Archive

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2008

January 2009

Education Program

Progress on the development of the education program has been good, but slower than planned. We have established the steering board for the program. It includes the Directors of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, Department of Animal Production, Botswana Veterinary Laboratory, a representative from the Ministry of Education and two members of the Khutse Leopard Trust. We are also extending an invitation to the farmers to elect a representative to the board. This mix of experience, advice and priorities will allow us to develop a truly holistic program that will address as many needs and desires as possible while retaining the vision encapsulated in the program’s title: Act Now for Tomorrow – Create a Sustainable Future for Botswana’s Wildlife, Agriculture and People.

We are currently finalizing the hiring of an educator and the purchase of a vehicle. We plan to launch this program in early 2009.

Research

In late July, we were able to collar a female leopard, who we have named Ronja. She occupies a similar area to Boitumelo’s old territory. The Sirtrack collar gives us 5 points per day, which has allowed us to locate her on several occasions and to locate some of her kills, including steenbok, duikers and springbok. She is fairly relaxed when we are near her, which makes her a pleasure to watch as she stalks through the grass in search of her dinner.

We have also been attempting to collar a male leopard that roams between cattle posts near Khutse. However, he continues to elude us. His territory seems to be quite large and, as is true throughout much of the area, is heavily bush encroached and poorly accessible. When we tried to trap him in early December, it turns out he was less interested in the bait we put in the cage than in a female leopard that was nearby. He spent several days with her and never came near our bait. We will resume our efforts to trap him after the holidays.

In August, tourists reported that lions were dying at one of the waterholes in the reserve. A similar incident happened at a different waterhole in 2006. Therefore, we went down to investigate and observe them. In all, at least three females and 4 cubs died. First investigations of The Department of Wildlife and National Parks lead to the suspicion of rabies as cause of death. This is a great concern in protected areas. Rabies killed off much of the wild dog population in a South African reserve in recent years. Even though big cats come down with rabies very seldom this first finding is very alarming. The Department of Wildlife is investigating other locations where lions are behaving similarly in an effort to identify the scope of the problem with a view to developing a plan of action. Since those lions died, there have been several sick lions seen in the reserve. However, there have also been several healthy lions seen as well. We will continue to monitor the situation in Khutse and to work with the Department of Wildlife to address the situation.

In October, we were able to place two lion collars on lions that were known to kill livestock around Kaudwane. The adult female lion has been a study animal since Sandra Ramsauer’s PhD study. She was collared for the first time in 2004. In June of this year she, her two cubs and another lioness that typically traveled with her decided to move 35km from their normal territory to live on the border of the park. The reasons for this are unclear. We also collared one of her two cubs, which were about 22 months old at the time.

In November, the uncollared cub belonging to this female was shot by farmers in Kaudwane. This raised concerns for the safety of the two collared lions, particularly since we had discovered that the female had given birth to five new cubs within 10 days of being collared. It also alerted us to a possible health problem. We had noted that the roars of these lions sounded strange. An inspection of the lion that had been killed revealed black spots on his lungs. It is difficult to speculate as to the nature of these spots, but a pulmonary disease is potentially serious. We will continue to monitor this situation as well.

In late November, the female lion began to behave in an unusual way. Most lions that kill livestock do so outside of Kaudwane settlement, usually around the kraals or between the settlement and the park. However, she began to kill cows and donkeys in the village. In fact, she chased a donkey through someone’s yard and killed it 25m from our horse herder’s house. The next day she was seen in broad daylight by children walking to their family’s kraal, which is only several hundred meters from the village. Such behavior would scare anyone not used to dealing directly with lions. These incidents continued and the people began to say that the Department of Wildlife should do something. Initially, they had intended to kill her. However, we informed them of her new cubs and they opted to try to relocate her. Together with the Department of Wildlife veterinarian, we moved her and her four remaining cubs to the center of her old territory, which she vacated in June. We hoped that the age of the cubs would keep her where we moved her. However, this does not appear to be the case. Her activities are currently being monitored by our local research assistant. Since her first collar has malfunctioned, we are awaiting the replacement. We plan to make another effort to move her as soon as a functional collar arrives.

The development of the education program and the continuation of our research work promises to make 2009 very busy. In addition the financial support of the project is not yet secured for the New Year, which is an additional burden. But we look forward to the continued opportunity to contribute to the conservation of these beautiful cats and thank everyone for the assistance.

Happy New Year!

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2008

July 2008

Leopard Ecology & Conservation has undergone many changes in the first half of 2008. We are in the process of reinforcing the foundation of the project and building it up so that it can operate on a higher level. This will allow us to streamline our fundraising efforts and to expand our conservation and research programs as we gradually begin to take students. We are excited about the potential this new step brings and are grateful to all those who are helping to make it a reality.

Education Program

We are in the final stages of developing an education program geared toward rural farmers in the area. This program will be implemented in cooperation with the Department of Wildlife and National Parks and the Department of Animal Production (Agriculture). The initial two years will be a pilot program to develop an education and management program that, if successful, can be replicated in other rural areas of Botswana. The farmers involved in the pilot program will be those who experience the heaviest conflict with predators, particularly lions, in our area. This program has the potential to contribute significantly to conservation in rural livestock areas, particularly those which border protected areas.

Research

Our leopard research was operating on a rather low key for the first part of the year. We are grateful to Swisscom for donating four leopard collars, along with two lion collars, that will allow us to gather more data on leopard movements in cattle areas. This information will be very useful in identifying reasons for leopard-livestock conflict and may suggest methods to reduce or prevent it.

Our second collared leopard, Boitumelo, was killed by lions in June. She has been collared since 2001 and was a regular visitor to both our old and new camps. We will miss her visits. As far as our information indicates, in the seven years she was collared, she was never suspected of killing livestock in the area. This is very interesting behavior since she was occasionally seen with wildlife kills in cattle grazing area and once was seen walking through a herd of cows. She seems to have been an ideal leopard to have around.

Our pride of collared lions has dwindled to one female and her cub. We have not been able to locate them in several months and suspect they may have become additional casualties of the human wildlife-conflict. Sad as this is, it highlights the need to develop and implement the education program as soon as possible.

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2007

The first half of 2007 has been quite busy. In addition to being granted an additional three years on our research permit, we have been granted permission to include Northeast and Southeast Districts in our research.

Southeast District includes the farm managed by Mark Bing and Jane Freeman. This is also the location of Bubbles (named by a two year old girl after her pet cat), our large male leopard fitted with a cell collar in October 2006. Bubbles continues to send us GPS points by sms, however he is proving somewhat less cooperative when we attempt to find him using his VHF transmitter on the ground. His skills in evasion are probably why he is able to survive in this area. Though he has walks across well used roads in communal areas and has even walked straight through Otse village on one occasion, the communal farmers do not seem to know he is around. Even the wildlife department in Otse was not aware that there were any leopards around. If people don't expect to find them, leopards can live right under their noses without raising any suspicions. This is a testament to the secretive nature of these beautiful cats. His movements are extremely interesting and we are currently fundraising for collars to place on more leopards in this area. The information we gather from these collars will be quite valuable as it will help us to understand how leopards have maintained a foothold in an area where they are only tolerated by a few farmers. Some of the commercial farmers habitually poison them when they find they are around and communal farmers generally have a low tolerance for predators which kill their livestock.

In January, we began plans to conduct a spoor survey on game farms and tribal land in Northeast District, near Francistown. This survey is primarily intended to determine leopard density, but includes all predators. Data gathering officially began in May. The survey may take 3 to 6 months to deliver reliable results. We are also going to be placing cell and satellite collars on leopards in this area. This will give us a look at how leopards are using these areas of very different prey type and density and human activity.

The combination of leopard research on livestock farmland, game farms and what we have already done in and around Khutse Game Reserve will give us a comprehensive picture of how leopards in Botswana have adapted to the different types of human land uses. As human populations expand, with coinciding expansion of agriculture, the survival of many wildlife species, including leopards, is highly dependant on their ability to coexist with humans and agriculture. This portion of our project will make an important contribution to our collective understanding of how we can make this a reality.

