Keeping tabs on the elusive leopard

7 December 2004

Monash University researchers are working to ensure the continued survival of the fastest disappearing big cat in the world -- the leopard.

Conservation biology student and Australian representative of the Mun-Ya-Wana leopard project Mrs Victoria Mitchell said far-reaching and endemic spread of private farming land and clearing as well as illegal hunting has left giant holes in the leopard population in South Africa.

Mrs Mitchell said their elusive nature made it difficult to pinpoint the size of leopard populations and even approximate numbers of animals in the wild was unknown.

She says one thing has been proven -- leopards have disappeared from vast areas of their former range and continue to be hunted and killed at very high levels.

To help save this magnificent animal a leopard adoption scheme has been set up which enables people to sponsor a leopard and follow its adventures through the wilds of Africa.

The Mun-Ya-Wana project was set up by Monash University honorary research fellow Dr Luke Hunter in 2002 and since then, the team has collared and tracked 18 leopards in the Phinda Private Game Reserve which extends for 150 square kilometers along a narrow stretch of land in the north east corner of the country.

The project aims to limit killing of leopards outside conservation areas by monitoring, tracking and collecting data on their breeding habits and movements. The team also works with the local communities to find ways to reduce conflicts over livestock, one of the chief reasons that people kill leopards in bordering areas.

"We have over 1500 recorded sightings of leopards in the reserve and adjacent regions, which compared to other studies is a huge amount of data," said Mrs Mitchell.

"Despite the volume of information collected - sadly, only 10 of the leopards remain alive and only two of the seven cubs born during this time have survived."

For further information contact Ms Ingrid Sanders in Media Communications on +61 3 9905 9201. Footage of the team tracking and collaring leopards along with photographs are available on request.