Locals & Leopards
I will never forget how excited I was to see my first leopard in the wild. For some reason I didn’t think I’d actually be able to spot them in the wild because of their mysterious and elusive nature. But sure enough, there it was right in front of my eyes. Leopards immediately became a point of interest for me after this encounter. Everything from their pattern to the way they run is alluring and I knew I had to learn more about these animals.
In recent years there’s been more stress on leopards in Southern Africa because of human-animal conflict, particularly regarding the expansion of agricultural practices. With the destruction of their natural land leopards stray into the open where they can find trouble with neighboring farmers and villages. This ultimately leads to little to no support of the conservation of this animal locally. I say locally because it’s really important for the locals to care and know about the conservation of the animals in their own backyard. All the money in the world could be poured into the conservation of leopards but if the people who live side by side with them everyday can’t understand the importance of them, then I think it’s pointless. I think that it’s very important to get local community members out on game drives. The only experiences these people have with the leopards are when the leopards are trying to kill their dogs and get around their fences. There’s something to be said about observing an animal in its natural habitat, it’s actually a beautiful and emotional experience. By doing this they could learn about the leopards, observe them, and hopefully grow to love them like so many people do.
This takes cultural change, this takes the mindsets of people to change…which is an incredibly difficult task for anyone to take on. During our stay in South Africa we stopped by and ecovillage named Nourish and I believe they have the right idea on how to take this on. Nourish is an establishment where they do a little bit of everything it seems like. From providing daycare, fresh grown produce, producing arts and crafts, recycling, demonstrating innovative building practices, and tutoring services to local families. Something that really struck me though was there initiative to get local children on game drives. I said it would take the mindsets of people to change and I believe this a great start, getting the young people passionate and inspired. They will carry that passion on to generations to come. They will have experiences of viewing these beautiful creatures in their natural habitat, getting to really know these creatures for who they are. I truly think locals having positive experiences with leopards could save them. If you want to learn more about Nourish check out www.nourish.org.za. They do wonderful and important work there, it’s truly inspiring and gives me hope that humans and leopards can coexist.
