Still no update on stray leopard in east estate
"Gauteng national conservation has been informed and the estate is awaiting inspection from experts."
There is still no sign of the leopard that was spotted last week on the south side of a local estate on Garsfontein Road in the east of Pretoria.
Mooikloof Owners Association (MOA) on Friday communicated to residents that a leopard occasionally gained access to the estate since Friday, 7 August.
Metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said that he spoke to Gauteng national conservation (GNC) officials.
“Gauteng national conservation is busy with this case and questions should be directed to them.”
Estate manager Pieter Thomaidas confirmed on Friday that the estate has informed the GNC and that the MOA is awaiting inspection from experts.
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Officials visited the estate on Monday morning to investigate the matter.
At the time of going to press, the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism did not yet respond to any media enquiries.
Judy Davidson, of South African Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, said that a few leopards have roamed the area for years and were regularly recorded on CCTV footage.
“The Bronberg mountain range and surroundings are leopard territory,” she said.
“The occurrence of leopards are nothing new. They don’t harm anyone because they have a huge territory.
“The leopard won’t stay in the residential area and will soon move back to the mountain range.”
She added that leopards are usually very shy and never cause any trouble to people.
Davidson explained that the investigation entails whether it is a problem animal or a threat or whether it will be needed to be tracked and relocated.
“Once they have established the circumstances, we get called in to set a trap or dart it as soon as we know the location of the animal.
“In most cases, if it needs to be transported, it will be taken to a safe area, normally a reserve such as Dinokeng Game Reserve,” concluded Davidson.
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