Farmer Forced to Catch Namibian Leopard for Feeding on Livestock
A young female leopard in Namibia was recently captured by a local farmer after it preyed on livestock. Instead of resorting to lethal action, the farmer partnered with conservation experts to implement a more sustainable solution.
The leopard was fitted with a GPS tracking collar and safely released back onto the same farmland where the incident occurred. This initiative was part of the Rapid Response Team’s efforts to address human-wildlife conflict, ensuring the protection of both livestock and the region’s vital predator populations.
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Alongside the leopard’s release, the team introduced mitigation strategies to the farmer to reduce the likelihood of future livestock losses. These include practical measures aimed at promoting coexistence between farmers and large carnivores.
This project is run by the N/a’an ku sê Foundation, based in Namibia. They’re known for working with both wildlife and people to reduce the tensions that come with predators like leopards hunting livestock.
The old-school way would have been for the farmer to either shoot the leopard or demand that authorities relocate it far away, sometimes with deadly consequences for the predator. But N/a’an ku sê stepped in with a smarter solution.
Their Rapid Response Unit, which operates all across Namibia, works with farmers to prevent conflict without killing the wildlife. So instead of removing the leopard permanently or harming her, they fitted her with a GPS tracking collar and released her right back onto the same farm.
The logic behind the strategy is to keep the leopard in her known territory, where she understands the environment, which actually reduces the chances of her going after livestock again, especially once the farmers apply the mitigation tools provided by the Rapid Response Team.
The GPS collar lets both the team and the farmer track the leopard’s movements in real time. That means the farmer knows when the animal is nearby and can take protective measures, like moving livestock to safer enclosures or shifting grazing patterns. It also helps conservationists understand leopard behaviour better, making future interventions even more effective.
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N/a’an ku sê has been running these kinds of interventions since around 2008. Over the years, they’ve shown that when farmers have access to tracking data and proper strategies, their tolerance for living alongside predators goes way up. It’s not just about saving leopards, though; this approach helps protect the livelihoods of farmers, too, because they experience fewer surprise attacks on their livestock.
The work N/a’an ku sê Foundation is doing with collar-and-release projects is fantastic and provides real inspiration for how human-wildlife conflict can be approached in a way that protects both people and predators. But like with all conservation work, these strategies aren’t “one size fits all.”
Every situation is unique. The animal’s behaviour, the level of habituation to humans, the environment, and the type of conflict all shape how best to respond. While collaring, tracking, and proactive mitigation work well in many cases, especially when implemented early, they must always be adapted to suit the specific conditions and realities on the ground.