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Our lion research around Khutse continues to be challenging. Southern Botswana has experienced a particularly dry year. Most likely as a result of this, we have noticed that the population of antelope on pans in Khutse is considerably less than in previous years. Our collared lions seem to have responded by leaving the reserve on an extended excursion to the various cattle posts near Khutse. This led to one being shot in June. This was the only one of the pride which we had not been able to collar. Subsequently, her sister adopted her three young cubs and is now caring for her own two 11 month old cubs, plus three 7 month old cubs. Their spoor has been associated with several livestock kills around the cattle posts in the last month.

The problem remains that livestock is not properly protected in this area. We have found no instance of cattle being killed in a kraal around these cattle posts. Most of the livestock is killed at night in the bush. Since poor livestock protection is a chronic problem in this area, we are raising money for a vehicle which will allow us to travel to these cattle posts on a regular basis to talk to them about their predator problems, to help them with protecting their livestock and to encourage them to do so. Also the predators need to be protected, as during the first half of this year, already at least 17 lions have been killed. This means that since May 2005 more than 50 lions have been shot or poisoned... action is urgently needed!

As we embark on these new ventures in our project, we want to thank all of you for your continued support. None of this would be possible without both moral and financial support from sponsors, family and friends.

Thank you all!

David Mills (Text) and Monika Schiess-Meier

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We have had another busy year in 2007. We expanded our research to include cattle farms in Lobatse and game farms in Francistown. Between May and September, we conducted a predator spoor count on the game farms. This was part of a nation-wide survey of leopard densities. We look forward to the results of this survey and the insights it will bring in to leopard demography and behaviour in this area.

Our collared male leopard (Bubbles) has given us a year of daily points. His home range includes several commercial farms and communal grazing areas, where villages collectively graze their livestock. In September, he was seen just outside of Otse village, lying in front of a house belonging to an acquaintance of ours. During the upcoming year, we plan to collar several leopards on both the livestock and game farms.

In addition to leopard research, we have resumed game counts in Khutse Game Reserve. We also included transects around the cattle posts outside the reserve. Since we have had little rain this year, most of the counts from September to November counted only a few animals per transect, those being mostly Steenbok.

The low rainfall before November led two leopards to drink regularly at the pond in our camp. One of these was our collared female, Boitumelo. We saw them on several occasions and set a camera trap to get some pictures of our visitors. While it is nice to see our leopards, it does reinforce the fact that wandering around camp at night, even around dusk and dawn, can be hazardous to your health...!

While we have been expanding the scope of our leopard research, our lion research has met with some challenges. Between June and September, three of our lions died at the hands of local farmers. In mid-2007, our pride of 1 male, 3 females and 5 cubs began to spend long periods outside the reserve and were regularly hunting livestock left out of protected enclosures at night. While there could be many reasons for this, the low rainfall in 2005 and 2006 and our own observations suggesting a lack of available prey in the reserve probably played a role. This resulted in the retaliatory killing of the male and two females from this pride.

Our response to this unfortunate situation has been to begin an education program amongst the cattle posts. This program is under development and will focus on improving attitudes toward predators and wildlife as well as improved livestock and rangeland management. The Department of Wildlife and National Parks has expressed interest in using our proposed education program as a pilot study. We look forward to working with the government on an integrated solution to the wildlife-human conflict in our area.

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After a year and a half of drought, we are finally receiving rains in Botswana. The rain has brought the park to life, turning it green almost overnight. Our game counts for December 2007 showed many more antelope than we counted in previous months, including a herd of over 100 eland! There are now large standing lakes on the pans where only our old tracker has seen them before...

Our tents are not enjoying the rain quite as much as the farmers and cows are. They seem to be in constant danger of being flooded or blown over. The ground is saturated with the heavy rains and the resulting lakes in camp reach right up to the edge of the tents. We are busy trying to keep drainage trenches open and functional to avoid having the entire camp flooded. In one storm, the wind blew down our kitchen tent, bent our work tent and flipped Monika's sleeping tent onto its roof - bed, cupboards and all. We are replacing Monika's tent and the kitchen tent immediately. However, our tents were projected to last five years and they have lasted over seven. They are becoming worn, are in constant need of repair and are therefore developing leaks in this heavy rainfall. We will need to replace all of the tents in the near future.

In September 2007, we attended the Felid Biology and Conservation Conference held in Oxford, UK. This conference brought together 200 cat researchers and academics along with 100 students from all over the world. We were able to meet and network with many fellow researchers. It was interesting and encouraging to see how much is being done to study and resolve the predator-livestock conflict.

We also took part in a national Cheetah and Wild Dog Conference held in Gaborone on the 10-11th December. This conference was a follow-up to a Southern African regional conference which had been held the previous week. The goal was to adapt the cheetah and wild dog conservation strategy, developed at the regional conference, to the specific situation of Botswana. Though we are not specifically studying these predators, our community and farmer education programs will address conflicts with all predators, rather than only leopards and lions. We welcome the movement to collate and share information between research projects. Increased cooperation between conservation efforts in different regions is crucial to effective resolution of the wildlife-livestock conflict in all parts of the world.

The project continues to present new and exciting challenges. We want to thank all of our supporters, without whom we would not be able to learn about and conserve these beautiful creatures.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

David Mills (Text) and Monika Schiess-Meier

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2006

August was a particularly eventful month. Since we have been working more with the farmers and the predator-livestock conflict issue outside the reserve, we have been spending less time in the reserve. It seems the leopards missed us and decided to come see what we were up to. For about 3 weeks straight, either Boitumelo or another female from the area visited camp 5 out of 7 days per week. They came to drink out of a small bird pond in the middle of camp. We put up baits with a camera trap and obtained a picture of each leopard. Unrelated female leopards do not typically share portions of territory, so we suspect that the other female is Boitumelo's daughter.

Our research assistant, Pogiso, also said that while he was camp sitting for us in June, there was a female leopard that came through camp very regularly. During this time, our camp cats (domestic) disappeared. These cats were very affectionate and besides that, they saved us quite a lot of damage in their capacity as mouse control specialists. The presence of the leopard during this time is suspicious in this respect and we think it is a bit inconsiderate of them to eat our cats when we are trying to help their species. But we forgive them anyway, of course.

Boitumelo's daughter seems to be very curious and bold. She often came while lights were on and music was playing. Several times, we discovered that she had been watching while we walked across camp or were moving around in the tents.

On two occasions the females were joined by a male. In one case, it was a very large male. We did not get to see this male, but we nearly mistook his tracks for those of a cheetah or even a small lion. He passed within a meter of David's tent just after dawn and apparently stopped just behind a bush when David heard the breathing and sat up. There has been no sign of this male since and he was probably just passing through.

The lions have also become much more social. Two sisters we collared in February, their other sister and their pride male have become very relaxed around vehicles. This has both good and bad sides. The good side is that one of the females has given birth to two cubs. We first saw them in October and suspect that they were born sometime in August. They are very cute and entertaining to watch.

On the down side, this female reportedly had a confrontation at Khutse I pan (see Google Earth locations at the bottom) with another male, which was trying to kill her cubs. Since that time, she has been staying in the extreme East portion of the reserve, East of Sutswana pan, and spends most days near the airstrip. Unfortunately, there is not much prey around the airstrip and the nearest Khutse I is the first area of dense game within the reserve. Happily for the lions, there is another area of fairly dense prey only 6km from the airstrip. The cattle farmers are somewhat less amused. This situation seems to have contributed to an increase in the number of reported lion kills this year. We can only continue to work with the farmers to improve husbandry techniques and to come up with new protection strategies.

The highlight of this season was the placement of one of our cell collars on a male leopard on the farm belonging to Mark Bing, one of our vets. This leopard was very large. Mark was unable to weigh him because the scale he was using only went up to 80kg. We receive one point per day, which we can download from the internet. This allows us to see his location and movements whenever we like. His range is fairly extensive, though not as large as Chencha's in Khutse. He ranges from the hills to the West of the farm to just over the border of South Africa and from the Cape Vulture colony 7km to the North (turn on Tracks4Africa on Google Earth) to Lobatse village in the South. He seems to particularly like the hills around the area. Besides giving us valuable data on leopard home ranges on cattle farms, being able to watch his movements is extremely entertaining.

