I think we all love the fact that there are still leopards in the Western Cape, although far fewer than 20 or 30 years back, and the Gordon’s Bay and Betty’s Bay area has seen an increased number of sightings over the past while.

You might remember the penguin incident in Betty’s Bay, where a leopard killed 33 penguins in a 15-minute bloodbath.

A leopard was then spotted in a man’s garden (HERE) in June of last year, but now we can go one better.

This from Traveller24:

[The] video, which has since gone viral on social media, was first uploaded to Facebook by Wonderlings Bed & Breakfast. The video has since been watched over 60 000 times, and shared over 1 500 times.

The Rooi Els B&B posted the short video on Sunday, 26 March, saying “‘Our’ leopard in Gordon’s bay is getting friendly!”.

Really, really friendly:

An incredible sighting, and one that the people in that car will probably never forget, but why is the animal behaving in such a manner?

Comments on the Facebook video indicate concern that the leopard(s) might be surfacing more often because of the increase in fires in the area.

Others say the behaviour of the leopard in the footage above points to the fact that people might have been feeding the animals, in order to get a better view of them.

If it’s the latter then someone needs a stern talking to, because stories like these never end well.

This from the Cape Leopard Trust:

leopards in Africa are classified as Near Threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.

“It is an adaptable and widespread species, however, the persistence of certain sub-populations is threatened by habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, hunting for trade and persecution,” they say. “Because of their low densities, large home ranges and limited suitable habitat, leopards in the Cape are more threatened than many other leopard populations.”

Here’s hoping some fools feeding them doesn’t result in further damage to the population.

[source:traveller24]