PICS: Young leopard captured in Benoni house’s laundry

Lions in the streets, hippos in the gardens, baboons in the ’burbs and now a leopard in someone’s garden – it’s getting harder to deny the rumours about Africa and its wildlife.

The South African Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre (SAWRC), together with the Craig View Veterinary Clinic, yesterday had to catch a young leopard running around the Marister area, near the Benoni Agricultural Holdings on the East Rand.

“He is a youngster, he’s about four or five months old,” said Judy Davidson of SAWRC. “He was sighted in Marister in Benoni and I think with people chasing or watching him, he ran into the laundry of a house.”

The young leopard that was captured at a house in the Benoni area, 22 July 2019. Picture: Supplied

Davidson then called veterinary surgeon Dr Clifford Bull to dart the leopard so it could be safely captured.

“The leopard has now been removed to what we call a soft release enclosure on a conservancy outside Bronkhorstspruit.

“He’ll stay there until we’ve fed him up, checked him out thoroughly and taught him to hunt. Once we’ve done that we’ll release him,” said Davidson. “I don’t believe he is someone’s pet, but we are monitoring his behaviour closely which will tell us whether he was in captivity or not.”

Davidson said leopards were known to be in the Bapsfontein area, and Marista was relatively close to it.

The young leopard that was captured at a house in the Benoni area, 22 July 2019. Picture: Supplied

According to its website, the SAWRC deals with cases that can be attributed to human impact, whether it be due to ignorance, negligence, or cruelty.

“We take in many cases a year where wildlife has been injured by a vehicle.

“We also see dogs and cats that have caught garden birds, and we have many birds brought in with secondary poisoning where poison was used with the aim of controlling rats and mice,” the website stated.

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