Leopard Project
Home of the Black Leopard
Welcome to the INGWE Leopard project web pages.
Home of the Black Leopard
Meet The Leopards
Male Leopard (MM02)
Destination: Lowveld, Mpumulanga
Landsize: 50 000 ha in 10 weeks
Movement: Moves close to waterstreams, most likely he uses it as orientation
Volunteers: Brian Jones & Corrie (Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre)
His movements as tracked by the GPS/collar:
Support
The ILP are not only driven by pure science, but also has a development component as part of it's research. Community involvement and support are therefore an extremely important part of the project. Currently various bodies as well as individuals are playing major and minor roles in order to achive results. The Lydenburg Conservancy is the body that administrates the project funds as well as acts as a communicating body toward landowners. The Mpumalanga Tourism & Parks Agency (MTPA) facilitate and co-ordinate the scientific part of the project as well as manages the reports and website updates. The Boskok Branch of the South African Hunters Association donated and manages the administration of the website.
Community members currently involved are from various fraternities. Anton van Loggerenberg is a volunteer who services the camera traps as well as collecting track data and also assist in investigations of livestock losses. Almost all livestock owners and other landowners is showing a keen interest in the ILP and are constantly contacting us with new information or to find out about the latest results. One of the most important aspects in the development process of this project is to apply results for the benefit of all. We also realises that the only way to assure a anticipated bullet proof approach for the future existence of this species, would be to acknowledge and involve all role-players and stakeholders. These can be identified as follows: Children (schools & projects), Teachers (needs a better understanding of what to teach & achieve), Landowners (preserve habitat and faces predator conflict with livestock losses), Development companies (impacting on the environment), Professional Hunters (utilising the environment and mainly in conflict with tourism developments), Tour Operators (sustainable utilisation), General Public (sentimentally involved interest), Municipalities (community development) and lastly the conservationists or Scientists, who have to facilitate and advise processes, programs and projects that influence the leopard either directly or indirectly.
The challenge now is to ensure the tomorrow of the leopard by involving all role-players and to move in the same direction. The leopard will in the mean time just continue being a leopard, but will heavily depend on the goodwill from we as human custodians.
The ILP aims to achieve these goals through involving people at various levels of society