As Christmas approaches, it is very hot in Botswana, 40-45C every day. However, the vegetation has begun to grow and the animals, which leave the area in the winter dry season, have returned to the pans in droves. The predators seem to have followed the return of their prey and we have seen an increase in predator sightings in the park. From the experience of the Khutse Kalahari Lodge and ourselves, it is not only the lions which have become more relaxed with vehicles. Between us, we have identified two leopards which are apparently calm enough to park next to in broad daylight. Perhaps this will allow us to more directly observe the habits of these beautiful inhabitants of the Kalahari.

As I (David) conclude this update, I have just enjoyed one of the incomparable characteristics of the desert, a bright red sun as it passed over the horizon. As night has just fallen, the lions are roaring in the reserve. No doubt they are contemplating their next steak dinner.

Thank you to all of our supporters (financial, technical and moral) for making this important research possible!

We wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

David Mills and Monika Schiess-Meier

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Google Earth:

Put these coordinates into the Fly To search box. Note: the latitude is minus(-) 23.xxxx because it is in the Southern Hemisphere. If you end up in Lybia or Sudan, this is why.

Turn on Tracks4Africa layer to get the names of all of the pans.

Our Camp: -23.369619, 24.618515

Khutse I pan: -23.347888, 24.511097

Airstrip: -23.359379, 24.604958

Kaudwane: -23.382787, 24.654390

Mark Bing's farm: -25.100052, 25.699035

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2005

2005 was an eventful year for the leopard project.

In February we recaptured the female leopard Boitumelo, who was first captured in 2001, and we collared her for the third time. She had managed to completely sever both her satellite antenna and radio antenna. We have had reports of her fighting with hyenas. We hope she can manage to stay out of fights long enough to keep her collar working for a while this time.

March was a particularly busy month since we moved the entire camp outside the park. The Department of Wildlife and National Parks had finally finished their new front entrance. In the interest of security, we relocated our camp to an area near the new warden’s compound. The move went smoothly and we are very grateful to the friends who helped us move. Our new camp is much larger and more comfortable than the old one. Living outside the park has allowed us a little more freedom and we now have two domestic cats (both neutered, of course) and a garden in camp.

On the first day of moving, we were surprised to find some wildlife officers with a caged leopard at the entrance to the park. It turned out that they wished to relocate her into the park. Our wonderful friends took full control of the move while we did a workup and collared this leopard. In the first several months after her release, she traveled hundreds of kilometers around our district, far into Northern Central Kalahari Game Reserve, and West into the adjoining Southern district. It is possible that we picked up her signal at the end of November while we were flying over Khutse in search of some lions. Most importantly, this would suggest that she is alive, which was in question when her collar stopped transmitting. It would also mean that she has left and returned to Khutse for about the fifth time. Her movements are highly unusual and extremely interesting.

When we returned in September, after a taking a three month break to work in the US and Switzerland, we promptly applied for a lion permit. The lion researcher, Sandra Ramsauer, who was working in Khutse, has finished her data gathering. We have recently discovered that the majority of reports that lions have killed livestock come from only 9 out of over 150 cattle posts, with an emphasis on three of them, one of which is Kaudwane. As we study problem animals, we thought it would be helpful to add lions to our permit. In mid November, after two months of waiting, the Ministry graciously added lions to our research permit. We will now focus on both leopards and lions which live on or visit grazing areas. Hopefully we can help to reduce the intense conflict that particularly exists between the lions of Khutse and the farmers who allow their livestock to graze around the border of the unfenced game reserve.

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During our stay from September to November we focused mainly on community work in Kaudwane. In October we began to organize a non-profit shop in Kaudwane. At the moment we will be selling low-cost clothing to the community. We have applied for a piece of land in Kaudwane which will house both this shop and an Animal Husbandry Center. This will provide a headquarter for the Animal Husbandry Project which was begun in October 2004. All profits from this shop will be used for several projects which we have in mind for the settlement. Part of the proceeds will be used to support the Animal Husbandry Project as a first step towards independence from the leopard project. Another project which will receive funding from this shop is a theater club, which we initiated in November. It is a community club and membership is open to everyone in the Kaudwane. It will develop and perform educational plays similar to the school play which introduced the Animal Husbandry Project last year. We have given them some topics (including keeping Kaudwane clean, personal hygiene, alcoholism, protecting livestock from predators, etc.) and have encouraged them to come up with some of their own as well. Another beneficiary of the store will be after-school programs, which we plan to develop in 2006. They will be open to all school age children, but will specifically target those who have dropped out for one reason or another. We hope to have a variety of sports as well as both modern and traditional craft programs. Our intention is to provide a positive environment in which the children of Kaudwane can interact, gain confidence in their potential, and stay out of trouble. We enjoy such humanitarian and community work, but as it is not particularly our area of expertise, we would be very interested to hear any suggestions for other such programs.

On a somewhat larger scale, we have also applied for funds which will be used to help start local businesses in Kaudwane. Our intention is that these businesses will be run by San, with appropriate advice and supervision until they are confident and competent in their new endeavors. We hope that this will help to address the issue of people from other villages coming into Kaudwane to make money which is then taken back to their home villages. This particular economic development project would operate on a long-term basis along side the leopard and lion research.

Finally, the plans for the long-anticipated Information Center are underway. We are looking for a piece of land and have begun discussions with the appropriate authorities in order to secure the appropriate permits. Fritz is of course taking charge of the design and layout of the Center. Hopefully we can begin construction in the coming year.

The expansion of our project has been, and continues to be, both exciting and daunting. We will continue to do our best to find a balance between conserving Botswana’s predators, conserving local San culture, and improving the lives of those most affected by the presence of wildlife.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

David

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2004

SEPTEMBER until DECEMBER 2004

Earlier this year, we received word that the battery on Chencha's satellite collar would run out in the very near future. Therefore, we made a concerted effort to follow up on any male leopard tracks we came upon and set out to find a suitable location to bait and trap him. Over the period of a month, we followed up on several tracks that we discovered on our many tracking excursions. Finally, one day we discovered the tracks of a male leopard near one of the pans in the park. We followed it through the bush for several kilometers, almost loosing the track several times. Thanks to the remarkable skill of our trackers, the track was picked up again each time that it was lost and we were able to follow it until one of the trackers indicated that the leopard had heard the vehicle and started to run away. At this point we decided to stop with the hope that he would remain in the area. We returned and selected two trees in which to bait and then waited for his return. After several days, we found that a male leopard had eaten from one of the baits. We moved a cage in, renewed the bait and waited. Both a male and a female leopard visited the cage several times over the next few weeks, but unfortunately we only succeeded in capturing a hyena.

We have had several additions to our team this season. Most of these have become part of the newly started Animal Husbandry Project in Kaudwane. In order to address a long standing concern, we developed a team that could show local horse and donkey owners how to properly care for their animals. The main problem involves abnormal growth of hooves that ranges from slightly awkward looking to grotesque and crippling. One factor that contributes to this problem is the presence of a particular plant that, when consumed, causes the hooves to grow at an increased rate. This combined with the simple fact that the sand does not wear away at hooves like firmer soil, stones, and concrete will do, creates a problem that is both rampant and disturbing to see. We want to thank both Niel and Pula, both from Mokolodi Nature Reserve, for offering their free days to come and train these new employees in the proper techniques of hoof trimming. They not only offered to come free of charge, but also offered to return periodically to check the progress and to provide further assistance as needed. Thanks to their generosity, we have now begun to realise a desire that Monika has had to alleviate the suffering of these animals. We added to that our own instruction on caring for minor wounds and repelling the ever-present horse flies. Armed with their new knowledge, these men have formed two teams and have trimmed the hooves of many of the horses and donkeys in the village. They have now begun to make appointments with those owners in the near by cattle posts. We are very excited that we can make this contribution to which not only helps the animal, but also seeks to show the owners see that proper care for their animals increases their value.

Another addition from the village is Phalatsa. He is the grandfather of one of our other employees and has been hired to work with Letsema as a primary tracker. He reportedly used to work for hunters. As we all know here, the best trackers are former poachers, trackers for professional hunters or, as is often the case, both. He has demonstrated excellent skill on the ground. We have spent the last month and a half working to resharpen those skills and to teach him the additional skill of tracking from a moving vehicle, which requires not only a sharp eye, but also a fast one.

