Leopard (Panthera pardus)
Shoulder height: 70 – 80 cm
Body length: 160 – 210 cm
Tail length: 68 – 110 cm
Mass: 20 – 90 kg (male); 17 – 60 kg (female)
Hunting Gallery
Hunting Leopard is an age old tradition. Various methods of hunting leopard have been used over the decades; baiting, hunting with hounds, blinds, calling devices and then of course pure chance.
Namibia is fortunate enough to have a significant CITES (Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species) quota of 250 leopard per year for trophy hunting purposes. It needs to be noted that only males may be hunted for trophy hunting purposes. A few years ago the Namibian Ministry of Environment and Tourism made amendments to its policies, one of those being that Leopard were no longer allowed to be hunted with hounds and then a later development was the allocation of a tag system, only allowing an operator to apply for a maximum of two tags per year. The operator has to meet certain requirements. This does not however guarantee that he will receive the tags.
Due to the ever increasing time pressure on hunting clients it became necessary for Makadi Safaris to become more efficient in the hunting of Leopards. This led to conducting research on Leopard and to fine-tune our baiting, which is now conducted through-out the year i.e. pre-baiting and is now a fundamental aspect of our ethics and applied conservation.
Leopard hunting is not just about going out there and killing a cat, it entails so much more; it is an art which has to be perfected. The hunting professional either has an affinity for this art of hunting or not. With Makadi Safari’s 100% success rate in 2012 it is proof of that!
The Trail Cameras are used at the baiting sites
Baiting and watching for spoor is an ongoing process. Our PH’s are personally involved with the hanging and checking of the baits, but most importantly, they observe, conclude and study these cats. Our trackers, on foot and on horseback, search for and find new sign of Leopard and know the trails that these animals follow on a regular basis.
Because of our pursuit of Leopard, we started our own Leopard research project to better understand Leopard; it aids in determining and developing knowledge about their population structure and the opportunity to study their behavior. For this process we have made use of 6 Cuddeback Trail Cameras, 2 Telemetry Collars and one GPS Collar. NOTE!!!! – NO leopard that is wearing a collar will be hunted; these specific individuals are for research purposes only.
The Trail Cameras are used at the baiting sites. The images captured reveal a significant amount of information; the numbers of animals, the sex of these animals, family structures, behavioral patterns etc. The collars in turn provide very precise information about home range, reproduction, roaming patterns as well as interactions with other Leopard.
If you are interested in hunting Leopard, come and hunt with us: you will not only hunt a Leopard, you will also learn a lot about them and have a real experience. At Makadi Safari’s, hunting is applied conservation!