The pair ran around the side of car into long grass. The hunt was a fail with the mongoose making a lucky escape in the grass and a rather disgruntled leopard collapsing behind the vehicle (See Below). An amazing sighting indeed that we will most likely never to be repeated again.

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

Brother and sister relaxing together!

2011-05-07T00:03:00.000-07:00

On rountine camera check rounds we were lucky enough to come across the two sub adult leopards who we had the pleasure of spending 4hours with. We firstly came across the young male sitting in the centre of the road in front of us. Switching of the engine he casually strolled towards us and by the side of the car to take a drink at the water hole we had happened to park beside. He then picked up an old bone and began playing and rolling with it. Meanwhile his sister also casually walked towards us and drank as well. The curious two the began playing with one another playfully pouncing on one another and sniffing and investigating the landrover (see below). The two then lay together and grooming and relaxing and allowing us to share their space completely relaxed with the vehicle before eventually moving off up the cliff over and hour later. We then carried on servicing the camera traps but this was not the last of the leopards that day, the best is still to come keep posted for more of the sighting in the next blog .......

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

Diversity on Kudu!

2011-05-02T01:05:00.000-07:00

Camera traps have recently been placed on a new study area of Kudu Game Ranch (work still continuing on original study zone also) surprised us with diversity. one camera produced both large and small carnivores. Firstly our main study subject, a large leopard was photographed. Unfortunately the image is blurred so we can not use this for identification of the individual however is excellent proof that leopards are using this area also. On the same camera a small spotted genet was photographed and the rare mellers mongoose was both photographed and when collecting the camera this little carnivore was also sighted. It is brilliant news to see such diversity in one spot. The amount of diversity generally reflect the stability of an ecosystem. Everything surviving in a natural balance.

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

Not a Good friday

2011-04-22T02:30:00.000-07:00

Today started with some very bad news. I received a call this morning, from Niel the on duty manager at Kudu Ranch. Niel let me know that a leopard had been knocked down and killed by a hit and run driver on the main road outside of Kudu Ranch sometime last night.

Not exactly the best way to start Good Friday.

Of-course there is very little that we could do,apart from trying to identify which animal it was and examine the body for our records.

We found that this leopard had two different sets of injuries. The first being the obvious trauma caused by the collision with a vehicle, but the other were recent fight marks. He had been given a very hard time by another leopard and had puncture wounds to his head and abdomen.

The accident occurred as he attempted to cross the main tarmac road, heading for Kudu Ranch and away from Lucky's territory.

What we believe happened was that Lucky (who is a much larger territorial male) fought with him last night and chased him away. Sadly he chose the wrong escape route.

We are going back through our records to see if we can identify him, but we don't recognise him. Initial thoughts are that he may have been a transitory young male.

There is not much more to say. This is one of those depressing moments, which are part of being involved with conservation research.

Written by Will Fox

ILP Manager

Mountain Males!

2011-04-21T03:09:00.000-07:00

Section E, the section of the research zone currently being studied, consisted of a large mainly inaccessible valley and surrounding mountain paths. The majority of cameras in this section are therefore placed on the mountain paths surrounding the valley, and it appears this is exactly where the male leopards prefer to be. In the other sections that have consisted mainly of low lying valleys the majority of images captured have been of leopard females. However our first camera checks in this section show two of the male leopards walking the mountains but no females. One of the males, shown above, is Black Tip, possibly the largest resident male we have in the area. Currently we have photographed him in four of the eight sections of the research zone. We know this male has a large territory but are unable to fully outline at present. The second is MS22 (shown below). The male which the ILP have so far sighted twice and photographed lower in the valley frequently. It is interesting to see that this young male is spending less time with his companion, who we believe to be his sister from the same litter, and travelling further a field alone. Lucky our collared male is another male who is also frequently found walking the mountain paths. Perhaps it is coincidence all the boys are found in this habitat or maybe their is more too it!!

Written By Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

Amazing Elusive Aardvark caught on camera!!

2011-04-20T13:20:00.000-07:00

The very secretive Aardvark (or antbear as it is sometimes known) has for the first time in this study area been caught in action by the ILP cameras. Aardvarks Latin name is Orycteropus afer which means 'From Africa' referring to their large range all over Africa from the Sahara to South Africa. Although rarely seen due to their shy nature and nocturnal habitats the aardvark is a relatively common species throughout its range, despite this little is known about its behaviour. Feeding primarily on ants and termites it has adapted strong claws for digging through hard soils and an elongated snout and long tongue to reach deep into termite mounds. Through the day aardvarks shelter in underground burrows they are able to dig themselves. It is this aspect of their behaviour that make the aardvark what is known as a Keystone species. Many animals that are not capable of digging burrows eg porcupine, hyena, warthogs. to shelter in rely on the abandoned homes of the aardvarks for protection, making the aardvark KEY to the survival of many other species. A special treat to photograph such an animal. Hope you all enjoy.

Written By Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

Leopard Calls at Dusk!

2011-04-10T09:05:00.000-07:00

While putting out he last of the Cameras in section E, the new section to be studied, we were lucky enough to hear not one but two leopards calling. The first we heard from the mountain side at 5.30pm, we estimate this individual was around 600m from us in the valley below. Right in the heart of section E so fingers crossed we get promising results from this section also. The second we heard from a few kilometres away on the mountain top across the valley at around 6.35pm just as the sun was setting(See above). This call came from within the heart of Lucky's, one of the resident males of the research area, territory. There is no way of proving whether it was indeed lucky calling or not however. For those of you have not heard a leopard it has a roar that sounds almost like sawing wood. It is in the genus Panthera, which means it is one of only 4 felines (along with tiger, lion and jaguar ) to have the anatomical ability to roar.

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

Amazing Leopard Visual but can you guess the sex??

2011-04-05T11:17:00.000-07:00

It seems things really do happen in three's and this is exactly what happened with recent leopard sightings here at the ILP. Those who follow the blog will know that last week we witnessed a young female leopard lying on the tar road. Never expecting to see this again we were amazed the following day when we saw her sitting in almost the exact same location on the side of the tar road seemingly relaxed, and what is more surprising this sighting was not dawn or dusk but 2pm in the afternoon. Only 2 hours later, Anton (ILP Researcher) was lucky enough to spend an hour and 15mins with one of the leopards in the research area. After following Kudu alarm calls Anton and his guests found the leopard at a watering hole (see below). He then watched as the young leopard relaxed in the grass only meters from the vehicle before starting to stalk impala using a small drainage line as cover. Unfortunately a flighty Waterbuck spooked the impala so the hunt was unsuccessful and the leopard moved off. An amazing sighting and an excellent sign to see such a relaxed animal in an area were leopard previously known for being extremely elusive due to previous persecution by humans.

But now for the quick quiz, can you tell the sex of the leopard shown here? Have a guess and let us know why you think before we let you know!

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

Leopard on the Road! Lirerally!

2011-03-31T01:43:00.000-07:00

The work of the Ingwe Leopard Project is study the behaviour, distribution and density of leopards outside of protected nature reserves. The true meaning of this was even more apparent this morning. When driving not on the research area but on a main highway road towards Lydenburg the ILP team were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a beautiful young female leopard relaxing on the side of the road, most possibly a female sighted previously on our current research area. The dangers facing the leopards outside of protected areas are phenomenal, roads kills are just one of the problems experienced by leopards not in formally protected areas. This leopard sat literally only a meter from cars traveling 120km/hr and even when we turned back to get a closer she only moved a few meters from the road. Other sightings of large male have also been recorded frequently using the road. It is a sad story that the habitats of leopards outside the protected areas are so fragmented that territories of some individuals now include dangerous man made rivers which leopards have no choice but to cross. This particular stretch of road has already been the cause of several leopard deaths (see below, a leopard killed just 500m from sighting above). The Ingwe leopard project has already helped passing a legislation that the grass on the side of the must be cut back a few meters so that the leopards do not step straight on to the road. However even this is not enough to save them all. More must be done!!!

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

FS7 Spoor!!

2011-03-27T10:16:00.000-07:00

Although recent camera trap images have captured no images of FS7, one of the adult females on the research area her tracks have been found. Her front right pad is shown above and her hind right pad shown above. As with all leopards the front foot is shorter but wider than the more elongated hind foot. It is her hind right foot that is unique however and lets us identify the spoor as belonging to the individual FS7. If you study the image below you can see that firstly the main pad is twisted slightly right compared to the angle of the toes. Most obvious though is the distinct right angle on the right of the main pad. A very unusual shape for the pad allowing us to identify the individual even without the use of camera traps.

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

16 leopard images, 3 individuals!!

2011-03-21T00:19:00.000-07:00

The ILP team have broken a record, onour last camerachecks 16 images of leopards were found on only four cameras. Amazing results. Four of the 16 images are of unknown leopards or unidentifiable images. Two images are of a young female (see above) who we beleive to be one of the sub adults we have been following for the last couple of months. This same leopard is one of the pair of leoprds we got visual off after they fed on the still born girffe carcass at the beginning of February. Eight of the images were of FS40, a adult female who we photographed 3 times at the end of January start of Februaruy and then not again since. We photogrphed this female now on 3 different camera trap sets giving us a good idea of the area she utilises as her territory. The last two images are of the one of our residential males, black tip (see below), showing us his awesome size yet again. This male two has not been photographed in about a month so nice to see he is back in the area again. This is brilliant results which provide vital informtion to assessing leopard movements withinthe researh area.

Written By Emma Loader, ILP Researcher.

Can you identify the mystery animal in the dark?

2011-03-16T01:56:00.000-07:00

We are a little over half way through our time in section D of the research area and so far we have recorded 19 images of leopards ( in just 4 weeks!!), and this is not including the 5 images recorded on an extra camera remaining in Section C. As a quick summary 4 individuals have been identified in Section D. These are FS7, an adult female who ILP have been following for around 6months now, a new adult female photographed only 3 times in the first couple of weeks of research in section D and then a pair of what we believe to be sub adult females, which make up over half of the images recorded. Some of the images are of currently unidentified leopards due to blurring. The latest camera trap images collected show one unidentified leopard (shown above) as well as a mystery animal. The ILP team have an idea or two but are uncertain fully to what the identity of this creature may be. The image is taken by the same camera as the above leopard so this can be used as perspective. We would love you guys to help us out, look at the image below and leave your ideas on what you all think it is and help us all come to a conclusion. Have a go!!

