Leopard

These spotted cats are the most adaptable large predators in Namibia and are found in most parts of the country: on the outskirts of the capital Windhoek, in the Namib Desert in the Skeleton Coast Park, in open grassland, tree savannah, dense bush, mountainous areas and subtropical habitat. These very well camouflaged predators are nocturnal hunters but are active before sunset and after sunrise too. On rare occasions they can be spotted at midday. There is a saying that you should never mention how many leopards you have seen, but rather ask how many have seen you!

Males and females are solitary animals and meet and tolerate each other only for a few days while a female is on heat. After mating their way’s part again. Youngsters stay with the female for about three years, and this is the only time leopards (Panthera pardus) live in a small family group.

Territories

The average 750 km² territories of male leopards in the former Bushman land in the Otjozondjupa Region around Tsumkwe now the Naye Naye Communal Conservancy, overlapped by 30% according to Dr. Philip “Flip” Stander. He researched leopards in this area with the help of Ju/´Hoansi (Bushmen or San people) for four years. The territories of females on average were 350 km² and were within the territories of the males and also overlapped. On commercial farms the behaviour and the territories of leopard are different, and the animals seem to spend the daytime in safe areas like mountains before moving back into the plains and valleys at night. Stander once took an exceptional big male (65kg) which he had darted to replace the transmitter by microlight 132 km west of his territory and the cat was back in four days. Other animals moved because of human-wildlife conflict moved back to their home ranges within a short time too.

Prey animals

Leopards take a large variety of prey animals but do scavenge too. According to Dr. Stander the main prey item of leopards in the Naye Naye area were duiker and steenbuck. His study animals also killed eland calves, aardwolf, porcupine, Cape hare, Small spotted genet, Guineafowl, Red-crested Korhaan and Cape Turtle Dove. Twice he found that cheetah were the victim and were eaten, once a Oryx antelope, a Bat-eared fox, an African python and a Great Spotted Cuckoo. In Etosha National Park Black-faced impala seem to be the main food source, but Damara dik-dik, warthogs, Kori Bustards are also part of their diet. Although the six large predators (lion, leopard, cheetah, wild dog, spotted hyena, brown hyena) are all found in the former Bushman land, the leopards hide their prey under bushes and cover the meal with vegetation. Of 146 kills found by the researcher and his team, only three were hidden up in a tree. On farms small antelope, calves of bigger antelope at certain times of the year, small animals like hare, aardwolf etc. and birds are taken. When prey becomes scarce leopards turn to young calves and small stock and are known for taking out dogs which are often used to protect herds and homes. This behaviour of the spotted cats causes human-wildlife conflicts.

Conservation

Leopards are a protected species in Namibia and are listed in CITES Appendix I. A national census in 2019 put the leopard population in Namibia at 11733. According to commercial farmers their numbers seem to increase resulting in cheetah numbers declining and increasing stock losses. This again leads to numerous unreported killing (illegal) of leopards by farmers.

Text and photographs by Dirk Heinrich