In November, Gabriele Cozzi has returned to Botswana to begin a study on leopards on farmland in the Lobatse area in Southern Botswana. A cattle owner in the Lobatse region has generously allowed him to trap and collar leopards on his properties in order to monitor their activities in an area where they are surrounded by cattle and, so it seems, by little else. Satellite and VHF collars will allow him to see their activity areas and homeranges. He will also be attempting to determine the amount of cattle that is in the diet of leopards on farmland. This information can then be compared to our study in Khutse Game Reserve and the surrounding cattle posts. At the moment, the leopards do not seem to be cooperating. After the four weeks of trapping, his list includes three warthogs and one male leopard, which was too small to collar...

In addition, David Mills joined the project as an assistant in October. He is working with Monika to develop an effective way to study leopard movements around the cattle posts boardering the park. This information will be used to develop predator determent techniques for cattle owners.

The great accomplishment of this period was the establishment of the Khutse Leopard Trust. This trust has been set up here in Botswana to support Leopard Ecology & Conservation and allows us to fundraise within the country. The initial trustees are: Monika (the project leader), Françoise Libert (her husband works for the French embassy in Gaborone), Rob Jackson (our veterinarian, who is also based in Gaborone), Tefo Gabanapelo (he works with the project as an advisor on wildlife and cultural issues in Botswana), and Doreen Khama (the lawyer who helped us to set up the trust). We want to thank these people taking such an interest in our project and for their unending enthusiasm and support. In order to introduce this trust to the Gaborone community, Françoise facilitated a talk that was hosted by Alliance Francaise. The talk was held on 23 November 2004 and was a great success. This was an excellent way in which to raise awareness for our project and for the plight of the leopard in Botswana.

Monika is currently in Switzerland with her family and will return to Khutse at the end of February. Soon after, we look forward to moving the camp from the current site, which is next to the main gate of Khutse Game Reserve, to the newly constructed main gate. The game wardens help us by keeping an eye on the camp in our absence. This is important in the event of wildfires, which are often spawned by summer thunderstorms in the park, and to deter potential thieves.

David will remain in Khutse while Monika is away and will continue the attempt to catch Chencha as well as the female and another younger male leopard, both of which he has had the pleasure of following for more than an hour each. This gives a different level of behavioural data and it would be interesting to follow them on a regular basis. The camp has become a bit hazardous in recent weeks with lions travelling through on a regular basis. Last week an entire pride of ten animals came through the camp just after David left. This particular pride consists of two adult females and eight rather large cubs, in fact the males are beginning to grow a mane. Their size does not eliminate their playfulness however and upon David’s return, he discovered that the aerial for the short wave radio makes a wonderful lion toy. Thankfully it seems able to withstand the partial weight of such large animals and he needed only to untwist the wires. Once David also happened upon a very beautiful 1.2m yellow-green cobra just next to the camp. Fortunately, it was more concerned with hiding than biting...

Before closing, we would like to offer our sincere condolences to the victims of the tsunami in South Asia and Africa. The outpouring of support from the entire world has been amazing. It is a testament to the true human spirit that in times of great need such as this people can come together regardless of political, racial, religious, or socioeconomic differences in order to help their fellow human beings. Our hearts especially go out to the families that were broken by this tragedy, the parents who have lost their children and the children who have lost their parents. We appreciate the many organisations that are faithfully and sacrificially addressing the needs of these thousands of children who have been so abruptly orphaned. Their contribution cannot be overestimated.

Thank you all for your continuing interest and support!!
We wish you a very Happy New Year!

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FEBRUARY until MAY 2004

The main subject of this field season were the problem leopards. That means leopards that cause problems for the farmers, because they often hunt their livestock. The newly generated data by Sandra (lion project) and Monika from 2003 show that between 2000 and 2003, there were 976 encounters between leopards and livestock, and 614 encounters between lions and livestock. These numbers refer to the district of Kweneng (about 38'000 qkm). The region near Kaudwane (the village that lies 4 km next to the camp) is mainly affected by encounters between lions and livestock, whereas leopards are a problem in the whole district of Kweneng. Monika and Sandra decided to acquire and test various protection methods with the farmers of Ketia. This village lies 25 km from the camp and 20 km outside Khutse Game Reserve. The 12 farmers living there formed a cooperative to maintain a common watering hole for their animals.
Monika has interviewed each of the farmers, for finding out the reasons for the big losses of farm animals. She was always accompained by Africa, a San that she is teaching to be her assistant. The interviews showed that the problem is quite complicated. The herdboys allow the cows and goats out of the kraals (corrals) each morning, and open the kraals in the evening for the returning animals. The kraals of all the 12 farmers do not function properly. The traditional kraals are made of bushes, which are only adequate for a small number of animals. However the new kraals are too low and as soon as the livestock hear roaring lions, they break out in panic. Most of the farm animals are killed outside the kraals. Monika collected all the data of encounters between leopards or lions and livestock and discussed them with Tefo, the collaborating Wildlife Officer. They wanted the farmers themselves to find the best solution for their problem. How could they make the herdboys not only open the kraals in the evening, but also to drive the cattle into the kraals? Tefo had the brilliant idea of a competition. The herdboy which loses the least amount of cattle to lions or leopards during the next half year, will receive a calf. The farmers liked this idea, and in the end they organised everything by themselves. In that way, the farmers lose less animals and the best herdboy will win a calf. Monika and Sandra confronted the farmers with a totally new idea. That is, a common kraal. First of all, none of the farmers liked this idea. But later on, some farmers said that they started to get used to the thought of a common kraal. They wanted to discuss it with the others and make plans about how a common kraal in Ketia should look. As soon as the first results exist, Monika and Sandra will organise a workshop in Kaudwane, with the aim to inform more farmers.

In autumn, Gabriele will start a scientific study on farmland. He is studying at the University in Zurich, and was in Khutse last year for 8 months as a volunteer. Gabriele wants to find out if leopards on farmland have smaller home ranges than leopards in Khutse Game Reserve (as, according to the farmers, farmland-leopards hunt farm animals; and prey density in Khutse Game Reserve is smaller than outside the Park). Gabriele also wants to know how many farm animals the leopards really eat. This study will result in important basic information for the protection of the leopards on farmland.

Monika also continued to look for leopard tracks in the Park. But as she and the San trackers could not find any tracks, they were not able to catch another leopard.

Dipogiso (the female leopard captured last autumn) may have given birth to cubs at the end of March. During two weeks, the satellite coordinates always pointed out the same location. At this location, Monika found tracks, resting places and the remains of various prey. In addition, she heard the active radio signal. Unfortunately, she could not see Dipogiso or cubs, and so the presence of cubs could not be confirmed.

During the whole three months in the camp, Monika did not find any sign of life from the other female leopard, Boitumelo (her collar is out of order). Just before Monika’s departure, the Wildlife Department informed her that Boitumelo was seen on a farm. This leopard is roaming at a much bigger distance from the Park than Monika had supposed. Boitumelo is often seen outside Khutse Game Reserve, but nevertheless there are almost no damage reports. She, too, may have a cub.

Last but not least, Monika and Sandra organised a theatre play with the pupils from Kaudwane. It was a huge success. Monika and Sandra only provided the basic idea for the message of the play, and the children implemented their own ideas. With much enthusiasm from the children and the teachers, they developed a musical with four episodes. The main themes of the play were the following: why the forelegs of the donkeys and the horses should not be bound or not bound too tightly, why the animals should not carry too heavy loads, why a cord is not a suitable headgear, and why and how the fast growing hoofs of the donkeys and horses have to be trimmed. Everyone had a lot of fun. The musical was a big success. The children were very enthusiastic, and the spectators were sometimes shouting and clapping even louder than the pupils. Now the next step is to teach four people from the village how to trim the hoofs of donkeys and horses, and how to treat small wounds. These people should then visit each family of the village, treat their animals and share their knowledge. Sandra and Monika have taken pictures and made a video of the musical. Also, they are planning to make an information booklet.

During the months in Switzerland, Monika and Sandra are occupied with collating all the data, and writing publications. After that, they are pleased to rejoin the African bush, the leopards and the lions.