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

Diamond girl in new spot and the trouble with baboons

2011-03-06T09:47:00.000-08:00

The female we have been following now for 6 months has yet again been photographed in a new location. This time an image of her was recorded in a densely vegetated drainage line. We have previously photographed her near this area so now it appears she uses the drainage line as part of her territory also. The dense vegetation in the drainage line offers leopards ideal cover and shade to rest in during the hot hours of the day. That is of course if not stumbled upon by the local baboon troop. It is well documented that baboons and leopards are in constant conflict with one another with an ever changing power dynamic. At times the leopard will be a cunning hunter of baboons at others the baboon will harass an out numbered cat. This appears to have been the case of an unknown leopard photographed. The leopard was photographed during the very heat of day walking past the camera (as a rule but not a given leopards tend to avoid walking during the heat of day when possible). Five minutes after however images of baboons were recorded. We believe that the baboon most likely disturbed the leopard while she rested and pushed her off. Leopards being solitary hunters it often wiser to move away from conflict than to risk possible injury which we believe to be the case here.

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

Update on Injured Leopard!

2011-03-02T22:24:00.000-08:00

Some of you may remember at the end of January, a leopard we believed to be a young female was caught on the camera trap with a flesh wound to her hind left quarters. Exactly a month on the same individual was photographed again, posing beautifully in front of one camera to prove she is on the mend. This image just goes to show how tough the leopard really is. Just a few weeks after the injury was first recorded and now barley a sign of it can be seen. A small joining of where the wound once was is all that remains (see image above). Excellent news the young leopard has recovered well. These creatures have adapted to heal fast as in the wild there is no second chances, they must be able to fend for themselves, feed and defend themselves. It really is survival of the fittest. Brilliant to see she is almost fully recovered and is still moving is a pair with what we believe to be her sibling or perhaps even mother (see image below) who she was previously photographed with.

Return of the Small Predators

2011-02-26T09:13:00.000-08:00

From recent camera trap images we seem to have found the territory of another honey badger. Within the small research area we currently operate in small predators seem to be rare. We infrequently photograph civets walking the sections, have only photographed small spotted genet once and also before now honey badger only once. Were our new cameras are situated we have photographed honey badger four times foraging between the cameras. Although our main focus is to find the leopard density and how they move in relation to one another it is also very important to not forget the smaller creatures. The higher the biodiversity of an area the more stable the ecosystem is. Interestingly were we photographed all the other small predators only once, we also photographed many leopards. However the camera traps we have recently captured for images of honey badgers, returning every few nights – no leopards have currently been photographed there. This may be coincidence or it may be an occurring pattern. Only time will tell.

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

Update on Diamond Girl, FS7

2011-02-21T04:22:00.000-08:00

Yet again our little female has been photographed frequently over the last couple of weeks. At our last camera checks we found 3 new photos of here were we regularly see her moving. Unusually however she walked past the cameras three times in 20 minutes. We have seen images of this female in a crouching position in front of these cameras suggesting she may have been on the hunt. It may just be that this area is a favoured hunting ground within her territory however this is just one possible explanation to why she would move past the cameras in such a way. The road these cameras are situated on also leads to a watering hole. |Therefore she may have began her night with a drink before heading back in the direction from which she came, either way she seems very relaxed around our cameras.

We also photographed diamond moving through an area we have no previously recorded her in. This provides more valuable information on her territory and movements. Interesting about this particular area is that we had not previously before photographed Fs7 here but had photographed another adult female. It is possible that this an overlap area between the two females or perhaps one was just passing through the area. With further research hopefully this will become more clear.

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

Finally some trace of Lucky

2011-02-16T05:02:00.000-08:00

Lucky our collared male has not made a download for 2 months nor have we been able to find him using the telemetry, but yesterday brought good news all round. From GPS data we know were Lucky usually walks through the research area. Walking this track we were lucky enough to find very fresh spoor of the large male showing us that although his collar is temporally not working he is still safe and following his old routes. Lucky’s spoor is identifiable by its unique shape. On his right hind foot (shown above) the two middle toes are almost the exact same height as each other and on his left hind his main pad twists slightly left with the bottom left of the main pad being significantly lower than the bottom right.

Fresh leopard skat was also discovered from the night before along with spoor of an adult female leopard (see below). Currently we know of three adult females on the area, FS7 (photographed since October) and Fs40 (Photographed frequently in last month) and female and cub who were sighted a couple of times but who has not been named. The spoor found did not belong to FS7 but may have belonged to either of the others. It is very possible to be FS40 if we look at where the spoor was found and where she was previously photographed, however further study of her movements are needed before we can determine this for certain.

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

Where Grace wanders

2011-02-14T21:26:00.000-08:00

Ever wondered where Grace wanders. Well as you can see above this exceptional mother has quite a small home range.

Of-course Grace is just one of our study animals, but her data provides one piece of the jig saw that is helping us to understand the behaviours of leopards in these areas.

Written by Will Fox

ILP Manager

Injured Leopard!!

2011-01-29T06:09:00.000-08:00

Our last camera check again yielded intersting results. On the same path we have recorded the lone female walking images of two leopards walking together were recorded. This is the second pair of leopards recorded in Section D in a just over a week. In the latest image (shown below) one of the leopards has a fairly large skin wound on the left hind quaters just above the tail. It is possible that this is a hunting injury however it appears that a layer of skin has been fully removed in a scratch motion rather than a punction suggesting that the injury is most likly to have been caused by another leopard. Currently it is unknown whether the two pairs or leopards photographed are in fact the same two leopards. We expect they are however more photographs is needed to confirm this fully and also to confirm the relationship between the leopards. At the moment we suspect that they may be two subadult cubs moving together. Keep posted for further developments.

Written By Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

Injured leopa

2011-01-29T06:06:00.000-08:00

One week in new section and 5 Leopards

2011-01-29T05:35:00.000-08:00

After only one week of the cameras being in the new section, Section D, we already have outstanding results. In one week we collected 5 leopard images. Three of a female leopard (see below) walking the same path, getting almost the same image of her each time, even to the point of being able to see her left front pad on each image. We are still working on identifying this female. There was one photograph of what we think to be a young male (although it is possible it is a adult female) due to large paw size and what looks to be like the development of a dew lap. One unknown leopard was also photographed on the same camera 2 minutes before this, however only its hind leg was caught in the image. In this image in the background the sub adult male ( or we think is male) in the picture above can be seen relaxing. This leopard couple may therefore be an adult female with her sub adult cub or perhaps two sub adults walking together. As far as we can tell so far none of the individuals recorded in Section D were previously recorded in section C. The border of Section C and Section D appears also to be the border of different terriotories.

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher.

Don't look now, but we may be winning

2011-01-25T00:51:00.000-08:00

Fans of the ILP will have seen this photograph before. It's unusual in its self, but also gives me the courage to talk about something that I have been reluctant to publicise for a while. Only because I fear that we may just being seeing a blip, but as time goes on it seems that it isn't a blip. By that I mean (and please everyone cross your fingers) it looks like we are making the difference we have aimed and hoped for, but worried that we would ever make.

To put this in context our research in 2010 provided good news everywhere. Private game reserves reported frequent sightings of relaxed leopards and our survey of sixty one cattle ranchers showed that they are seeing higher density of leopards but in general see the predation losses as acceptable (there is a lot more in that and we have a detailed report being written right now, but it's good news).

The key point is that folks are reporting relaxed leopards that are not showing the fear of man that once was prevalent. Okay that is a bold statement, but we have a lot of evidence to back that up.

So why relaxed? Why are leopards standing and not running?

As with everything there are many and detailed avenues and thoughts here, but the bottom line (and my opinion) is that it is simply down to significantly less hunting.

I think the ILP can rightly take credit here, we have created a voice that no longer allows hunting to go unnoticed and as a result the killing of leopards has reduced. Not stopped, but significantly reduced.

Now we need to consolidate this and push on, if we slip back at any point then all our good work will unravel. To be honest for the project to survive we need funds. We are minnows punching way above our weight, but we need all the help we can get. Whether that be by donations, or folks coming on a safari and joining the ILP team (which I think is a great way for conservation to be funded, a win win for everyone), or sending us equipment, or just spreading the word to your friends and family. We are here, we are struggling to make ends meet, but we are WINNING!

Written by Will Fox

ILP Manager

New cameras working well

2011-01-17T07:48:00.000-08:00

The ILP team would like to send out a big thank you to Anne Claverie for the donation of two brand new cameras- GamespyD50s! These cameras are supposed to have superior battery life and that is exactly what we found. One camera took 273 photos in 10 days and still has an incredible 60% battery life. They will greatly reduce the cost we incur from constant replacement of batteries. The cameras, named Alexandre and Olivier after Anne’s nephews were placed on a game path close to where our female leopard has been photographed several times. Both cameras captured a smorgasbord of wildlife with everything from more commonly seen species such as wildebeest, kudu, impala, zebra and warthog, to rarely seen species such as oryx, porcupine and brown hyenas (shown below). The fantastic images of the brown hyena also help contribute to our study of all large predators in the area

Written by Audrey- ILP volunteer.

: Visual of Two female Leopards!

2011-01-17T07:44:00.000-08:00

The ILP team was lucky enough to get a visual at last of two female leopards, a mother and her sub adult cub. As mentioned in a previous blog a still born giraffe had recently been born. Unfortunately for the giraffe it does not take predators long to find an easy meal. The leopards fed on the young giraffe carcass. By the time we arrived the carcass had been dragged into a nearby drainage line as was no longer visible. The adult female (shown above) was relaxing in the long grass under the tree no doubt close to where the carcass lay. We were lucky enough to spend about an hour and half observing her behavior. She was extremely relaxed, only lifting her head to check the noise of a vehicle or to change positions. She also decided to have a play scratching the branches and climbing the trees. Very nice to see her so relaxed however does concern me that she may also be so relaxed around humans that potentially mean her more harm.

After watching the female for all this time it came to our attention that her cub had been watching us. Despite looking around the area frequently for signs of other leopards, it was only when the cub raised its head out of the long grass that she has been relaxing in that we caught a glimpse of her only 3metres from our vehicle. This little female (shown below) obviously learnt her relaxed behaviour from her mother as we had manoeuvred the vehicle pretty much right on top of her the whole time and she had not even looked up. The two leopards are currently unidentified but I hope with closer inspection we will be able to get an idea of who they are and update you all soon.

Thank you,

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

Date night!!!

