The Cape Leopard Trust (CLT) Boland Project has confirmed that two male leopards, Diego (Boland Male 27/BM27) and Bacardi (Boland Male 26/BM26) are still frequenting the FNB Wines2Whales (W2W) Mountain Bike (MTB) routes.
FNB W2W has been supporting the CLT Boland Project since 2011 when the event organizers first donated five digital camera traps for research.
“We are extremely grateful for the support received from the FNB W2W MTB Events over the past 7 years,” says Jeannie Hayward of the CLT Boland Project. “Although leopards are adept at traversing rough terrain and dense vegetation, they do like ‘the path of least resistance’. Placing the camera traps on the MTB routes has proven to be extremely useful in our research.”
“In 2016 three leopards were recorded frequenting the FNB W2W MTB Routes: 1. Bacardi (BM26) was photographed both at Lourensford Wine Estate and Vergelegen Wine Estate. 2. Diego (BM27) was photographed at Vergelegen and Paul Cluver. 3. Scott (Boland Male 12/BM12), an established, dominant male held a vast territory in the Kogelberg Biosphere.”
“The FNB W2W camera traps act like ‘permanent fieldworkers’, recording animal movement day and night, rain or shine,” continues Hayward. “Placing these cameras along the FNB W2W routes gives the Boland Project the opportunity to survey new locations within the study area, not only for leopard activity but also for the presence of other nocturnal and shy mammals like the Honey Badger, Cape Fox and Genet. We can confirm that both Bacardi and Diego are still around and active in the W2W area. Hopefully once we’ve collected the latest data from the camera traps we will have new leopard pictures to share with the FNB W2W MTB riders.”
Source: Newsport Media