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2003

DECEMBER 2003

Another eventful year has passed by and it is time for us to look back upon the previous months. Here is a short outline of what we have been doing since the last update in March.

Leopards:
In April this year, a female leopard, Dineo (meaning "Gifts"), was captured after a long period of checking spoors, baiting trees and finally nights of sitting by the cage and waiting for the relieving beeps that announce a closed shutter of the cage! Her collar worked well and the many data points revealed Dineo’s whereabouts, the outlines of her home range became ever clearer. In July, we got the terrifying message from America that again the collar was not on the leopard anymore – would the collar only be lost like Birthday’s or would Dineo have been killed like Bolola and Chika? Still being in Zurich at that time, Monika couldn’t wait to get back to Botswana to search for Dineo and her collar. With the data from the satellite, we managed to find the collar far off the road in a bush. Scattered bones lay around it. What had happened? The following day, we went back with the trackers who found lion spoors close by – had they killed her? Furthermore remains of a Gemsbok were found some meters further – was it a fight over a kill? Striking evidence was found back at camp, where we checked the satellite data of one of the two collared lion females (read about this further below). And amazingly, the lioness really was at this spot around the time when Dineo had been killed. So this part of the events could be traced back, but what we will never be able to find out is why this happened and how the Gemsbok kill had been involved.
October and November passed again in a frustrating search for leopard spoor and unfruitful attempts of baiting. Rain and wind made it often impossible to find spoors, and when finally a suitable tree was found for a bait, temperatures above 40° made the meat rot within two days. In December at last, on another tracking day, we came across the kill of a female leopard, hanging in a tree. This was the chance! The female would come back again to feed on her kill. So we moved the cage to this particular tree and Monika and Tefo, the wildlife officer, spent some nervous hours of waiting until around 11 o’clock at night, when the signal indicated a closed cage! The minutes felt like hours until it finally became clear that it really was the female leopard inside the cage and not a hyena that was just waiting to be released. After the first jolt of excitement was over, a new problem arouse: how to get hold of the vet if the satellite phone doesn’t want to work properly? But after that problem was solved as well, the vet came out around noon and the healthy female could be measured, sampled, weighed and - most importantly - collared successfully. She is named Dipogiso, meaning "a long struggle to get there". – A truly suitable name and the perfect present for Monika’s birthday!!!

Lions:
In March, the first satellite collars had arrived, but due to some software failure that first had to be solved, we could only deploy them in May. Our first weekend of lion tracking was rather unlucky, all of a sudden all the lions seemed to have disappeared from Khutse. The following thursday however, we managed to find a male and a female lion, mating not far from the road. We took our chance and darted the female. All went well and she was down after some time. The only problem was now to get her lover away from her. He was so protective of his mate that even after having him chased away he gave us only little time to work on the female, before he returned to her. Although it was already afternoon, we decided to continue and search for another group to collar. Sure enough, we found a second, well-known pride of seven animals this time. Shortly before the light was fading after sunset, we were finished with our work and stayed with the female until she had regained her consciousness and was walking again. Kuma ("ear notch") and Montle ("nice", or "nice area"), the two collared females are now giving an interesting insight into territory distribution of the Khutse lions.
Upon our return in October a nice surprise was waiting for us: on the first drive in the reserve, we came across a familiar lioness with her three cubs at the age of two to three months. It was the first time in two years, that a female of that particular pride had cubs! The female gave us the opportunity to observe her and her little ones over the next two days, as she had just killed a wildebeest and stayed there with her cubs. Some days later, spoor of two other lionesses with altogether 5 cubs indicated, that not only one of the in total 5 females had offspring at the moment. And for sure, some days later we found them all together laying under a tree. It was not until the last evening in Khutse however, that we saw all the females together again. That particular evening however, all 5 females with all their 8 cubs lay on one of the pans, the cubs playing and observing the car. One of them came as close as 1 meter, taking particular interest in the car lights which must have seemed like over-sized eyes...
In November, we also managed to get blood samples of the males of that same pride. We first only found a single lion spoor, which we then followed for hours and hours, sometimes through dense vegetation and burned areas, the trackers on foot on the spoor, we driving the vehicles closely behind them. After it had joined up with another spoor, we finally found the two magnificent male lions under a shade tree! Both were darted from the vehicles, blood samples were taken and the animals were micro chipped. The weighing however was a real struggle, as 200kg are not exactly an easy thing to lift...

Problem animals:
Early this year, a big pack of wild dogs was harassing some farmers in the Jwaneng area. As the dogs were killing large amounts of cattle day and night, the farmers became more and more desperate. They knew they were not allowed to kill them, but was there an other solution for this problem? Consequentially, meetings with the farmers and the Wildlife Department were held, which Monika attended as well. The outcome was, that wild dogs severely harass livestock during few months per year only when raising pups, whereas leopards and cheetahs constantly kill although fewer individuals at the time. These meetings lay the foundation for further discussions and a cooperation between the farmers, the Wildlife Department, the cheetah and the leopard project. To discuss about the problems and to find suitable solutions, a first workshop organised by the DWNP (Department of Wildlife and National Parks) and the Leopard Project on this topic was held in November. The response to the workshop was very positive and some farmers already agreed to take part in testing new solutions for the protection of their cattle. In the beginning of next year, the plans for these protection methods shall become reality. Together with the farmers it will be tested if consequentially less losses will occur.
After all these events, in mid December our field stay in Botswana came to an end. Experiencing the unbearable heat of the summer, with temperatures constantly around 45°C, we were quite looking forward to a bit of cold weather and snow in Switzerland. However, the field season was not quite finished just as yet. Already back in Switzerland, Monika got a phone call from Botswana: Rob (the veterinary) had together with one of the farmers (also a veterinary) just deployed one of her collars on a female problem leopard by the name of Moroekwe (meaning "rocky", the name of the farm). She will remain on the farm where she had been killing calves and will thus present first data about home range size and ranging behaviour of leopards outside of protected areas.
With all these good news, our year 2003 is finally ending. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and only the best for 2004, when you will hear more about what is happening in the Khutse Game Reserve in Botswana.