2011-01-12T23:30:00.001-08:00

The ILP team can not believe the luck of one little spot. The same camera that photographed the two boys together just a few days ago, has now also photographed a male and female leopard walking along together. It is clear from this picture the size difference between between the males and females. The female is a significantly smaller size than the male shown behind who we estimate to be around 85kg-90kg, a very large leopard. Even better news is that we can identify both of these individuals. The female is FS7, the little girl with diamond tail, the team have been following since October. The male is Black Tip (seen at the back here), one of the large males we photographed together earlier in the week. It is therefore quite possible that the two males earlier were both following the female and challenged one another for a right too her. If this is the case it appears our big boy black tip was the victor and appears to be top dog of Thaba Tholo at the moment. We are still waiting for Lucky's collar to download also to see where he was moving at the time of this excitement and too figure out how he fits into this jigsaw. And who knows in around 3 months we might just see little ones!!

Thank you everyone

Written by Emma Loader ILP Researcher.

First Image of Two Adult Males Together!! Ever!

2011-01-10T22:25:00.000-08:00

We could potentially have some very exciting news!! On a routine walk we decided to check one of our cameras we just happened to be passing by chance, and could not believe our luck when we found this image. Two large adult male leopards are walking along together. This is the first time Ingwe Leopard Project has ever documented this in the 10+ years it has been running. The second male we have identified as Black tip, one the extremely large territorial males of the area. The male leading the way is an unidentified individual but as you can see by comparing him to black tip is also an extremely large male. This means within our 6500 hectare research area we have at least 3 large male leopards walking there, the two above and Lucky our collared male. This is excellent evidence that territories overlap a lot more than previous research on leopards would show and they are potentially a lot more tolerant of one another. When studying the image you can see both cats have their ears flat back showing that they are not 100% amused with each others presence however their are no signs that these two boys have been fighting at all, perhaps showing a mutual understanding of one another that has not previously been documented in Leopard research. Fingers crossed with further research we can shed more light on the situation above. Very Very exciting.

Thank you all,

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

A Chameleon of a Find

2011-01-07T09:26:00.000-08:00

Waking up at the crack of dawn allowed us to stumble across baby flap necked chameleons during our morning camera checks. We found seven little babies and they were just adorable. They walked slowly around, moving one limb at a time. They had opposable digits and used their tails to stay secured to branches.

When moving around, the baby chameleons had their mouths wide open. We think this is adaptation to make them appear threatening towards predators.

The chameleon's skin colour changes because of differences in temperature and light intensity. The colour is controlled by the nervous and endocrine systems of the small reptile.

Written by Laura, ILP Volunteer

Leopard and More Mellers Mongoose!

2011-01-07T08:24:00.001-08:00

Another camera check update brings good and bad news. From 8 cameras out we had 3 cameras that failed to produce any images due to camera errors. However from the remaining 5 cameras a total of 114 images were captured of 7 different species. The good news is that we again got a picture of a leopard passing (see above). However due to fast rate of grass growth and the pace at which the leopard is moving the image is broken up and blurred and unfortunately can not be used for identifying an individual. However it is still a positive to see that leopard is still utilizing this area.

More excellent news followed at the next cameras. For those who follow us regularly you will remember last week reading about our find of the Mellers Mongoose image which is extremely rare. Well We have beaten that image this time. ILP cameras have been luckily enough to capture another image of Mellers mongoose but this time not only one but 4 individuals. As these animals are usually solitary creatures and given that what little information is available on these animals they apparently breed during the summer months and give birth to 2-3 young. Therefore it appears this is a mother and her young. Very good news to know not only is the species present in the area but also appears to be breeding successfully.

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

Leopard Spoor Identification

2011-01-06T10:55:00.000-08:00

A mid morning walk began with an excellent discovery – three sets of different leopard tracks walking to and from a puddle from the overnight downpour. All four paws of each leopard were perfectly preserved in the mud substrate. Each part of the leopard track (length, width, pad size) is recorded so the leopard can be identified accurately. Other information such as the date, time, GPS position and altitude are also recorded. Each paw print of a leopard is like a human fingerprint – unique due to either to some genetic trait or an environmental influence (such as a previous injury – e.g. such as being snared). The tracks were traced (by Emma, see the above image) for easier identification in the future.

The small dimensions of one of the track sets infer a cub /sub-adult in the research area. One of the other sets belongs to the female FS7 (Diamond Girl) due to the unique pad arrangement (refer to the image above). The final leopard track set belongs to a male. We have a hunch that it is Black Tip. Leopard male tracks can be identified due to shorter distances between the toes and the pad, as well as the general size of the imprint.

Written by Laura
ILP Volunteer

Day of Tracks and a special thank you!

2011-01-04T01:00:00.001-08:00

Early morning walk today started with a clean slate so to speak. After last nights rains wiped all old tracks away there were many new ones to see. Unfortunately our days goal of searching for the little females tracks (FS7) was not successful but we did find may others. Firstly brown hyena tracks (see above) were again seen frequently throughout section B ( the area we walked today) showing us the hyenas continue to be very active. We also found several tracks of smaller predators including civet and genet. It is very good to see evidence of these smaller animals around again as during the winter months tracks were very scarce of the smaller predators. Porcupine tracks were also recorded as well as all the normale antelope species eg Kudu, bushbuck etc.

Also would like to say a special thank you to Anne Claverie for sponsoring the ILP two brand new camera traps which will be placed out in the research area ASAP!!! Thank you again they really are such a big help to the project and fingers crossed they bring us luck.

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

FS7 and Black tip images recorded!!!

2011-01-02T04:05:00.000-08:00

The new year has started with a bang here at ILP. Over the last few weeks we have found significantly more evidence of Brown Hyena movement than leopards however todays camera checks yielded images of two individual leopards. The young female, FS7, who was frequently seen moving through out section B, was the first leopard to be photographed in 2011 by the ILP team. She is moving in through section C which is adjacent valleys to section B where we have photographed her regularly since October. Such regular images give us a good indication to how far the little lady is moving and were her territory begins and ends. It will be interesting to see that when the cameras are moved to section d later in the month if she is also utilizing this area.

The second leopard photographed is one of our large males, Black Tip. This large male leopard has been photographed regularly on the study area but always on the mountain tops further east rather than the low lying valley which the most images of him were recorded in (see above). It is therefore another very interesting insight into his territory and movements to record him in this specific area as it was previously unknown in which direction from the mountains he moved. It is still unknown the interaction between black tip and the Lucky, the collared male. We know the males home ranges overlap to some degree but to what extent is unknown. Lucky has not been known to walk were we photographed black tip recently, my prediction would be that lucky perhaps move away from the study area when this large male is around. I will keep you all updated to where lucky was at the time black tip was photographed and see with further research if we can provide proof to any correlation between the two males movements.

Thank You and happy new year to you all

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

Extremely rare Mellers Mongoose image!!

2010-12-31T00:59:00.000-08:00

Very exciting news everyone. ILP cameras have managed to capture the image of a Mellers Mongoose (Rhynchogale melleri)! Now this might not mean much to most of you but let me explain. This is a very rare mongoose, it has only a few patchily distributed populations throughout southern Africa mainly in the east between the equator and subtropic. It is a solitary nocturnal animal who feeds primarily on termites and some small vertebrate. It is identifiable from its course fur and thick shaggy tail as seen in image above. As this creature is so rare little of its behavioural ecology is actually known. Really exciting news to know we may have a small population of these rare creatures on our research area and hope to see them again in hope to learn more about there behaviour.

Thank you everyone

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

Last camera Trap update of 2010

2010-12-31T00:31:00.000-08:00

Last updates on 2010 today. On our latest camera trap images we got very interesting results. Unfortunately two camera had faults so we only gained images from 6 our of the 8 cameras currently in the field. However we still gained a total of 140 images in 6days of 11 species one of which is extremely rare and a separate blog about our star image will follow this one with more information. On one camera alone captured images of four species that are not photographed often. These include brown hyena, porcupine (see images), slender tailed mongoose and new species which will be explained in the following blog. Other species recorded include Kudu, Blue Wildebeest, Bushpig, Nyala, Waterbuck, baboon and bushbuck.

Although no leopard was recorded on this update there has been visual of four leopards, including a mother and a cub on the research area. These animals were seen by lucky guests of black leopard camp when on game drive so fingers crossed we can get images taken of the animals and start to identify the individuals. Very good news indeed!!

Thank you everyone. Keep posted for next blog on our special species and a happy new year to you all.

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

Chameleon pic and camera updates!!!

2010-12-20T22:58:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

Here's the latest on our camera traps in section C. Between the 16th and 19th December, the cameras have taken a total of 64 pictures of 6 different species: birds, kudu, bushbuck, waterbuck, klipspringer and baboon. Unfortunately our cameras on top of the mountain did not take many pictures. However they have recently had some maintenance work, so hopefully we will get some nice images from them soon. Our other cameras, meanwhile, have taken some great pictures, although there are recurring problems with short battery life.

On a more positive note, during one of our recent walks we made an exciting discovery- a flap necked chameleon! This lizard was resting against a stem in the grass, perfectly camouflaged for its environment.

Stay tuned for more photos and updates!

Written by Grant,

ILP Volunteer

Lucky CameraD !!!!

2010-12-18T01:49:00.000-08:00

More excellent news. After our last report of small predators recorded on the same camera trap, Camera D, we thought we had had all of our luck. We thought wrong! Our next camera trap check showed camera D still had some spark let. This time we were extremely lucky to capture not only one but two honey badgers out foraging together. Amazing!!! Honey badgers are excellent foragers and extreme omnivores. The feed on vertebrates, invertebrates and are especially adapted to digging out social insects such as ants and termites with their large bear like claws.

Other good news is that we again recorded a leopard picture. Bad news however is that the motion sensors on the camera did not trigger in time to get all the leopard and only image recorded was of its tail. We are going to analyse the image soon and see if the individual can be identified at all from this image or not. Will let you all know soon.

Thank you

Writtenby Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

Bush pig Baby and new Pop Quiz

2010-12-14T21:54:00.001-08:00

Last blog on recent camera trap updates! was so much to report had to cover it over three blogs. As mentioned by Grant in the previous blog bushpig was one of the species recorded on the last set of camera traps. At first glance we thought this was just a good shot of an adult bush pig but on closer inspection of the image we see this adult female actually has young piglets with (see left bottom corner). For the first two months of their lives piglets are hidden in the den while their parents go out and forage. By the size of this little one it is assumed the piglets are just two months and exploring on one of their first excursion from the den. Very Cute!!

