LYDENBURG – Various sightings of not only normal coloured leopards, but even the elusive and rare red-and-black genetic mutations, have recently been made in and around town.
According to predator expert, Mr Gerrie Camacho of the Mpumalanga Parks and Tourism Agency (MPTA), this could be due to an ever-increasing bottleneck effect forcing these cats to move within close proximity of people.
Last week Monday, Ms Sandri Viljoens’ mother Driekie of Thorncliff Guesthouse, was one of the very lucky few to witnessed a black leopard. “It was about 06:30 when she was busy pulling out the car. She saw the leopard running across the road to the boundary of the property. We have a lot of baboons here and I think he was following them. It is the first time we have ever seen anything like this.”
She said that her mother wanted to take a picture of the cat on her phone but that he moved too swiftly. “Our workers have made mention of the cat, but you are never sure whether they are really referring to a black leopard. You don’t expect to see anything like that!”
Earlier this year, Ms Francis van Rijn and her husband were also lucky enough to get a glimpse of yet another black leopard. Van Rijn lives in Ohrigstad and recalled that they were entering the town from Burgersfort when they saw the leopard stalking something in the veld. “He was still very young, about the size of a big dog. He gave this incredible jump.”
Camacho also said that there had been reports of two red leopards roaming the Longtom Pass. “Marion Moiré phoned me and told me about the two leopards she had seen in the pass.
These cats apparently had a quiet nature. Several days later I got another call informing me that a leopard has been killed in the pass just before Hops Hollow.
When I questioned him on what the animal looked like, he said that it looked like a snow leopard. He said that the cat had light fur. That is when I told him that I suspect that it was a red leopard. I sent someone out to collect the carcass, but by the time he arrived, someone had already removed it.”
Camacho said he suspect that human pressure is increasing and big dominant leopards are being removed by hunting. “All of this has a ripple effect. The sustainability of the system is decreasing by the day.”
He said that Lydenburg and surrounding areas looks like one of the hot spots for these unique gene mixes.
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