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FEBRUARY & MARCH 2003

Monika and Gabriel (a Zoology student from the University of Zurich, who is joining the project as an assistant until August ‘03) had a very stressful arrival in Gaborone in February. Straight from the airport they drove out to Khutse after being told that there was a female problem leopard waiting to be collared. Unfortunately the leopard was only a young individual and therefore too small to wear a collar!
Two days later, Sandra arrived and she as well was straight off to the bush to attend the capturing of two problem lions, while Gabriel, Monika and Tefo resumed their work at camp. After the short lion capturing was over, everyone was back at camp again and we even had a new person joining us for some days: Jenny, living in Botswana and just having started her work as a tour guide, will be helping us in producing a flower guide of Khutse and Cental Kalahari Game Reserves.
Although it was still the rainy season, pans and routes appeared in brownish uniforms looking as dry as in winter. The animals responded to the drought by being almost completely absent from the park. However, we had only little time to wish for rain, as our wishes became true faster than expected. The week after our arrival, it was pouring every day, which meant for us: tents closed, no solar power and thus no light…
The beauty resulting from this miserable period followed only a few days later: the pans turned green, the flowers started to bloom in the most stunning colours and within no time the park was full of life. Some pans became real paradises with all the antelope species occurring in the park grazing peacefully side by side.
Despite of all this beauty, bad times were ahead at camp: First Tefo’s car broke down, then, only two days later, when Monika was searching for Chika’s collar up at Chibare, our Landrover broke down as well. Only a few kilometres from the searching site they had to be rescued by the Game Wardens – a very frustrating ending of half a day’s drive!
Luckily, Jenny was still here and we could use her vehicle until the Landrover was up and running again. The third thing to break down followed immediately: another day later, the freezer decided to quit working for us… the good thing with such a phase is to know, that there must be better times ahead! And there were: During this time we had an astonishing sighting of a beautiful female leopard that was laying under some bushes close to one of the pans. Seemengly unimpressed by our car she let us observe her for about 15 minutes – an absolutely stunning and unusual moment with a leopard!!
With the car fixed again, we tried to trap another leopard. Tracks were found in different areas and the situation looked promising. Baiting trees meant checking them every morning and afternoon – an exhausting time and a lot of work. Unfortunately, despite of all efforts, there still seemed no leopard to be interested in the bait that was hung and we had to give up. During this time we also had some visitors at camp: Barbara König (our professor and supervisor of both projects) and her husband came to visit us for a few days.
The day before we wanted to head to Gabs (as we call Gaborone) - Monika had to leave to Switzerland - we came back in the evening from the school in Kaudwane, finding the Wildlife helicopter parked beside our camp. Another problem lion capturing had obviously been planned without anyone knowing…
As no action took place the following day, Monika and Sandra took the opportunity to search for missing Chika and the two collared lions relocated in February from the helicopter. However, during the whole flight, the radio remained silent, not giving away any position of the animals. After the flight, Monika and Gabriel drove to Gabs, while Sandra remained in camp to attend the capture planned for the next day.
After Monika’s trip back to Switzerland, we - Gabriel and Sandra - remained at camp and so the lion search began. Spending most of the time in the park, we stayed over night at different waterholes. Exactely at that time, the park seemed to send out all the lions into the open! The only times we came back to camp were to repack, take a shower and stock up on food and water…
After a while however we felt like we needed a break and spending one or two days at camp outside of the car. At that moment, the message reached us, that the expected two lion collars had arrived in Gaborone, which meant no rest. The timing was perfect: the vet was ready to come, the lions were "waiting” about 15 minutes from camp and the equipment was almost ready! Well, only almost: the software needed, so that the collars would be functioning properly, didn’t work. What ever we tried was in vain, so the whole capturing event had to be cancelled and will be restarted in May – this was definitely no capturing luck for leopards or lions this time…
More bad news we received in one of Monika’s emails: Boitumelo was missing! Her collar was not working properly anymore and there could not be any certainty that she was still alive. Shocked by that message we tried to find her signal on the fireline and around camp, the area known to be part of her homerange, without luck. Only a few days later our tension was relieved as the Game Wardens told us that they had seen a small leopard with collar down at the waterhole near camp. And it became even better: The night before we drove back to Gabs (Sandra was flying back to Switzerland) we suddenly heard leopard grunts outside the kitchen tent. A check with the antenna proved our hopes true: it was Boitumelo who had come to visit camp! The strong signal we picked up meant that her VHF-transmitter was still working! This was good News for Monika, who came back to Botswana right at that time. The VHF will hopefully make it a bit easier for her to find Boitumelo again and replace her collar…
Other good news is our improved collaboration with the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP). Not only regarding problem animal capturing and information flow, but also in connection with tourist activities we are working hand in hand. We put up a sighting map for tourists, where they can mark their predator sightings in Khutse. As before, there remain also our sighting sheets on which tourists can specify the details of their leopard and lion sightings. At this place we would like to thank the DWNP for the great collaboration, and all people visiting Khutse and helping us with their observations.

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2002

NOVEMBER 2002

With the start of a new month we re-commenced our prey counts along the regular routes in the reserve. On several days we encountered the tracks of a very large pride near Moreswe, but these lions remained elusive during the hot days and so we began to search for them by night. Sure enough, driving around we found them, sprawled in the cool sand along the road there it seems was the whole pride: females, cubs and two magnificent adult males.
Meanwhile, since we spotted the two males on the fireline at the end of October, the stock raiding has resumed around Kaudwane and so it seems that these males were indeed two of the animals translocated last month. Since they were not collared however and they are too nervous to approach close enough for accurate identification, the evidence remains circumstantial. These are the circumstances in which Sandra hopes to soon begin her PhD on the lions in Khutse, studying amongst other things the now pressing issue of how conflicts between these large predators and the pastoralists surrounding the reserve can be resolved.
So it is that at the end of another successful year for the Leopard Ecology & Conservation Project, we turn our thoughts towards the future. This past year has seen the initiation of a scheme in Kaudwane whereby clothes and accessories donated by the project are sold in the village and the funds thus generated have been donated to the local school. The school is using this money to start a garden and teach the children aspects of permaculture that they may then pass on to their parents. The school also plans to start an environmental education programme for the students via a number of workshops in cooperation with the leopard project.
We further hope to see the long-planned implementation of the Donkey Project; this scheme seeks to inform the villagers of Kaudwane of some basic animal husbandry techniques, such as treating minor wounds and infections, trimming hooves and so on. The aim therefore is to improve the welfare of the animals through ending practices such as the shackling of forelegs and yet at the same time benefit the owners, as the animals should be healthier and it is hoped less vulnerable to predation.
2003 will also see the continuation of the search for Chika's missing collar in a bid to ascertain what the fate of this translocated leopard was. It seems likely now that since his release in Khutse and subsequent return to Chibare he was killed and his collar buried. A reward has been offered to the inhabitants of the local cattle posts should they find the collar and we further plan to search the area from which we are still receiving satellite data with a metal detector.
Finally, the new year is expected to see the ongoing tracking and trapping of Khutse's leopards. In the last few months leopard spoor has been regularly encountered in a number of hotspots around the park and it is in these areas that the trapping efforts will be focussed with the hope that, once more animals are collared, the ecology of these enigmatic predators may be better understood.
So, until next year, we wish all of you who have been following our progress at the Leopard Ecology & Conservation Project a Happy New Year! We hope you will continue to enjoy this site and we will of course keep it updated of all future developments.

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OCTOBER 2002

Returning on the first of October we found that in our absence Boitumelo had at last eaten the bait in the shepherd's tree, leaving her mark in the form of yellowing scars in the scratched bark of the tree. However, it appeared that she had since left the area as, though we re-baited the tree, we could find no signal in the area that day or the next and the new bait remained untouched.
Though we continued baiting, for a while we had no further success. A film crew arrived to film our ongoing baiting attempts and a new venture, the setting up of a photo trap. We first set it up in an area where we had regularly seen leopard tracks and later moved it to a position opposite a brown hyaena latrine and scratching tree which we knew was also visited by the big cats. The film, when it was later developed, was found to have captured Boitumelo and her cub, two male lions, a caracal, a cape fox, and a number of brown hyaenas.
This, we hope, may then prove to be a useful tool in the future of the project.
The rainy season now began and we waited through long, tense days as the dark clouds gathered and the insects hummed monotonously through the increasingly humid afternoons. When the rains came they brought some relief and in the freshly dampened sand we were able to make some useful rockset casts of finely recorded leopard and lion spoor. On the 11th we began baiting an area where we had found leopard tracks on the two previous days. The following day we found the bait had been eaten, and as we approached we spotted the leopard slouching away through the grass. We hoped our appearance had not overly disturbed him and that furthermore he was not full, 5-6kg of meat having been eaten from the bait. With fading hopes then, the trap was set up and new bait placed inside with the remains of last night's carcass. The next morning we tracked a brown hyaena towards the trap and prepared ourselves to release this unwanted visitor. Nearing the trap we detected the staccato signal of the motion sensor and our fears seemed confirmed, but though the trap was sprung we could at first see no occupant. Then the dappled shade within moved and the outline of a leopard detached itself from the shadows - we had caught him! It turned out to be Chencha, a large male already wearing a collar, but since his collar had not been giving regular data we decided to anaesthetise him anyway and replace his apparently malfunctioning collar.
The day after Cencha was re-collared a wildlife helicopter arrived bringing Barney, its pilot, and Larry, a vet. They had been dispatched to try and catch the stock-killing lions. The next morning, three male lions were spotted crossing back into the reserve and Larry was able to dart two of them from the air. The third male however escaped. The captured lions were transported 95km north into the central Kalahari where they were released. That night we expected to hear roaring as the remaining male searched for his missing companions, but it was quiet. The next day Barney and Larry flew out again and somehow found the remaining male who, once captured, was also transported north and released in the same area as his companions. All three males were in magnificent condition, weighing Larry estimated between 240 and 260kg each. Having accomplished their task so quickly, Barney and Larry now had time in hand and agreed to take Monika to search for Boitumelo from the air where they could detect the VHF signal from over 25km away.
They in fact found Boitumelo much nearer than that, about 7km from camp; she fled the noisy helicopter and failing to outrun her tormentor leapt in anger at the hovering machine. When she took refuge in a large bush, Larry was able at last to dart her and minutes later she was wearing her new collar. She was left in the shade of a large tree, and by evening had disappeared. It was the end of a long saga, but also a beginning, and since then she has been sending us regular satellite fixes.
Monika then had to return to Switzerland, and when we returned to Khutse with Sandra on the 19th, we found the reserve ablaze. For the next 10 days a pink glow ringed the horizon by night and smoke filled the sky by day. The wardens, assisted by volunteers from Kaudwane, went out all night, every night to fight the fires. Great stretches of the park were left scorched and charred but eventually the fires were all extinguished and rain fell on the ashen land. Two weeks later a sparse green carpet had sprouted from the enriched sand and herds of antelope grazed through the open landscape.
At the end of the month, whilst tracking along the northern fireline, we spotted two male lions. They were 150m from the car, but as we stopped they rose from their resting place in the shade and actually ran away. They looked very like two of the males captured and translocated two weeks before and though we weren't close enough to check their whisker patterns, their behaviour increased our suspicion that the stock raiders had returned.

