Modern Weights and Measurements of Leopards

[Pckts]

From AfriCat Namibia:

'The King in the North'
Sefu meaning “The Sword” was first spotted in 2013 on Okonjima around the Villa area. At that time it was Nkosi’s territory and they were seen a few times together. A territorial fight broke out and Nkosi ended up with severe head wounds. A box trap was then set to try and catch this new male but with no luck. Over the next 2 years he was spotted a few times by our guides all over the northern sections of the park. From Dam Lisa to Eland dam and up to North dam. From the start he was very relaxed with vehicles. Through out 2013 and 2014 box traps were set in the areas where he was seen but still luck wasn’t on our side. Our box traps have live camera feeds and he was only seen once at one of the traps. He stuck his head into the trap, pulled back and was never seen near a trap again. Either a super clever cat or maybe he was caught in a trap when he was younger somewhere else, survived it and still remembers that experience.

In February 2015 our fence patrol guys reported that there was a big leopard walking up and down the fence on the outside. We went to inspect and it was Sefu. He managed to slip through an open river swimmer (where the fence crosses over rivers) when the river came down. He wanted to come back in. Unfortunately there was no vet on Okonjima to dart him because it was a good opportunity to get a collar on him and he had an open wound below his right ear. We decided to drag him back in with a bait pulled behind a car through one of the fence gates. With little difficulty he went for the bait and we got him back in. After that he wasn’t seen for a good 6 months.

The reason we wanted to get a collar on him was for research purposes. He was a big male leopard with a huge territory and already relaxed with vehicles. It would have been very interesting to see where exactly he moves in the reserve and how big his territory really was.

Getting him in a box trap became a personal thing for me. How could I outsmart this cat. From different types of bait to heavily camouflaged traps. Big and small traps were used, raised off the ground to help him feel more secure instead of the trap on the ground, where Hyaena’s could surprise him from the behind. We even sprayed the traps with other leopard urine, which normally curates curiosity, but still he would not show himself. Through 2015,2016 and the first half of this year we kept on trying, moving the traps around through his territory but still no show. He was spotted maybe 5 or 6 times by our guides in this time. With our leopard density study in 2016 he only popped up a few times on the cameras, so he wasn’t even comfortable going for an open bait in a tree.

After a 4 year hunt for him our luck finally changed. Yesterday morning 13/08 at 03h15 he went into one of the traps set for him, which was raised off the ground in a tree and we got him. Why suddenly NOW, we will never know. Maybe he was just hungry. All the hard work and lots of patience finally paid off.

It was a very exciting day on Okonjima. He weighed in at 73kg. Body length 104cm and body height was 75cm. He is in a very good condition and in his prime. We estimated him around 8 years old.
Reported by Louis Heyns

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

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