As for our pop quiz, while walking a very beautiful drainage line with high rock faces and dense vegetation we came across small caves littered with droppings (see below). So new pop quiz is what animal makes such a site? everyone have a guess and results will be given in next blog. Thanks Everyone!!

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

Section C Update- Leopard Pic!!

2010-12-14T07:56:00.000-08:00

Hi Guys!

Here’s an update on how our camera traps in Section C have been doing. Our solar cameras on top of the mountain have not been charging properly, so unfortunately we have few photos from this area. Meanwhile our 3 other pairs of cameras have performed quite well. Between the 7^th and the 12^th these cameras have take a total of 251 photos, capturing images of 12 species- kudu, impala, waterbuck, bushbuck, klipspringer, zebra, baboon, warthog, bushpig, civet, genet… and LEOPARD! Unfortunately we have been unable to identify the leopard. We’re hoping to find more pictures and tracks in the near future in order to build an ID kit to allow better identification.

Written by Grant,

ILP Volunteer

Small predators at last!!

2010-12-13T10:15:00.000-08:00

Second time we have checked camera traps in new position and results have been very excited. A full status of results will be given in another blog written by our new volunteer soon but just a quick update on some of the exciting pictures the cameras have recorded. We have a recorded two small mammals for the first time since the new research on Thaba Tholo began about 8 weeks ago. The first was an image of an African Civet, Civettictis civetta (shown above). The civet is a nocturnal opportunistic feeder who prowls for food rather than actively hunts. It will feed on almost anything digestible from berries and fruits, to invertebrates, carrion and small vertebrates including new born antelope. Civets often scent mark from perineal glands and the secretion known as civetone was used as a fixative for many early flower perfumes. We occasionally see civet tracks on our walks so it is great news to finally have an image!!

The second small predator image was that of a Large Spotted Genet ( Genetta tigrina). These are semiarboreal predators which hunt both in trees and on the ground. They feed on a wide range of prey including bats, bushbabies, birds, rodent, lizards, almost all invertebrates (moths, beetles, crickets etc) and even nectar from night pollinated trees such as the Sausage tree ( Kigelia pinnata).

It is excellent news to see these small predators at last. A high number of species shows a healthy ecosystem so fingers crossed we continue to photograph such diversity.

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

A Basking Boomslang

2010-12-10T23:08:00.000-08:00

Good morning boys and girls!

Today we awoke to the sound of black back puffbacks chirping alarm in the tree in our back yard. Looking up, we could see they were trying to scare away a female boomslang basking in the nearby branches. We knew it was a female boomslang (or African Tree Snake) because of her olive green colouration, and the colour of her belly scales. The male has a bright white belly, the female is off-white. The puffbacks were surprisingly persistent in their efforts to deter the snake, so we believe they may have a nest nearby. The boomslang was undeterred and continued basking, so the puffbacks eventually gave up.

Written by Grant,

ILP Volunteer.

Old Leopard Scat found

2010-12-09T21:00:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

Recently our walks around the study area have been a little sparse on the leopard action. We have found no tracks of either hyena or leopard over the last week. This may simply be that no leopards have walked the area we have been in or due to the rains we have had recently all tracks are being washed away before we see them. Luckily we did however find leopard scat yesterday. Although the scat was fairly old, maybe a few weeks, it is still evidence that leopards are using this area. We collected the scat which contains bone and fur fragments and hope to send it for analysis so we can tell what the leopard had fed on previously. This will allow us to build up data on the diets of the leopards and see after time if a preferred prey species becomes obvious or whether they seem to take a large number of prey and hunt very opportunistically.

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

First Update on new section, And Yes we have Leopard!!

2010-12-07T08:20:00.000-08:00

Hi guys,
All the cameras have now been placed in the next section of the research area, again for a total of 6 weeks. The new cameras or again placed in locations where we hope we can increase the chances of capturing a leopard during its excursions. This is mainly where roads or game paths cross drainage lines for example. After just two days in place we decided to check the cameras just to ensure all were working and our findings were a pleasant surprise. One picture of a leopard was recorded, unfortunately as the image is slightly blurred it is hard to identify the individual and due to rainfall unfortunately no tracks were found but gut instinct I would like to think it is the female, FS7, that has been in the area for a couple of months now, lets hope she passes by again and we get a clearer image to confirm this. As well as the leopard the cameras also captured 4 other species (Kudu, Zebra, Baboon, Reedbuck). Will update you all soon. Thank you.

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

Summary of last 6 weeks results!

2010-12-03T21:30:00.000-08:00

Hiya everybody,

Just a quick update. We have now removed all the cameras from Section B which offically marks the end of our first 6 week cycle on the new research area. Over the 6 weeks 4113 images where captured from 8 camera traps in the field. A total of 17 species were recorded (Kudu, baboon, bushbuck, mountain reedbuck, zebra, impala, porcupine, scrub hare, guinea fowl, oryx, blue wildebeest, Nyla, waterbuck, grey duiker, warthog, Leopard and Brown Hyena) with Kudu and Baboon being the most frequently photographed. A total of 5 leopard images were captured showing a at least 2 possibly 3 individuals. One image was off a large male and the remaining 4 of a female. We currently expect the images to be of all of the same female however need more evidence to confirm one image is the same individual as the others. A total of 6 hyena pictures were recorded (see image). All in all a very good start to the project!! Fingers crossed the next section yields such good results also.

Thank You

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

Eland Carcass found on walk

2010-12-02T06:37:00.000-08:00

Hiya Everybody,

Sorry for being quiet for a little while, have been busy busy. We have currently been walking about 30km a day searching the next section of the research zone for ideal camera placements. We are looking for areas were typical leopard paths such as drainage lines criss cross roads to increase the chances of capturing a leopard no matter what direction they are walking in. It has been a little difficult as a lot of this section is very thick and inacessible but we are getting there. Along our walks into the bush however we continue to find some interesting discoveries. For example eland carcass, a large bull who had most likely died of natural causes. The eland is the largest of the antelope species and this is clearly displayed by the very impressive size horns (see from image above).

We will be taking down all the current cameras tomorrow, servicing them and putting them back out in section C for 6 weeks on Saturday. Will update on camera trap results tomorrow.

Thanks everyone

Emma, ILP Researcher

2 predators..one camera

2010-11-29T05:50:00.000-08:00

All in a days work!

Hi guys just a quick and exciting update from us here.

We are moving the camera traps soon to a different section of Thaba Tholo so we decided to have a look around today to get some idea where to put them. After our little run around we decided that while we in the area we would just go check the cameras (as Emma has mentioned we have been having some problems with leaking battery).

Camera’s C and D had a few animals but nothing we looking for…until we saw what was on Camera F…..5 Brown Hyaena pictures and 1 leopard all on one camera!!!!!!! This is the first camera that we’ve had that has both our study subjects on and as you can imagine we were beaming from ear to ear!! Great way to end a day and to end my stay at ILP :)

Natascha Sibilski, ILP volunteer

Pop Quiz results and Camera trap Update!!

2010-11-28T06:13:00.000-08:00

After five days out, we returned to our camera traps to check what they have been recording. Unfortunalty we were not quite so lucky as last time. This time two out of our eight cameras failed due to battery acid leakage. Luckily however there is no permanent damage to the cameras. Then we also only got a few images off another camera as the baboons (see large baboon above taking a snooze directly between the cameras), who have over the last 6 weeks had been very well, decided to play with the cameras at last and knock it straight of its stand. From the remaining 5 camera a total of 75 images were recorded showing only 5 species (Kudu, warthog, waterbuck, mountain Reedbuck and Guinea Fowl). When possible we are trying to solve the battery issues by using solar panels and recharable batteries.
As for the answer to our last pop quiz! The nest and small blue and brown specked eggs actually belonged to a Fork Tailed Drongo. We have been keeping track on it but unfortunalty do not know if the chicks hatched and fletched succesfully. We saw the parent sitting on the nest a few times after we first found the nest with eggs in it and then next time we checked all we found was the remains of one hatched egg (see image below). Well done on everyone guessing!!

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

2010-11-25T06:26:00.000-08:00

Hello everybody, just a quick update on what has been going on lately. We have walked the last few days but unfortunately found no tracks recently but with the rain and terrain of areas being walked this is not totally unexpected. It is nearly time to move the cameras to the next section of the research zone, section C, so we have been covering this area trying to find the best possible sites to place camera trap in this area to yield the best results. Along our walks however we spot many small things that often go unnoticed. For example this young leopard tortoise going about his way after winter hibernation and many nesting birds are buzzing with activity, the male weavers are desperately building nests to impress the females, flycatchers are spinning cobwebs around their tiny cup nests to reinforce then and the white fronted bee eaters are often heard before seen at there communal nesting site in the side of a small cliff. We also found the nest shown below, Anyone who it belongs too?? Take a guess and I will tell you in the next blog.

Good Luck, Thanks everyone.

Written By Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

Female Sighted again And New Male In Town!!

2010-11-22T09:06:00.000-08:00

Checking the cameras after five days and we could not believe our luck. On the first camera checked we discovered an image of a handsome big male (see above) who had walked the path a day before us. So far we know of two adult males, Lucky our collared male and Black Tip. This male is neither, he may simply be passing through the area or may be resident. He was photographed in the opposite side of the study area to the other two males territories so it is possible that this new male may be boss of this side of town. Fingers crossed we see more evidence of him again.

Already in a good mood from our excellent start to the day we moved on to check the remaining cameras. To our surprise the pair situated to on the other side of the valley from were we saw the large male we got more leopard pictures. Fantastic news. This time two pictures of a female leopard had been captured (see above). We have managed to identify this as the female we recorded moving through the area at the end of October, which is even better news. The more we photograph the same leopards in the same area the more we can build an ID kit for them but more importantly the more information we can build on their home ranges. Fingers crossed this young female will set up territory in this very area. It is unclear yet whether this may also be the same leopard as we photographed on the 16th, just two days before this image was taken, and the leopard we have been able record spoor off. I would like to say it is but need more evidence to link the two just yet.

So excellent news all round. Now each and every pair of camera traps we have in the field has photographed leopards over the last four weeks. Fingers crossed they continue to do so! Thank you

Written By ILP Researcher, Emma Loader

Taking a walk in the bush..you never know what you might find..or what may find you!!

2010-11-17T06:20:00.000-08:00

16th of November we decided to park the car just inside the gate of Thaba Tholo and walk about the area. 300m down the road and we had our first leopard spoor!! After analyzing the spoor-using our ID kit that we have made for spoor recognition-we found it was the same spoor of the female we photographed last!! This means that she has been in the area for 4 days now. Further up the road we found more spoor in mud this time…all this in a 1km stretch of road.