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SEPTEMBER 2002

We returned to Khutse to find the reserve parched by hot, dry winds blowing dust into swirling miniature tornadoes that whipped through camp and filled the tents with sand. Nevertheless, spring was on the way and the Kalahari apple leafs produced a delicate lilac blossom that emerged from between their yellow-green leaves like smoke. One day the sky darkened and a brittle rain of ash and half-burnt leaves floated down on camp. The fire had started just outside the reserve and we drove down the fireline to investigate. The fire-break, as yet unchoked by the flush of summer growth, was serving its purpose well and there was no danger of the fire crossing into the reserve. We watched a secretary bird stalking along the fires crackling front, whilst through the smoke above, rollers, kites and a great throng of swifts and swallows were hawking from the air grasshoppers and other insects that had been sent aloft by the flames.
We spent much time searching for Boitumelo whose satellite transmitter hadn't been working for many months. Without a satellite fix within the leopard's huge range it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. One night though, after another fruitless search we had an encounter of a different sort; it was dark as we approached camp and suddenly spotted a large and magnificent male lion on the road, spray-marking a bush at the roadside. A second lion slid through the long grass beside the car. The first male left the road and sank into the enveloping grass from where he stared at us suspiciously. The second male passed us and re-joined the road heading out of the reserve. Seeing his partner departing, the crouched lion suddenly rose and jogged heavily after him, his mane streaming over his shoulders. These were almost certainly two of the lions that had taken to regular stock-raiding around the nearby village of Kaudwane.
On the 20th we finally picked up a VHF signal from Boitumelo's collar near to camp and the next morning the signal had moved east to the fireline where we found the tracks of both Boitumelo and her cub, which the trackers estimated to be about nine months old. We began baiting for Boitumelo in a camelthorn and in a small Shepherds tree further along the fireline, but the baits were at first ignored. On the 23rd our luck appeared to change when we found a signal coming from close to our first bait in the camelthorn. When we checked the baits the next day however, we were puzzled to find leopard tracks surrounding the bait tree, but the bait was untouched. Boitumelo clearly had misgivings about a free supper. She had moved again and this time we got strong signal from near the bait in the shepherd's tree. However, just when things were beginning to look promising, we were forced to make a town trip to stock up on supplies for the next month.

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AUGUST 2002

In mid July we reopened the camp at Khutse. As Trish left the project in May, we are currently, and will be until the end of the year, working together with Hugh Webster from England and Kristina Weeks from USA. Another change to be announced is the beginning of a lion project at Khutse. After 3.5 months of voluntary work in the leopard project from January until May 2002, Sandra Ramsauer is now hoping to soon obtain her work permit.
July started out very promising: on our first day, whilst on the way to hang a bait in one of the trees, we were welcomed back by a leopard resting beside the trapping cage. This makes it sound easy to trap a leopard but the following days proved otherwise. After several days of checking the cage and hanging bait in the tree we eventually found a brown hyaena in the trap, which had obviously tried to chew its way out of the metal cage! Fortunately we still had the opportunity to place a bait in the second tree with the other, still intact, cage. The baiting-procedure started over again, and this time luck was on our side: after an amazingly short period of three days, we found the cage closed and staring out of it was a beautiful male leopard, which has been collared and named Chencha, meaning to change and succeed, thus telling the story of how we came to know him.
Unfortunately we do not only have good news: in the beginning of August, we received worrying satellite data from Chika, informing us, that he did not show any signs of activity anymore. Monika set out a search to the last coordinates received from his collar north-east of Khutse in the farm area of his home range. The search remained unsuccessful, as there were neither any footprints of leopards to follow, nor has the radio signal been working. This situation will make it extremely difficult to find the collar again and in addition leaves us with big concerns about Chika's fate - could he have lost his collar like Birthday or did he have an unlucky ending like Bolola? However, the "Problem Animal Control" staff is informed to look out for a collared leopard and Monika is already planning another trip to try and retrieve the collar.
Boitumelo in turn can still be located in the same area around our camp by the VHF signal, but again does not want to feed on any bait laid out for her. Nevertheless we keep trying to get her back to a bait in order to be able to replace her damaged collar.
In prospect of the lion project there have already been several exciting overnight stays at different waterholes, in search of lions to observe and identify. Apart from these, lions have been seen frequently throughout the whole park. Especially whenever we tried to do prey counts on the route up in the Central Kalahari they seemed to be waiting behind each and every bush: we ended up needing four attempts before we finally finished the counts without being interrupted by lions. Overall we found a lion on an eland kill, lions in mating mood, lions tearing and chewing our mud flap, a huge pride of about 20 lions on the fireline south, heard numerous lions roaring around our camp, and had an occasional visit by a male lion walking through the camp.
Monika brought lots of clothes that had been donated by a store in Switzerland for the people in Kaudwane. They were sold at a small price by a lady of the village and resulted in a good amount of money, which in turn has been given to Kaudwane Primary School. In an open discussion, the children decided to use the money for a fence, so that they could start a vegetable garden and keep the animals out of it.
Finally, August ended with a few amazing thunderstorms, which was very unusual seeing that it was the middle of the dry season and two months early for rain. But the warmth and the sudden amazing blooming of many trees and bushes revealed that spring had begun and Khutse was turning from dry browns and yellows into beautiful white, orange, purple and green. This stunning change of vegetation will soon lead the big antelope herds back to Khutse - a wonderful and interesting time to look forward to...

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MAY 2002

Greetings from Khutse, the Jewell of the Kalahari.
It has been an extremely dry and windy few months. Khutse grasses are deep, golden yellow and provide a splendid contrast to brilliant, blue skies. Nights are noticeably cooler now and we`ve even had occasional cooler days which are wonderful in that the young hartebeest have been a joy to watch as they race about crazily, leaping and bucking, invigorated by the early morning air.
Sadly though, April has brought disturbing results. Bolola, the young male collared in October last year, has been killed by farmers. He had been constantly outside the reserve since January and was obviously killing domestic stock which roam in the area. The incident, however, may have some beneficial results in the long term. One of the primary aims of the project is to work towards mitigating the conflict, which exists in Botswana between local stock owners and problem predators, and intentions were to focus on this area of research in the later half of this year. Bolola`s death has highlighted this very real and controversial problem in Botswana and Monika, with the help of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) and police staff, has already commenced working closely with local people, informing them about her research and asking for their cooperation and assistance. We all remain optimistic that a solution will be found, one which will benefit both people and wildlife.
Other news:
• Our female Boitumelo`s satellite transmitter remains defective, but we have been unable to entice her into a trap. She is possibly shy following her previous experience. She is however still ranging in the same, general area and the intention is to recapture her with the aid of the DWNP and their helicopter when a suitable time can be organised.
• Chika, the second relocated male, returned immediately to the farming area where he was captured and is probably killing livestock once again. Monika is hoping that she has convinced the people there not to kill him, because he is providing us with very valuable data. These data will help to find suitable solutions for livestock-killing leopards.
• It was with great dismay that we learned in March that Birthday, our first leopard to be collared, had lost his collar. The satellite data told us at the time that he was either dead or the collar had detached. We were greatly relieved to find an empty collar and signs that Birthday is still fit and well. We were initially greatly saddened by the fact that we would no longer be able to track and observe this magnificent animal; however Birthday has provided the project with 12 months of very interesting and useful data and for this we are grateful. We wonder if he will allow himself to be recaptured in the future.
• We enjoyed an exceptional visit with a pride of eight young lions at Molose water hole in February. We had been observing the group for some time when it started to rain. Almost immediately all eight youngsters were licking the water from each other, forming a great bundle of moving bodies and huge, pink tongues; but then, one of the older females sauntered up to our landrover and began licking water from the front of the vehicle! As she licked, her tongue made the most incredibly loud, rasping sound, so much so that you could believe that she would scrap the paint off the meta!. Not once during this time did she take her eyes off us, as we sat mesmerised in the front of the car. Another unforgettable Khutse day.
• A personal note of farewell from Trish: I have very much enjoyed writing the web updates as it allows time in our busy schedule to cast the mind back over past events. It is with great sadness that I leave this beautiful Khutse, but I take with me many precious moments. It has been a privilege to work so closely with such magnificent animals, but the great continent of Africa beckons and I am drawn further north to work with African wild dogs, another fascinating African species – and so the adventure continues……..
Please check for an update in September. Until then, we wish you African dreams.

