Our projects, in the field

At Leopard Ecology & Conservation, researchers are working to promote the long-term survival of leopard and lion populations in Botswana by integrating conservation with community education. The low density of animals in the Central Kalahari makes many traditional scientific methodologies impractical — but the team includes local San Bushmen trackers whose knowledge of this environment is unrivalled. A significant proportion of the data collection relies on those trackers finding, following, and interpreting animal behaviour from the tracks of leopards and lions. Trackers are also involved in the reviewing of image data on our database, building skills in image processing. Early worries that the deep Kalahari sand would be too soft for usable tracks proved surmountable: around pans and along road edges, the sand is shallower and good-quality prints can be found. The team has already observed that these cats often register — the hind foot landing on top of the front — and that tracks are deeper at the rear than at the toes, the reverse of what is usually seen elsewhere.