After walking a few hours, we decided to head back. On the same road in the opposite direction to what the other spoor was and clearly over our own footprints was none other than the female leopard tracks…Emma and I were both amazed but after the days find we were very pleased with what we had found and humbled to share a part of the bush with the female leopard for a while!

Natascha Sibilski
ILP volunteer

2010-11-15T09:31:00.000-08:00

More excellent news today, another leopard image!!!!! This beautiful feline is the second leopard these cameras have recorded in this area in 3 and half weeks. Excellent success. I did hope that it may be the female (FS7) that we photographed 3 weeks ago but it does not seem to be. Although due to the poor quality due to the distance( see above) it is hard to confirm this fully. We also found a track further down the road which we believe to belong to same cat photographed. This is excellent news as if we only see the track in the future we have a greater chance off identifying the individual to whom it belongs to. Very exciting news!!!

Also good news of one our collared leopards across the road from the current research area. Im sure you all remeber Grace, the female who was snared in september. Following being snared Graces whereabout was often unknown. Worrying as we wished to follow her closley to make sure she made a full recovery. She has now been sighted again and tracked using telemetry. She is fit and healthy and luckily recoverd well from her injuries. SO great news all round. Hope to bring you somemore soon!

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

Camera Update and Leopard Scratchings found!

2010-11-14T04:03:00.000-08:00

Update on the latest camera trap check. A few little hitches along the way but this has got to be expected. Due to heavy storms we have a higher percentage of blank images than usual due to the rain and wind setting of motion sensors frequently. However despite a few errors we still captured a total of 129 images over 6 days, with a total of 9 different species ( Waterbuck,Kudu, Baboon, Guinea Fowl, Reedbuck, Impala, Nyala, Bushbuck and Scrub Hare). Baboon were the most frequently captured image, see this inquisitive individual. No leopard spoor was found however other signs of leopard we recorded. Scratch marks and leopard fur were found against a small tree on the mountain side not far from were some of the cameras are currently located. It is likley the scratchings were a few days old and spoor of the leopard had been washed away by the rains. The fur remained however as it had become stuck in the sticky sap of the tree. Leopard will scratch tress to scent marks using interdigital scent glands (between the toes) to show intruders that this is there territory. Scratching also helps keeps the big cats claws in good condition removing all the dead particles keeping claws sharp and effective. Keep posted for more updates and new pop quiz coming up soon! Thank you all

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher.

Charlotte visits school

2010-11-12T08:09:00.001-08:00

Charlotte (one of the ILP's youngest members) visited Bosfontien school today to hand over 300 toothbrushes that had been donated by her families business Northbourne Dental Practice in Dorset UK.

Charoltte is visiting South Africa and the ILP with her family who are old friends of the project. She has had some great times with one highlight being her visit to the school, which until now she had only read about.

She will be back at her own schools (Ferndown Middle School) in the UK next week to let her classmates know more about Bosfontien and hopefully carry on the friendships that she has made today via email.

Written by Will Fox

ILP Manager

Predator Hot Spot !

2010-11-10T11:04:00.000-08:00

Today was another successful morning to report to you all. Walking the mountain section of the farm early this morning, after more heavy storms bringing 28mm of rain overnight, we found our two top predators had walked the same footpath overnight. The freshest tracks were those of the Brown Hyena heading North. The tracks were extremely crisp and well defined still (see image1), the hyena had only walked here in the couple hours before since the last rains had ceased at around 4am.

A few metres up on the opposite side of the road heading in the opposite direction was a trail of leopard spoor that we followed for 150metres (see image 3). The leopard had walked the road some hours before the hyena and its spoor had been rained on. If you look closely at the leopard spoor close up image you will see the erosion to the spoor the raindrops has caused, the tiny little pot holes. The total length of the front track measured 82mm and that of the hind 88mm. This is a fairly small track compared to lucky or big boys (black tips) spoor who measure around 90mm. Suggesting this leopard is a female or possibly a young male.

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher.

2010-11-09T01:55:00.000-08:00

Afternoon walk in the area known as Graceland yesterday afternoon yielded some interesting results. After walking a few metres we heard some baboons sounding the alarm, the alarm which Anton was sure was for a leopard. Soon after we heard some guinea fowl sounding their alarm call all signs there was something there. The baboons were perched on top a mountain and we were at the bottom but with the binoculars we were able to establish (along with the direction the guinea fowls were calling from) that whatever it was in the drainage line straight ahead. We all though we had a leopard!!!

After a careful approach into the area and Anton mimicking a male leopard call, all the calling died down and we realized it wasn’t a leopard but an African Crowned Eagle (Stepanoaetus coronatus) sitting straight ahead of us perched up high. A great find! Shows you if you just use your senses what amazing things you can find out in the bush!

Back at camp, whilst enjoying the company of a few Greater Bushbaby- see image (Otolemur crassicaudatus) in the trees around us, we could hear a pair of African Woodowls (Stix woodfordii) and with Anton doing his amazing mimicking of the Female (the male and the female have different calls: The male call is a rapid series of clear hoots, which the female typically answers in a higher pitched, but more leisurely tone) He was able to get the pair in the tree right above us. The female wasn’t too pleased at the new female company and they hung around until the early hours in the morning…even following us to our tent when it was time to retire.

Just another day in the African bush!

2010-11-07T00:53:00.000-07:00

Heavy storms for three nights running, brilliant news the dry bush is starting to turn green again overnight and the roads and game paths we search for tracks are wiped clean of previous tracks with every heavy rainfall. Early yesterday morning we set out for a full days exploring in the bush on a mission to cover as much ground as possible and hopefully find some tell tale signs of leopard. We explored section E of the study area, this is a dense valley of intertwined drainage lines and dense vegetation, perfect leopard habitat. Although we found no spoor in this area we did find several old carcasses (see image of old impala remains, note horn moths!), possibly suggesting that a predator is making a healthy living in this area. On walking another section we also found tracks of a large male leopard, his spoor deeply indented into some thick mud the previous nights rains had caused telling us he must have walked there only after around 5.30am (see image). We know Lucky does not really cover this lower valley section of the study area so the tracks either belong to big boy black tip or another male we have no seen before. In order to identify the tracks again in the future we first took measurements of the spoor, then traced the shape and size of them to give us a comparison of shape when looking at other tracks to see if they may be from the same individual. We also then cast the spoor to give us a solid copy of the spoor. Fingers crossed we are soon able to identify spoor with an individual cat.

Written By Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

Oryx and Brown Hyena tracks

2010-11-05T07:26:00.000-07:00

Another little update, checked the remaining the two cameras situated in a large drainage line. A total of 95 images were captured of four species, including this handsome Oryx bull coming for an early morning drink. A lucky spot as the oryx are not normally observed in this area of the farm. Other species included Baboon, Kudu and a family of warthogs. While on routine walks searching the area for spoor, tracks of a female leopard where found, to our frustration she walked between two pairs of cameras we have out but no image of her was captured. Also in a separate section to where the cameras are placed brown hyena tracks (shown above) were observed. This print is nice as deep as the hyena walked here during or just after heavy rains when the each was soft and then through out the day has been baked hard into the ground. Note the characteristic sickle shaped toes of the hyena seen clearly in this print!

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

Update and New POP Quiz!!!

2010-11-03T13:02:00.001-07:00

Quick update again, today we checked 6 of our cameras. Unfortunately card error showed on one and camera failed on another. Frustrating but all part of work in the bush. 102 images were taken from the remaining 4 cameras showing a total 9 species (Kudu, Bushbuck, Waterbuck, Nyala, Baboon, Scrub Hare, Impala, Warthog, Wildebeest). No predators this time but this image how the ammonia lure attracts intrest in some passing animals. This male waterbuck couldnt resist investigating the scent. As for another quick pop Quiz, please all have a guess at what you think these tracks may be from. They were found along main road just after the rains close to open grasslands and drainage lines. Apologies for no scale but they measure 47cm. All have a guess and leave comments. Will give you guys the answer again in the next blog. Thank you all and good luck.

Written by Emma Loader, ILP researcher

Exciting Twig Snake

2010-11-01T10:54:00.000-07:00

No stories of leopards today guys as unfortunately I was forced to skip a trip into the bush in order to catch up on some paperwork. However there’s never a dull moment at the office. In a wild pear tree (Dombeya rotundifolia) in the ILP base garden we saw two southern vine snakes (Thelotornis capensis) mating! A very rare sight, very fascinating.
Twig snakes are named due to their long thin brown/ grey mottled appearance which camouflages then fantastically as branches. They are timed snakes which rarely attack unless provoke, however are extremely venomous if they do. Currently within South Africa there is no antidote to the heamotoxic venom they inject, which prevents the victims blood from clotting and can cause internal bleeding. And we have to mention the little female white bellied sunbirds who alerted us to the snakes presence with there frantic calling. The sunbird had a nest in tree and was desperately trying to distract the snakes. Luckily her nest was safe as the snakes appeared more interested in each other than any potential prey!

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

Brand New Baby Bushbuck

2010-10-31T13:11:00.000-07:00

Quick update on the last four days of camera recordings. Unfortunately no predators to report this time but its hard to stay disappointed given some of the images we did get. From 8 cameras a total of 198 pictures in 4 days were taken. This was comprised of 15 different species ( Scrub hare, Impala, Baboon, Porcupine, Guinea Fowl, Zebra, Waterbuck, Kudu, Mountain reedbuck, Blue Wildebeest, Warthog, Nyala an Duiker). The best images of which are shown here. Firstly a pair of porcupines trundling down the road, one of which was suffering from a bad hair day that night. Secondly and most special is this image of this very young bushbuck lamb. Bushbucks lamb spend majority of their early lives hidden in long grass so to capture an image of such a young one (maybe a day or two old) really is very special. Hope you all enjoy!

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

Lucky makes a kill !!

2010-10-30T11:32:00.000-07:00

A quick blog all about Lucky. His movements throughout October have been slightly erratic. He has been mainly moving within his usual range occasionally going further than previously seen. However he has been on the move almost constantly, even moving through out the day between 10am and 4pm when leopard usually rest up and avoid the heat of the day. The reason for which is still unknown.

