Baviaanskloof and leopards
Leopards have never been entirely gone from the Baviaanskloof. In July 2007 I received the following account of sightings from Cambria:
'During January people working on the road near Komdomo (campsite at beginning of gravel road) saw 5 "funny animals" on the other side of the river. They ran to Komdomo, the officers had a look and it was 2 grown leopards and 3 young ones! When our son in law and a neighbor drove past, the officers showed them where the 5 were sitting on a rock in the sun. I believe it was a beautiful sight.
Three weeks ago our daughter saw another leopard near the "Groot rivier" low water bridge running in the road. This is the one my husband and myself saw a few months back and it is seen frequently by people. The previous Saturday a cycle race was held for workers from Komdomo to Cambria and back. The last racer was charging down the road near Komdomo trying to catch up; round a sharp bend he collided with a leopard dragging his catch across the road. I do not know which of the two had the biggest fright, but the leopard tackled the cyclist and dug his nails deep into his leg. He scrambled up and raced to Komdomo and was taken to hospital. He is cycling again, so it was not that serious. He told the people at Komdomo that a "groot kolle kat" (big cat with spots) attacked him.
A week ago some of our workers saw a leopard at one of our citrus groves. If you travel towards Poortjies and our campsite, you find a lot of yellow wood trees on your right hand side and the orange trees. It is not far from the Lodge (800 meters?). This one was seen by motorists during this past week, it was running along the road just past the yellow wood trees! So you can imagine, we are not walking after dark without a light and only if we have to, and are forever looking around and up in trees when we walk! However, it is exciting, because the leopards are settling back in this area.'
Note: the picture above is of a sighting in Kruger National Park, not in Baviaanskloof.
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Map of Baviaanskloof |  |