Self-defence plea as collared leopard skinned

November 15, 2008

November 15 2008 at 11:19AM

By Sheree B?gaAn Eastern Cape farmer who allegedly shot and skinned a leopard, cut off its feet and ears and started curing the skin maintains he acted in self-defence against the problem animal.Michael, the leopard that farmer Tommy Thompson killed, is one of two killed by farmers in October in the scenic Baviaanskloof Mega Reserve region.Farmers in the region have apparently killed 28 leopards since 2002 using gin traps or poison, or by shooting them.Bool Smuts, the founder of the Landmark Foundation,which is working with local farmers to employ non-lethal controls, said it had been tracking Michael for 16 months.

It was one of eight GPS-collared leopards in our reserve study, Smuts said.Losses, he said, are verified against the GPS data, and farmers are paid out for losses attributed to the collared cat.We see this as a practical way of paying for ecosystem services and to buy the life of these locally threatened cats. Even with that in place,we couldn't save this cat.But, Smuts told the Saturday Star, they had trouble downloading data from Michael's collar in recent months to determine if the cat was behind Thompson's livestock losses.We've been trying for two weeks to capture him in our cage traps,when he was shot by the farmer. The farmer also cut off our GPS collar costing R35 000 which was fitted around its neck.Smuts added a forensic autopsy indicated Michael's death was caused by a sharp object.Thompson,who was apparently out tracking the leopard with his dogs when it allegedly attacked him, is adamant it was shot.That leopard would've killed me There's not a greater nature conservationist than me. There must be leopards they have work in nature. But there's a hell of a difference between a leopard and a problem leopard. It was killing my stock.Meanwhile, this week marked the deadline for public comments on the government's draft norms and standards for the management of damage-causing animals.These do not ban gin traps and encourage the use of leg-hold devices,which can be set for a specific species and the estimated minimum weight of the target animal.The foundation wants the regulations to be amended to outlaw these barbaric methods as well as the use of snares, poison traps, lures and hunting dog packs.

This article was originally published on page 9 of The Star on November 15, 2008

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