Two nature conservation bodies are at each other's throats after a leopard was killed to save a life. The Landmark Leopard and Predator Project of SA has accused CapeNature of putting personnel, police and a veterinarian in danger by approaching a leopard, caught in a deadly "gin trap" three weeks ago, on foot.It also alleges CapeNature - the public institution mandated to ensure conservation in Western Cape - was negligent by allowing the use of gin traps, something the organisation denies.Gin traps catch animals' legs by using spring-operated metal jaws.The leopard, found by Marais Rossouw on his farm in the Koo Valley near Montagu, had its left paw caught in a gin trap. Rossouw told The Times he had no knowledge of the trap and immediately called authorities.CapeNature spokesman Justin Lawrence said the terrain and thick bush made it impossible to get to the leopard by car.The leopard was shot after it attacked a vet who tried to dart it."When the vet attempted to dart the leopard so it could be assisted, it broke the trap's anchor free and attacked the vet."A member of CapeNature and police had to intervene to save the vet's life. In the process the leopard was killed."Lawrence said it was a tragic but unavoidable decision that had to be made "to protect lives".Ranger fatally shot by poachersRHINO poachers ambushed three rangers patrolling the Forever Resort in Bela Bela, Limpopo, killing one of them and a rhino. CapeNature has laid a charge of illegal hunting with the police.Landmark director Bool Smuts, said there were between 500 and 700 adult leopards left in Western Cape and Eastern Cape.But many farmers saw them as pests responsible for livestock loss, Lawrence said."We are sitting with a grave problem with this species. Their gene pools are constricted due to relatedness. Because their habitat is broken up, they're in tiny populations that aren't sustainable."More than 100 leopards have been rescued from traps in the two provinces in the past decade...