Klein Karoo leopards get new 300km nature reserve

Leopards in the Klein Karoo will be able to roam unhindered for 300km in a new nature reserve, it was reported.

The Cape Times reported that provincial conservation group CapeNature had acquired five farms, covering an area of 12 800 hectares, to create a new reserve called Grand Canyon.

This had expanded the protected area to 215 044ha. The land was bought by the World Wide Fund for Nature SA.

"It's quite incredible to think that a leopard can walk basically from Anysberg all the way to Baviaans without changing its spots," CapeNature ecologist Annelise Schutte-Vlok said.

"That is quite a distance. What's so great about this new land is that it links protected areas, because in conservation connectivity is crucial, not just for movement of leopards, but for the movement of all animals and also for genetic migration of plants."