Lucky however did spend a couple of days in the same area suggesting he may have made a kill. When we investigated the area further it seems this was the case. A young wildebeest carcass was found (see first image taken approx a week after the kill). The second image shows the holes left by Lucky’s canines had punctuated the throat of the animal in order to suffocate it. Each hole left by the canine measured around 1cm in diameter and this is after the skin of the wildebeest had shrunken. Good news to know lucky is doing well. Will post more pictures of kill on Lucky’s facebook fan page soon. Thank you

Written by Emma Loader, ILP researcher

2010-10-28T08:44:00.000-07:00

Thank you too everyone who took a guess at the little pop quiz in the last blog. The scat was indeed Rock python, well done! The image to the side here shows you clearly the size off the scat. Also how we discovered it was rock python. After being rather confused to the scats identification at first, we discovered the shredded skin close by. A rare and fascinating find the snake completely digested the entire antelope except fur and one half of a hoof, Amazing!!
Also on walk abouts between camera traps we were lucky enough to spot another beautiful find. A Narina Trogon (see right), a fairly rare bird normally found in evergreen and riverine forests it was very special to witness in the mountainous habitat of Thaba Tholo.

As for the cameras over the last week over 5 working cameras 104 images were taken showing 10 different species (Bushbuck, Baboon, Kudu, Impala, Mountain Reedbuck, Waterbuck, Blue Wildebeest, Zebra, Porcupine and of course our LEOPARD!!). As always will keep you updated again soon. Thank you

Written By Emma Loader, ILP researcher

Quiz Time - all join in please

2010-10-27T11:32:00.000-07:00

Just another day in the office today. We set off into the bush to place a lure of ammonia scent between each set of camera's currently out. This is not to attract the leopards or any other animals at all but simply to make them pause (while sniffing) between the cameras. The slight pause will mean the camera trap can hopefully capture clear images of the leopard as movement sometimes causes blurring. The ammonia is placed in a small pot with a hole in the lid and then burried and covered with grass so not to be obvious (see image).

Also found an interesting find while walking through the bush. Just a little pop quiz for everyone too see if anyone can identify what the skat shown in the second image is from . Not shown in the image is also a piece of hoof and large ball of fur. The ruler is 15cm long to give everyone scale. All leave comments too what you think it is and will tell you in next blog. Thanks all.

Written by Emma Loader, ILP researcher.

First female leopard!!

2010-10-26T12:31:00.000-07:00

More good news today. After setting out to check what images the camera traps had captured over the last few days we hit a frustrating start, shown in image of annoyed ILP researcher. Three of the camera traps produced no images at all due to camera faults or SD card error, extremely disappointing. However after a few hiccups things started to improve.

By reaching the last set of camera traps and having only a few images from the working cameras spirits were low. However the last camera we checked turned all that around. We got this beautiful image of a female leopard (see image) . Brilliant news! We already know of the continued presence of two male leopards (lucky, who is collared and new male big boy) on Thaba Tholo so to also photograph a female is very good news. Interestingly the males we know of so far seem to spend the majority of their time in high altitude areas of the farm where this female was photographed in the lower valley. Will be interesting to continue to follow these individuals and see if this becomes a trend or was simply chance. Hope you all enjoy. Also going to update soon on Lucky’s movements so keep tuned for that. Thank you

Written by Emma Loader, ILP researcher.

Frist Predator Image

2010-10-21T08:38:00.000-07:00

Great news today everyone. The first predator image was captured since the new set up of camera traps and research on Thaba Tholo. The shy and elusive brown hyena (Hyena brunnea) was an excellent find on the camera, despite the unfortunate fact that we just miss showing the animals head. With little size between the males and females of the species the average weight of the brown hyena is about 40kg. They have a varied diet eating carrion, fruits, insects, lizards and can make their own kills of small animals it flushes out such as game or hares. However does not really stalk prey. Normally very shy and experts at avoiding camera traps it is very exciting to get such an image. Fingers crossed for the leopards now.

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher

Work hard play hard

2010-10-19T23:30:00.000-07:00

Hiya everyone quick update on the whats going on with ILP

Business wise - The mapping and sectioning of Thaba Tholo research area is complete. The reserve has been divided into eight sub sections. While one section is monitored using camera traps (5 pairs within the section) placed drainage lines or roads, the other sections will be walked daily to look for spoor, scat and tree marking etc. Camera traps will stay in each section for 6 weeks in order to ensure we get best possible results of leopards in the area, how often they return to an area and which individuals are in the area at the same times. So fingers crossed we get some promising results, I for one am very excited.

Also as you will have read in the previous blog the PPP (predator protection plan) donated a collar to Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre. This will hopefully help monitor the movements of leopards within the Limpopo province helping to protect those outside of protected areas in this region. Rather a different day at work we were lucky enough to get a behind the scenes tour of the centre. I was lucky enough to help bandage 2 weeks old Serval (so cute!!) and play with a baby rhino. Sometimes the job can’t get better. Thank you Moholoholo. Will keep you all updated with progress of the new research. Hope your all as excited as I am.

Written by Emma Loader, ILP Researcher.

Help for an old friend of the ILP

2010-10-17T01:28:00.000-07:00

Things are happening for PPP and we on the ground are really excited about it.

Chief of Operations Will Fox heard from Brian Jones at the Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in Limpopo that needed help. Brian told Will that he was trying to catch and relocate a leopard that was in danger of being shot, but he didn’t have GPS collar to track the relocated animal. Will offered to help out and the PPP sponsored a GPS tacking collar which was handed over to Brian Jones by PPP scientist Karin van Rooyen on Friday.

Brain Jones is a passionate conservationist who has always been of assistance with leopards and other issues and so it is great to be able to give something back. As usual Brian made the PPP team very welcome and gave them the grand tour before receiving the collar.

Written by

Will Fox

Camera trap updates

2010-10-13T01:07:00.000-07:00

Just another quick update with camera results over the last 6days. A total of 463 images of mammals captured covering a total of 10 different species (Kudu, Impala, Baboon, Mountain Reedbuck, Warthog, Blue Wildebeest, Bushbuck, Nyala, Zebra and porcupine). No pictures of the predators but like I mentioned in the previous blog we have found spoor in the area so they are defiantly around. Also good news, we now have hard evidence that the solar panels are working through out the night. See image of porcupine captured at 21.42pm. Also expected to have issues with troublesome baboons disconnecting the solar panel from the cameras however so far they have shown little interest in the shiny wire attaching the two. Fingers crossed this continues.

Also interesting news is that a farmer in the valley just outside of Thaba Tholo sighted an unknown female leopard with a young cub. It is quite possible that Lucky, one of our collared males, is the father as she is in the heart of his territory. Unfortunately we currently have no camera traps in the area however still interesting to report such sightings.

Written by Emma Loader

Two little leopards.

2010-10-12T01:48:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, sorry for the delay in a new blog, due to some beautiful thunderstorms we have had more electricity in the sky than the house recently. There is continued good news when it comes to evidence of leopards in the area. Over the last two days we have seen spoor of two young leopards in a similar area. On Sunday what we think to be a young male walked within a few metres of two of camera traps however avoided letting us see an image of him. However he was kind enough to leave his paw prints behind so at least we know of his presence in the area which is promising. It will be interesting to see if we can find his spoor again or if the larger males in the area will push him out of the area quickly.

On Monday evening a set of tracks, of what we expect to be a female, were found. Female leopards tend to have a larger gap between main pad and their toes than males do and their overall spoor size is generally smaller. The spoor could be tracked from an embankment running up from a drainage line into the open and along the road. This trail of spoor was particularly interesting as it showed us just how much the substrate on which the leopard walks can change the appearance, shape and size of the spoor. The embankment from the drainage line is fairly hard ground so the spoor here is fairly shallow and toes are compact. However the substrate on the road is very fine dusty substrate. Therefore, when the leopard walked here, her paw sank deeper and her toes spread giving the spoor a much larger and rounder appearance than that on the harder surface. The image attached with the ruler in it shows the left hind foot of the female on harder ground. The hind foot of the leopard is more elongated, being slightly longer and narrower than that of the front paw. The second image shows spoor of front pad however on a different substrate so a fair comparison between front and hind spoor can not really be made but gives the rough idea.

I also tried casting the spoor of this leopard however i think practice may make perfect when it comes to that technique! Will keep up the practice and show you some of my results at a later date. Have also collected in the camera trap images again but have not sorted through them fully yet so will post another blog soon with the results from these.

Solar panel update and return of long toe??

2010-10-07T07:23:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone, just a quick update. Not too much happened since last update. The solar panels are still in question. We checked the images on both the cameras powered by solar panels. There are still no night images captured however in a day and a half there were only 3 images in total captured. I checked the cameras early evening to see if they still had power. Both were still capturing images as we moved past them so it is likely that this in particular area has maybe just been quiet as far as animals go recently. However to be certain they are working correctly I will be keeping a close eye on them.

As with the plans for mapping Thaba Tholo as part of the research, I using am currently using google earth to plot the boundaries, waterholes and were the current cameras are placed. I will shortly be dividing the area into different sub sections of which to study at a time. The image above shows where the current six cameras I have talked about are situated. E and F are those placed at the waterhole, K and J are in mixed woodland and I and G are those in the open area as you can see clearly from the image.

Staff at black leopard camp have also reported spoor of lucky and a collared, female long toe (whose collar unfortunately no longer works), close to camp. Bad news they are evading the cameras but excellent news of their presence else where on Thaba Tholo. We will montior this area closley too and try and pick up more tracks and it has been a while since long toe has been sighted so would be exciting to be able to gather more data on her movements once again. Image shows picture of long toe captured a year ago. Fingers crossed we may be able to post a current picture of her sometime soon.

Written by Emma Loader

Luck comes our way

2010-10-05T00:07:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, just a quick update with the latest from Thaba Tholo. The same six cameras are out in the same positions as previously explained. We have made one simple change. Two of the cameras are now being charged by solar panels instead of batteries. They have only been out a couple days and the cameras are still working so far so good. However a quick flick through of the pictures taken and it seems they cameras have only taken pictures throughout the day. This may be coincidence that nothing has triggered the sensors at night or may mean that the solar panels are not charging the batteries enough throughout the day too last the night. I will keep a close eye on this over the next couple of days. No predator spoor in the area around the cameras has been found, not even of civet. It appears the predators have temporarily moved out of the area. However, Anton and guests currently staying at Black Leopard camp, were lucky enough (pardon the pun) to find spoor of Lucky close to the camp which is situated on the side of the mountain in contrast to the current cameras are situated at much lower altitudes down in the valley. The ILP collared lucky earlier in the year and can track his movements using both telemetry and GPS signals. However since the beginning of September his collar has not been transmitting GPS signals so we were unsure of his whereabouts. So it nice to have evidence he is still healthy and patrolling his usual territory. It may be that lucky was simply out of signal range and new downloads from his collar will be available soon. Anton and the guests were also fortunate enough to hear a leopard calling in the same area. However it is unsure of whether this was Lucky or perhaps a female. No female spoor has been found yet tough. Images attached show Lucky’s pads that create his unique spoor (picture taken at time of his collaring) and the imprint left in the sand by them. Each individual leopards spoor is as unique as a human fingerprint. Lucky’s is identifiable mainly by unique angles at which his main pad concaves on either side. Deep cracks or ridges within the pad can also sometimes be seen and used to identify different individuals. Anton and the guests are still at black leopard camp for a couple of more nights so fingers crossed their luck continues and I will keep you updated if they do and with all the current information from the camera traps also. Hope you all enjoy!

