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OKONJIMA – An intensive Leopard Study Site

9. OKONJIMA – An intensive Leopard Study Site

The Minister of Environment and Tourism (MET) approached us in 1997, with the view to initiating the first collaborative carnivore research study in Namibia.

As part of this study, we had been active in moving trapped leopards and releasing them in 'leopard friendly' areas, without knowing the long-term implications of these actions. Okonjima was also actively baiting leopard for tourism viewing.  Because we are involved in predator conservation and are also in a position to raise funds for projects, our situation was ideal to attempt something of that nature.

Following consultation with Dr. Flip Stander, the then carnivore co-ordinator for MET, the Leopard Study commenced in June, 1998.
The aim of the project was to establish the true density of the leopard population on Okonjima farm.

9.1 Capture of Wild Leopards on OKONJIMA

In order to attract resident leopard, the number and intensity of baiting increased on Okonjima. As soon as they started taking the bait, box-traps were set at the baiting sites and disguised to look like tunnels through the vegetation.

Within one month of baiting, we had captured four animals: three males between 2.5 and 6 years of age and a lactating female of 2.5 years old. They were promptly radio-collared and released. The monitoring of these animals continued intensively, with Lise tracking daily on foot and Dr. Flip Stander flying twice monthly for the MET.

Four Months into our tracking routine, one male was killed on a farm 11km’s away. Within a week he was replaced in his territory by a younger animal, which again demonstrated that removal does not guarantee a leopard-free area. Months later we were able to trap the 'unknown' leopard – he, too, was radio-collared and his movements were monitored along with the other leopards.

Our radio-telemetry study continued for almost 3 years and we were able to gather reliable data; home ranges were plotted and as the project will continue intensively in the new Okonjima Private Nature Reserve, we will be able to say with far greater accuracy, how large their territories are inside the reserve compared to the collared leopards outside of the reserve. Previous carnivore research has noted that many carnivores have exclusive home ranges and territories. This is completely contradictory to what we have seen with our leopards:  the tolerance between these animals is remarkable with two of the animals sharing almost the same home range area. This is probably due to the abundant prey in the area.

To our knowledge, none of the radio-collared animals have caused any conflict on any of Okonjima’s neighbouring farms. One immediate neighbour lost a foal to leopard, but none of the radio-collared leopards were in the area at that specific time. He agreed to bait the leopard and allow us to radio-collar it, in order to monitor its movements. This would then give him some indication on how to manage his livestock. We eventually caught a leopard in the area; he was radio-collared and monitored during the 3-year Project. Radio-collaring is extremely interesting to farmers as prior to this, they had had no idea about leopard movements.  Now they are able to follow the movements of some of the animals in the area, leading to further interest and involvement.

We are not in a position to give an exact density figure as yet, although we estimate that it is exceptionally high. However, we do know that during the 3-year Project, there were eight leopards using Okonjima farm as part of their home range.

Leopard kills are extremely difficult to find because leopards are so secretive and tend to hide their kills. One also has to be very careful when approaching leopard kills on foot, as we have found leopard staying in the kill area for up to five days. We suspect a kill when the leopard locations continue in one area for a period of time.
Most of the prey were kudu calves between the ages of 8 and 12 months. The remains of a few warthog were found hidden in a rocky outcrop. As kudu is the most prolific prey species in this area, it makes sense that they would be the species mostly preyed upon. This follows trends found in other carnivore studies.