Leopards return to SA’s West Coast after 170 years - EWN

It has been almost two centuries since leopards were last seen on the West Coast, but now more than seven have been spotted moving through the region.

Last year, a camera trap photographed one inside West Coast National Park, marking the first confirmed sighting there in 170 years.

Landmark Foundation General Manager Dr Bool Smuts told 702’s Bongani Bingwa that leopards had been hunted out of the area in the mid-1800s.

They survived in small pockets in mountainous areas elsewhere in the Cape, but since around 2015 have gradually begun returning to the coastal region.

“We usually read stories about retreating top predators across the world, not only just Africa,” Smuts said.