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FEBRUARY 2002

The year got off to a grand start with the collaring of our fourth leopard, Chika (meaning "to turn"). He, like Bolola, had been killing livestock to the north of KGR and was trapped by the Problem Animal Control Unit of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks. He was released in the north of the reserve quite some distance from the release site of Bolola. His satellite data show that he is moving back towards his capture site and we wonder if he will show up on the same cattle farm in the near future.
The new year has brought good news of our female leopard, Boitumelo as well. Since our return to Khutse in January we have frequently located her around the camp with the VHF receiver, particularly in the evenings. Strangely enough, we are once again receiving some data from her satellite transmitter, which has been out of action for the past five months. This is a most welcome situation as it means that we may not have to recapture her after all.
Bolola, the first relocated leopard, appears to have settled in the far south of Khutse but spends a large percentage of his time in the 15km wide conservation area, which buffers the reserve. Vegetation cover in the reserve is astonishingly dense once again and with the current dry winds and high temperatures, we worry that the fire season could be earlier this year, if we receive no late rains.
It is wonderful to be back under Kalahari skies. Here are just a few of the highlights:
• We woke one morning (after locating Boitumelo very close to camp the previous night) to find female leopard tracks throughout the camp and very close in particular to Sandra, who had not long been with us at that stage. When our three trackers investigated the spoor they exclaimed, "She has dragged something from the camp into the bush. What is missing?" The spoor was clearly visible, even to us. We looked at each other, "What was here at the back of the tent?" Then Sandra realised that her towel, quite a large one, had disappeared. It had been hanging on a line, pegged up with four pegs and we now could see how the pegs had scattered in all directions as the leopard had tugged at the towel!!!! Two of the men began to follow the tracks into the bush, hoping to recover the towel while the third set up the VHF receiver to check if Boitumelo was around. And indeed she was!!!!! She was about one kilometre away in the direction of the tracks!!!!! We called to the trackers to come back, fearing for their safety in the dense vegetation and decided to look for the towel later when the leopard had moved away. Next day the men did find the towel, under a tree about fifty metres from camp, in perfect condition and containing ...wait for it!!!... a perfect leopard's whisker!!!!!! With this whisker we could do DNA tests to prove that it was Boitumelo who stole the towel!!!! Just another amazing episode from Khutse Leopard Camp and a great welcome for Sandra.
After that saga we'll try to keep it short:
• We've had two male leopards and Boitumelo growling menacingly within 100metres of the camp at 10.00pm one night. We knew Boitumelo was present as Trish was up on top of the landrover doing a radio check for her and was so deafened by the signal that she did not hear the start of the growling until Sandra warned her. An exceedingly hasty exit was made from the top of the car!
• We've enjoyed the unforgettable privilege of observing one pair of lions mating and another pair courting within 30 metres of the vehicle.
• And we've been thrilled at having three wild dogs saunter right up to the car and casually pass us by. We don't see many of these amazing carnivores in Khutse so it is always a very special experience when we do.
That's Leopard Camp for now. Please join us again in May.

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2001

SEPTEMBER - NOVEMBER 2001

Wow! Where to begin???? The last couple of months have been quite an experience: fires, floods, storms, a plague of scorpions, lions roaring round camp at night, a young female leopard making nightly visits to our outdoor toilet and to top it off, a helicopter search for our "lost" female leopard!!!!! But that’s Khutse and we love it.
On our return to camp in October after a break, we found the park ablaze. Daily temperatures soared to 42 degrees C, the air was thick with black ash and the horizon a hot, red glow. Large areas of the reserve were completely charred with nothing to break the stark blackness except a few, taller apple leaf trees, which provided a strange contrast with their masses of soft, mauve flowers. Our wonderful Khutse pans, usually crowded with different species, were almost devoid of animals and predator spoors were sadly lacking. Our lions had killed 35 cattle in the neighbouring communities as well as some donkeys.
How resilient this system is though!!! Within days the rains (accompanied by fantastic electrical storms) had transformed our world into a verdant wonderland. Shrubs and trees are once again laden with leaves, flowers and fruit and the grasses have flourished at an astonishing rate. The herbivores have returned, fat and sleek and most species have produced young, which are simply delightful to observe as they frolic about.
In summary:
• A third leopard, a young male has been collared. This animal had been killing livestock to the east of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and was trapped by the Problem Animal Control Unit of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) for relocation to Khutse. "Bolola" (meaning "long journey") was released in the south of the reserve and since then has explored most of Khutse’s 2500sq km’s, but has returned to an area close to his release site.
• We appear to have a problem with the satellite transmitter on our female leopard but thankfully have been able to locate her via the VHF transmitter (very close to camp!) by means of helicopter - our thanks to DWNP for their assistance. A priority for next year will be to re-trap her to replace the collar and to determine the cause of the malfunction.
• Monika’s talk about the project (her first in English!) at Mokolodi Nature Reserve was a great success, with approximately seventy, very interested people from the Gaborone region in attendance. Our thanks to the many who offered help and advice and to those who purchased T-shirts and caps!!! Young Philipp proved quite the salesman!!! Mokolodi have requested a follow-up for 2002.
• Trish has spent some time with staff of the National Herbarium in Gaborone identifying plant specimens, which she has collected throughout Khutse. Staff from the Botany Department of the University of Botswana are also assisting with identification. Duplicate samples of the project’s specimens have been donated to the Herbarium, which forms part of the Botswana Museum of Natural History.
• Perhaps the highlight for the year though, was to locate Birthday, our first collared leopard, on one of the pans and to be able to spend more than an hour observing him from less than 50 metres. Firstly he strolled lazily through the long grass before leaping effortlessly onto the low branch of a spreading acacia. He appeared fat, healthy and relaxed as he rested, in typical leopard style, with legs and tail dangling about below the branch. His collar too, seemed undamaged and in good condition. It truly was an unforgettable experience.
Season’s greetings from Khutse, the Jewel of the Kalahari.

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FEBRUARY - AUGUST 2001

The last 6 months have produced a lot of hard work but also tremendous rewards. We now have a male and a female leopard collared, and are exceedingly happy with our trapping success rate. Both animals are fully-grown, in excellent health and condition and, most importantly, were unhurt by their extraordinary experience. The trapping of the first animal, the male, went so smoothly that the San (or Bushmen) trackers employed by the project decided that, „we will have no trouble now getting a female". When asked why this was so, they replied that the male would most certainly „show-off" his beautiful collar to all the local females who would become quite jealous and would want one for themselves as soon as possible!!! And who are we to argue with that when the collaring of the female went just as well.
On the down side, winter has been freezing (literally!) but on the other hand has allowed us to trap during daylight hours as most large carnivores appear to be more active during the day now that the weather is cooler. With winter the vegetation has turned from green to gold. Most of the shrubs are now starkly bare yet Khutse is still stunningly beautiful particularly at sunrise and sunset when the soft light sets all aglow.

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