Written by Emma Loader

The Fit, The Bold and The Cute

2010-09-29T23:28:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody. In my last blog I explained how half of the images from the camera traps were being sorted through. Now I have checked them all and can tell you that from 6 cameras over a period of 10days a total of 1049 images were captured. Unfortunately at this stage there were no pictures of leopards recorded. Like I previously explained however the current cameras are located within a small area of each other and do not cover a great distance. This may mean therefore that 1) the leopards have simply avoided the cameras well as at the end of the day it comes down to chance whether individuals walk past the sensors or not or 2) The individuals that use this area as part of their home range are just simply in a different section of their range during this time. Which due to the lack of spoor found in the area is most likely the case. On average it can take 7-14 days for an adult leopard to cover their full home range depending on a number of factors such as sex (males have much larger home ranges than females), how long a leopard stays with a kill, how many kills it makes, habitat etc. The aim is too keep the cameras in the same position for several weeks to try and overcome this. Although no leopard pictures, the cameras still provide a lot of information in other ways. Fifteen different prey species ranging from guinea fowl to large antelope eg Kudu where photographed showing evidence that the leopards in this area have a plentiful prey selection. I have attached some of the more extravagant images captured. The first is an adult male kudu who was obviously startled by something. Kudu are capable of jumping 3m high from a standing start and around 5m long when running. The second shows that although the predators are proving shy however these mating bushbucks are less than shy. Lastly a baby baboon hitching a ride on mam, because lets face it who doesn’t love the baby shots!! The cameras are still out in the same positions so will update you all with the progress. Thank you

Written by Emma Loader

Running close to the wind

2010-09-29T09:07:00.000-07:00

Folks I have some good news to share with you. To do this, let me fill you in on the happenings over the last few days.

On Monday I received frantic phone calls from Anton to tell me that a farmer within our main research zone had received a permit to shoot a leopard that had been killing his calves. You can imagine how that made us feel, here we are a research project registered with Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) the provincial authority who had now issued the permit to shoot one of our study animals.

At 5pm I received the news that hunters had been hired and were due to execute the animal that night.

We tried to reason with the farmer (who we know well), he is usually a reasonable man, but he had lost five calves in a short time, a loss of R40,000 for him and he had understandably had enough.

So we spent a worrying night hoping that we would not hear a shot resounding through the mountains. Thankfully the hunters were unsuccessful, but better than that the farmer contacted us the next morning to say he wanted to talk about alternatives. As I said he is a reasonable man, he just wants to find a way of making a living and if we can offer a solution to prevent more calf losses he's open to suggestions.

This is exactly the reason that the Predator Protection Plan has been formed. So the next step (as with any peace talks) is to take the emotion out of the issue and sit down to find a reasonable solution. We have run close to the wind on this one and need to find not only the funds but a workable solution, but if everyone is prepared to talk then we have a chance.

Whatever the outcome that leopard will survive, now we just need to pay for the solution. As for MTPA well that's another conversation.

Written by Will Fox

Dust baths!

2010-09-28T00:51:00.000-07:00

Have recently checked half of the first cameras placed out in the pilot study I explained in the last blog. Currently no pictures of leopards have been taken but that is not unexpected. The area the cameras are in is small and they have only been out a week so it is possible that resident leopards have just not passed through that area of their territory in this time. The camera traps however did capture pictures of many other mammals including kudu, nyala, impala and several baboons. The camera traps also captured some of Thaba Tholo’s not so commonly seen residents including slender tailed mongoose and porcupine (see attached images). On our last spoor walk around the cameras no leopard tracks were found however very interesting brown hyena trail was found. Spoor was followed for about a hundred metres along a road to a small waterhole where he/she stopped to wet their throat. After this the tracks led about 5metres away to an area of soft sand. Here it seems the brown hyena enjoyed a nice dust bath. A shallow indent with a lot of brown hyena hair was found which personally I find very intriguing. The brown hyena is a shy creature and frequently evades the camera traps, meaning picture evidence of these animals is hard to come by, therefore it is very interesting to find other evidence like this to provide information on the creatures movements and behaviour. Although the main focus of the project is to focus on leopard movements it is also important to note the behaviour of movements of other predators in area as they likely to interact and affect each others behaviour to a certain degree. For example when one is in the area the other may move out slightly or one may follow the other etc. It will therefore be interesting to note the hyena’s dust bathing spot and observe whether it was a one of or if the hyena returns to the same spot frequently. Judging by the amount of spoor and hair found in this area my guess is that it may be a favourite spot for a good dust bath.

Written by Emma Loader.

Research make over

2010-09-21T22:30:00.000-07:00

A lot of focus of the Ingwe Leopard Projects present research is currently being directed to Thaba Thola reserve. Those who follow the blogs regularly will already see that some research has already taken place in this area. However in order to gain more decisive results a new plan of action is being devised. We overall wish to study the entire area to determine leopard density and movement throughout the area. We also would like to try and relate these movements to specific habitat types. In order to achieve this firstly we must map the area and habitats within it. Then we need to divide the total area into manageable size grid portions to study one at a time. Each grid area will be separated into different habitats and camera traps placed in suitable locations covering every habitat at the same time. The spoor found within these areas will also be recorded (see image) . Currently there are six camera traps placed on a small area of the reserve as a pilot study. Two of which are placed on a waterhole, two in an open clearing and two in mixed bush veld. This will hopefully let us identify what leopard are moving through the are, how often and what habitat if any they prefer to use. There is a lot of work to do yet, including drawing up a suitable map and writing a research proposal for this work but were getting there. Will keep you all updated on the progress. Thank you.

Written by Emma Loader

Playing with food

2010-09-18T00:41:00.000-07:00

For those whole follow the blog regularly you will remember we had camera traps placed around a warthog kill. For many nights the cameras did not pick up anything but then one morning we discovered the warthog had been removed and one of the cameras had captured and image of a leopard at the scene (see warthog for dinner blog). However on closer inspection of the camera trap photos it appears that two, possibly three, individual leopards visited the site over two nights. The image posted in the earlier blog is actually of a leopard inspecting the scene once the carcass has already been removed. Pictures captured the night before show one possibly two leopards. (see image below male leopard approaching carcass and another set of eyes in background). The male leopard approached and fed on the carcass before having a relaxed and playful roll around next too it (see second image, one of my favourite photos so far). The camera traps however did not capture the second pair of eyes approaching so we can only speculate who they belonged to. As leopards are usually solitary animals the usual reasons for seeing two or more relaxed together is either a mother with her cubs or a mating pair. This situation could possibly be either. Male leopard cubs can stay with there mother for around 22- 24months by which time they are much larger than the mother. However it could also be a mating pair. Male and female leopards will associate for several days while mating and may even share food during this time. Also mentioned in previous blog clear drags marks could been seen where the warthog was carried off. There were two distinct drag marks which leads me to speculate that the two leopards had had a tug of war game with the warthog, both defending their share until broken in two and each leopard dragged off there own prize meat to eat in peace. Hope you enjoy the pics.

Written Emma Loader

Grace caught in a snare

2010-09-14T11:31:00.000-07:00

Eventful weekend to report. On Sunday morning the ILP team received a call that a collared leopard had been caught in a snare on communal grazing land close to kudu game ranch. On arrival we were informed that the leopard had been caught in the snare for at least two days. Once the vet arrived we moved in to asses the situation and found it was Grace one of ILP's collared leopards. The snare was caught around her middle just above her hind legs. As Grace was still alert and charging, the only safe way to remove the snare was to dart her. Once anaesthetised the vet could remove the snare and check the overall health of Grace. Luckily the snare had not cut deep into her skin (see images) so there were no significant wounds. With treatment only for dehydration and a spray of antiseptic the decision was made that Grace would be quickly returned Kudu ranch to the spot were she was originally collared. Although slightly shaking from the drugs Grace came round and headed on her way without any problems. She has two cubs around 10months old in the area and it is hoped she will meet up with these. ILP will keep you updated on her progress. She was extremely lucky however that it was firstly reported caught and secondly that the snare had not cut into the flesh too deeply as unfortunately with a lot of similar cases the animals caught do not escape so lucky.

Warthog for dinner

2010-09-08T00:40:00.000-07:00

Since our last blog the ILP has rechecked the cameras that were around the wildebeest and warthog carcass, this time with more success. The Wildebeest, much to our surprise, lay untouched still. However the warthog carcass had been completely removed from the site. Camera trap images showed that one big leopard, yet to be identified, visited the carcass as well as many bush pigs. The spoor around the site however showed that brown hyena had also been around however unfortunately were not caught on the traps. As well as the spoor, clear drag marks were visible. A trail of flattened grass and patches of warthog skin lead us about 200m to where the remains had been dragged into a small gully. However no sign of the leopard remains at that point. Will be looking for spoor and placing more cameras out soon so fingers crossed we get more sightings and information on this individual cat. Will keep you all posted.

Leopard approaching wildebeest. Warthog is just in front to the right.

Written by Emma Loader

A little bit shy?

2010-09-02T00:41:00.000-07:00

Since our last blog post, the ILP team placed 3 new camera traps out in Thaba Tholo. With anticipation and excitement these cameras were placed around a fresh wildebeest carcass, hoping to catch the local predators at work. After three nights the carcass remained untouched by all. However the cameras remain out and are regularly being checked. Updates on any further advancements will be given soon.

Written by Emma Loader

2010-08-27T01:59:00.000-07:00

This week the IPL staff and volunteers collected all the camera traps that had been situated throughout Thaba Tholo during August. The traps captured four pictures of leopards, which the team is now working on identifying. As well as the leopards the traps also captured the movements of 15 other mammal species including black backed jackal, porcupine, baboon, zebra and an array of different antelope.

