Another endangered mountain leopard killed

Another endangered Cape mountain leopard has been killed in the Baviaanskloof in the Eastern Cape.

The young male leopard was chased up a tree by dogs on a farm next to the conservation area. A team was mobilised to dart the animal, but before they could reach it, the leopard jumped down from the tree and was killed by the dogs.

Several leopards have been shot or fatally injured by gin traps in and around the Baviaanskloof and Kouga mountains over the past few years.

Conservation bodies have been engaging stock farmers in an effort to find alternatives to killing leopards, which sometimes kill farm animals.