The TreadRight Foundation is working with Cheetah Outreach and The Cape Leopard Trust to ensure locals in South Africa can protect themselves and their livestock from the animals responsibly and sustainably, while also helping to protect the cats themselves.
The Cape Leopard is one of the few predators found at Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve & Wellness Retreat and its surrounding region in the Cederberg Mountains of South Africa.
The TreadRight Foundation said that as a result of local population growth, the increased number of encounters and conflicts between the rare species of animal, locals and their livestock had also lead to a higher number of leopards being killed by farmers.
Together with Cheetah Outreach and The Cape Leopard Trust, TreadRight has developed a community protection and predator management scheme to prevent such incidents.
It has also brought three Anatolian Shepherd dogs to Bushmans Kloof over from Turkey as "livestock guardian dogs" with more to follow.
Rory du Plessis, general manager of Bushmans Kloof, said: “At Bushmans Kloof we
feel an innate sense of responsibility for not only our guests and our staff, but for the communities with which we share this magnificent part of the Cape and South Africa.
“Finding natural solutions to problems in nature is a must. The TreadRight Foundation’s efforts in finding a responsible solution to protection of local livestock, and at the same time helping the Cape Leopard community continue to grow and thrive, is appreciated more than words can express.
“Not only will these canine caretakers keep indigenous wildlife alive, they keep alive the spirit of living in balance – an ethos central to Bushmans Kloof – which is important for us all to learn from.”
