Protecting Leopards From Human & Wildlife Conflicts | National Geographic

[Music] We are very privileged to be able to work together and we make a great team. These days that we want to kill one another, Malice is really passionate about animals. [Music] On the other hand, I look at the scientific side of things. Do you have a head and a heart situation? And that's the most successful combination that you can have for conservation. [Music]

It has two sort of legs that it stands on. Firstly, the sanctuary itself, where the animals that come here that can never go back into the wild are looked after. And then making sure that we mitigate human wildlife conflict in this country. The rapid response unit started because we had to address the source of animals coming to us.

Putting animals in captivity because they are perceived as problem animals is not a solution to the conflict. Cheetahs and leopards in Namibia occur mostly outside of protected areas, and that is mostly commercial farmland, so the chances of conflict are very high. Normally it's not the healthy individual; it's always either very young one that lost their mums and they try and survive, or fits and injure them, or a very old animal.

But the perception is very often that every cheetah, every leopard, every hyena is a habitual livestock raider or killer, and those perceptions we knew we had to change. Cheetah numbers, especially in central Namibia, are dwindling. In terms of leopards, I think the challenge still remains natural habitat and unsustainable development. If we lose these carnivores, we will have severe effects on the ecosystem. I don't think people realize what the impact is if we lose a species. Everybody is at a disadvantage, not only the people that live there. [Music]

Hi. A rapid response would normally happen when we get a phone call in, and then the train reaction starts. So just give you some more information about this method. [Music] Yes, he's lost two calves in a month because of the leopard, and he's now caught this leopard in the capture cage. He doesn't want us to collar and release on the property; he wants us to remove this kit. So we have to find a spot now for this lab to go before we even start driving from here, and we need to get a permit to pick up. We don't have a plate that we can take and accept national products, and then we have to try and convince them. Yeah, so that's going to be a challenge.

So I think if you can put that application free, send an email. [Music] I'm a cattle farmer, and this property is in the north northeast of Namibia. Our income is basically just coming from cattle, and in this case, the leopard actually came all the way to our homestead, trying to get the calves out of the enclosure. And so that's why we took measures to catch him. Right, I'm gonna give him 180 milligrams of ketamine and four comma eight milligrams of melatonin. That should do the job.

Translocating an animal doesn't happen very often; it's a last resort for us. Me and Rudy walk up to the cage, and now I'm on the bike to call his attention, so he turns his butt, and people do a good aim. How long will it take? About 15 to 20 minutes. If he's half awake and you start stimulating him, then it's not good.

We wait till he sleeps deep enough, and then we go closer. Okay, and we're just going to do all the measurements and get his weight, body temperature. That's a nice cool summertime. He has an injury here; just let's document that. The blue spray is just an animatic spray. The collar that we're going to put on has got a VHF and a GPS satellite unit equipped with a drop-off mechanism. So by that time, we would have established where this animal has settled into a home range and what has happened to the animal.

It's the 112th animal that we've immobilized in the last nine years. We've been very, very lucky; we have not had one mortality when we moved an animal. We've done over 680 consultations with farmers. When we started, 80% of animals would be shot in the capture cage; in the last year, only 0.3% got killed. So I think we've come a long way in terms of changing perceptions and working with landowners and farmers in looking at alternatives. [Music]

We're going to stop in a short while just to check up on him, just make sure he's not breathing well, his temperature is good, everything is still okay. Yeah, he's a little bit awake, so don't fiddle with a half-awake leg, but temperature especially if you have to take it. [Applause]

So we reached our release site; it's a protected area. We're looking for a tree that we can throw the rope over to open the capture cage gate, tie a rope to the gate, and throw that rope over a tree. And then from the inside of the car, pull it open. Everybody should be in the cars now when we pull this open. Please, windows rolled up. Leopards are not like cheetahs or lions; when you release them, they just run off. Leopards tend to come back and attack you; sometimes they take it down. [Music]

If you release an animal into a release site, they must be fully awake because there are other predators in the area. That's it. Very good; I mean, that's what it's all about. Open prey doesn't cause any trouble, and it's great to know this may be infamous and it's the heart to keep him alive. It's not ideal that you've moved him out of his territory, but still, we've saved his life, and still, one leopard more on the planet. [Music] [Music]