The IPL staff and volunteers have also found a lot of fresh leopard spoor this week on Thaba Tholo. The location and measurements of each spoor are recorded in the field.

Written by Emma Loader

Meet the Predator Protection Plan team

2010-08-19T09:09:00.000-07:00

Karin van Rooyen (right) is the Research Coordinator and Team Leader of PPP. Having been interested in nature and animals from since she can remember, Karin went to University of Pretoria to study Animal Sciences. After her undergrad studies she did her Hons in Wildlife Management at the same university. In between she has worked on a dairy farm in New Zealand, assisted on some wildlife projects and did related short courses.

Emma Loader (left) graduated from Newcastle University in 2008 with a BSc (Hons) in Zoology. Emma then gained her FGASA level 1 and Trails Theory. She worked with volunteers on a predator research programme on Karongwe nature reserve before moving to Balule as a guide for a veterinary volunteer programme. Emma will be continuing research into the density/ distribution of leopards for the Ingwe Leopard Project, especially within Thaba Tholo.

As project Administrator I (middle) have various roles to fulfil. Besides the usual administration there is also looking after the technical support, managing the research database and typing up the project notes. As a passionate social media user, I will also make sure you stay updated on the project via this blog, Twitter and Facebook.

Written by Handre Williams

Rhino de horned

2010-08-08T23:47:00.000-07:00

As most will know we had a Rhino killed by poachers at KGR last week. Very upsetting and the whole Rhino poaching issues, has been well documented, so I won't say more than it is reaching epidemic levels.

This week the decision was made to de horn the remaining four Rhino at KGR. This only happened after discussions with experts and was made in the best interests of the animals. Experienced vets were brought in to complete the surgery. Lets hope this works, we're publishing it every where we can, so the bad guys know that there is no point in coming back.

Written by Will Fox

The Thaba Tholo three

2010-07-12T05:51:00.001-07:00

As most of you will know, we've been focusing most of our efforts at Thaba Tholo recently, with some interesting results.

We have now photographed and tracked three male leopards in the same area!

First is the 'one and only' Lucky, who we collared a couple of months ago. Second is Bo who we collared and released around 20kms away from Thaba Tholo last year. And third is the new male you can see in the attached photographs. Easily distinguished by the black tip on his tail. He is another large male (probably bigger than Lucky).

So how can we have three territorial leopards on a 6,000 hectare estate?

Well we're working on that piece. The current best guess is that Thaba Tholo is in effect cut in half by the home ranges of two males (Lucky and Black Tail). We know from our research that a leopards home range doesn't have hard boundaries and there is a large element of cross over in territories. This would seem to back up that theory.

And as for Bo? Well he plays a clever game, he visits Thab Tholo when the other two males are on their rounds elsewhere and disappears when they return.

Written by Will Fox

The Thaba Tholo three

2010-07-12T05:51:00.000-07:00

As most of you will know, we've been focusing most of our efforts at Thaba Tholo recently, with some interesting results.

We have now photographed and tracked three male leopards in the same area!

So how can we have three territorial leopards on a 6,000 hectare estate?

And as for Bo? Well he plays a clever game, he visits Thab Tholo when the other two males are on their rounds elsewhere and disappears when they return.

Written by Will Fox

Silly girl

2010-07-04T00:53:00.000-07:00

We had some success this week catching leopards but sadly no success in collaring. We caught the same young female we caught last week, who is too small to collar.

Pictured above are myself, Gerrie and Dairen working with the sedated animal before she recovered from the sedation.

She keeps returning to the baits, even though she has been caught twice and so we have shut down our capture operations for the time being for fear of catching her again and teaching her to feed from baits rather than hunt.

We'll try again away from her location.

Written by Will Fox

Dairen successful again

2010-06-24T05:01:00.000-07:00

As you may know wildlife capture expert Dairen Simpson is back working with the ILP. For the last week Dairen and I have been attempting to catch at least one female leopard at Thaba Tholo so that we could fit a GPS Tracking collar to assist with our research.

As well as being the worlds premier large cat capture specialist, Dairen is also a good friend of mine and we've had some great fun trying to out fox (sorry about the pun) these creatures.

Very cold mornings with the temperature around two degrees at dawn and a frost on the ground are not what you want when working from an open vehicle, but that's been the case.

On our third morning we had some luck with the capture of a young (12 - 16 month old) female. Sadly she was too small to collar, so we let her go quickly back to her mother who was bound to have been somewhere around.

We will try again next week.

In the meantime our ILP volunteers will be prebaiting to aid our chances of success.

Fingers crossed!

Written by Will Fox

New research vehicle

2010-06-15T23:33:00.000-07:00

It's taken a while, but at last we have a vehicle to access some of the remoter parts of our research zone. With support from our friends at the Tribes Foundation and donations from many of our supporters we have purchased a 'nearly new' land rover. Already nicknamed the chuckle wagon by our research volunteers it will be put to good use.

On behalf of everyone involved with ILP research I would like to thank the Tribes Foundation for their unswerving support and to all of those individuals who also donated to the cause of wildlife conservation.

Next stage is to fit it out with some of our research equipment, so please if you can help then send your donations to the Tribes Foundation http://www.the-tribes-foundation.org/default.asp?MIS=15

Written by Will Fox

Tooth Brushes for Bosfontein

2010-06-15T23:01:00.000-07:00

We have received a very generous donation of 400 tooth brushes for the children of Bosfontien Primary School, from Roy Domoney owner of Northbourne Dental Practice in Dorset, UK (www.northbournedental.com).

Roy heard of the poor state of dental hygene at the school during a visit to Paperbark Bush Retreat last year and on returning home sponsored the tooth brushes to help these kids who previously have not owned something as mundane yet essential as a tooth brush.

Of-course this will need to be an ongoing program which we hope to continue.

Roy's dental practice has a motto 'Maintain your smile' which I think that says it all.

Written by Will Fox

Roy i

Film or nor film?

2010-06-14T23:40:00.000-07:00

We are setting up again to catch and collar leopards with the help of my friend and wildlife trapper Dairen Simpson. We have managed to find the funds for two more collars and with any luck we should have two female leopards to add to our study group shortly.

As ever we have folks who wish to film the capture and to be honest here in lies a problem for us (and a lot of other conservation projects). Film crews need our support and assistance, if nothing else other than to find accommodation and give them access to land we are working on. Production companies edit and sell the film to whoever, but we normally get nothing more than a line in the credits (if we are lucky). This begs the question of why be involved with filming? The ILP certainly do not make any money, nor do any individual members of the team and we don't get reasonable recognition or promotion. In fact it normally costs us in terms of our expenses to have a film crew around. So, film or not film? If all conservation projects globally denied access to production companies unless a donation was made, even if only in terms of a proportional share of the profits, then maybe some money would go to the right people and conservation would benefit.

Written by Will Fox

New leopards

2010-06-07T00:01:00.000-07:00

We are concentrating on Thab Tholo Reserve for the next couple of weeks in terms of our research. We have already had some great results recently and now will be attempting to catch and collar at least two female leopards to enhance our understanding of the population dynamics.

I've attached a couple of photographs of a new female and cub, that were previously unknown to us.

Written by

Will Fox

Grace's Cubs Finally Make An Appearance

2010-05-17T02:34:00.000-07:00

Finally after three months of searching and camera trapping we have managed to get a sighting of Grace and her two cubs.
Last week myself and the two volunteers Rich and Frits headed over to Kudu Ranch in the hope of picking up Grace’s signal and finding out where she was hanging out. None of us were expecting the amazing sighting that would follow.
We headed straight in to the heart of her territory and quickly picked up a signal. As we followed it, we realised she was very close by and suddenly spotted a male impala kill in a tree, a sure sign that she wasn’t too far away.
The adrenalin and excitement hit a real high, but it was midday by this point and hot, so we knew the chance of seeing them were slim, so we left them in peace and decided to return later in the afternoon when it was cooler.
As we approached the kill later on, we couldn’t believe our eyes; one cub was up the tree enjoying a late afternoon snack of impala. It wasn’t long before the other cub joined its sibling in the tree and we were treated to a spectacular display of leopard cubs feeding and playing,
We kept our distance, not wanting to disturb the cubs or scare them. Although they were skittish to begin with they soon accepted our presence and occasionally even seemed very curious of us.
Just as darkness was falling, Grace decided to move out in to the open as well. She lay on the side of the bank, looking elegant, powerful and relaxed until one of her cubs decided to stalk and pounce on her!
We sat and watched as the three cats went about their business, completely in awe and disbelief at what we were seeing.
We enjoyed the most incredible moments with them, but didn’t want to disturb them anymore so decided to move on. As we drove away, one of the cubs decided to get up and come and have a closer look at us, ending up just 15 metres away from the vehicle. It is a sight I will never forget and I feel so privileged to have spent some time with these special cats.
But the future of these beautiful, mischievous and playful cubs is uncertain. For the moment they are safe with Grace on Kudu Ranch, but the time will come when eventually they will need to find territories of their own. That will probably lead them on to land where they are not protected and they run the risk of being shot, poisoned or snared.
Grace is a good mum, we can only hope she teaches her cubs all the vital skills and knowledge that she uses to survive so these two beautiful cubs have a chance of a successful future.

Written by Kirsty Lynas

Finally

2010-04-26T01:06:00.000-07:00

We have finally managed to catch and collar Lucky (the dominant male leopard who frequents the Paperbark Valley).
Late on Friday afternoon Dairen and I put out just three trap sets at Thaba Tholo in a location that was advised by Anton and Kirsty. They had photographed him there regularly. They were confident it was a good spot and they were right.
I have to say that after all the unsuccessful attempts to catch Lucky over the last year, we expected that this would be a long job and Dairen had set aside three weeks to catch him. We knew how wary this cat was, he survives in a world where anything man made represents danger, so Dairen needed all of his thirty years experience and every trick in the book to lure him.
Well it worked. On the first trap check of the first night we had a huge male leopard. But it wasn't until he had been sedated that we could confirm it was Lucky.
All celebrations were put on hold until we had gathered the usual data, together with blood samples and fitted his collar. We stayed with him until he started to come round from the sedative and then left him to carry on with his nights patrol.
We're now monitoring his every movement via his tracking collar and for the first time in ten years we are getting good data from a resident dominant male leopard.

And where did we find his signal the next morning?
Only 100m from our research base Paperbark Bush Retreat. What a cat!
Written by Will Fox