Hard Truths of Conservation (2022) s01e03 Episode Script
Episode 3
1
(dramatic music)
- [Narrator] Leopard, the most
deadly of all apex predators.
Leopards are one of the most
calm of the large cat species.
Their secretive
nature and resilience
allows them to survive amidst
many human communities.
Sadly in many of
these landscapes,
human wealth is stored
in the form of livestock.
With that livestock being a
favorite prey of leopards.
It puts them in direct
conflict with the humans.
(dramatic music)
Hunting has become a
controversial practice
in modern times.
My name is Dan Cabela and
I'm traveling the globe
to explore the true impact
that hunting is having
on our remaining wild
landscapes.
This practice goes as far
back as human history can
remember,
but does it have a place in
modern conservation
Human wildlife conflict
is prevalent across Africa
in areas where people still
live with wild animals.
Leopards are often at the
heart of this conflict
their opportunistic nature,
leading them to prey
on the livestock of
tribes like the Maasai.
I'm spending some
time in Tanzania
a place where human wildlife
conflict is an everyday event.
Tanzania is one of
the last strongholds
of functional natural
ecosystems left in Africa,
and the ancestral home
to the Maasai Tribe.
This tribe has coexisted
with wildlife for centuries.
Maasai are true pastoralist
Traditionally nomadic by nature.
They follow the rains with
their vast herds of livestock.
They have truly maintained
a tribal culture.
One which has been shaped
by a harsh existence in
an unforgiving landscape.
As a westerner it
is easy to think
that a leopard should be
protected at all costs.
But to a Maasai herdsmen
the leopard represents a threat.
They see them as vermin,
much as an American sheep
rancher looks at a coyote.
- (speaking in foreign language)
A leopard's just jumped
and grabbed the guy's goat.
Must be another sort of
conflict situation, I guess.
These people here lose
a hell of a lot of goats
and sheep, I suppose.
And the occasional
calf to leopard.
And I hate to know
how many goats
are taken each year by leopard.
Probably it runs
into the hundreds.
Which in some ways is
leopard's doing their own,
but can't take temptation
away from them.
(jeep rumbling)
- So is this an
unusual situation
or does this happen often?
- The livestock
- This happens a lot Dan.
You could ask any of these
herders are out here,
there a leopard and they'll
all say, yeah in that valley
or another person would say
yes, over in that valley.
You could easily say,
well over a hundred goats
and sheep would be
taken by a leopard
in this area every year.
Maybe a small goat might be
worth about $50 or something.
The equivalent now that
adds up quite quickly
amongst the community
find a big value there.
- [Dan] On our
way we come across
some Maasai herdsman and
stop to talk to them.
This nice green fleshy
grass, which I'll show
but that's also why
these people are here
with their sheep and goats.
Anyways have a look at it.
Lot of vibrance of life
around here at the moment.
- (speaking in foreign language)
- (indistinct) marveling
their goats and sheep.
So day before yesterday
there was an old man
looking after the goats
and this leopard came and one
of the warriors came along
and basically almost
had a competition
and it still took the goat.
So yeah.
(speaking Kiswahili)
I'm just telling, telling
him our sympathies.
- Where there is livestock
in the same landscape
as big cats.
There's going to be conflict.
(truck rumbling)
- Let's chat to these guys.
- (speaking in foreign language)
- (speaking in foreign language)
- Okay.
So he says, he says around
about midday sometime
leopard grabbed one
of his goats, and so.
- Where's it now?
- Down there in the bushes on my
so we'll go and have a look.
- (speaking foreign language)
- So he's saying that is
actually, this happen every day.
I suppose every day
means frequently
but he says he's
lost two goats today.
He doesn't know where
the other one is.
- [Dan] When livelihoods
are threatened,
conflicts are resolved
one way or another
often ending in
communities taking matters
into their own hands.
(people yelping)
(people singing and whistling)
(people celebrating)
- One of the factors
that makes managing
this conflict so difficult.
Is the fact that
we know so little
about leopard as a species.
One such area where
leopard populations
and movements aren't
well understood
is the Zambezi
Delta in Mozambique.
(dramatic music)
The Cabela Family Foundation
has undertaken to learn
more about leopards
in the Zambezi Delta
to help to make
better conservation management
choices going forward.
Our hope is to collar the first
ever leopards in Mozambique.
By undertaking to collar
several individuals.
The hope is that science can
inform conservation management
by learning more
about the species.
(safari music)
- So for the past few
weeks, we've been searching
for female leopard tracks,
with the goal of trying
to dart and collar
a female leopard in
the Zambezi Delta.
- Hey copy that,
we'll do that now.
So we're in Mozambique at
the moment in Bacardi Living.
And we're just getting ready
to go out tonight to
look for some leopards.
- [Willem] And so the way we
do this is we use vehicles.
So at nighttime, when
the leopards are active
we drive roads that
have been cared.
- [Dr. Ryan Van Deventer]
So we pretty much drag
the roads the whole
of this afternoon
just to smooth them out.
So it just enables us to
pick up tracks easier.
So we gonna go out and see
if we can find any spua.
If we do find
something pretty fresh
we'll bring the dogs in, get
them to track the animal,
push it up into a tree.
We'll dart it in the tree.
And we just wanna get some
collars on these animals.
A little bit of an enigma,
very elusive animal.
(truck rumbling)
- Good evening, Dan.
- Evening. Good
to see you again.
- Yes. Always is.
- See, you got
the team together.
- Yes. The hounds all loaded.
We sweeped all the
roads this afternoon.
We'll go out.
Let's go and try and
find a fresh track.
So we just gonna drive slowly,
check the baits
that we've put out.
As soon as we get a track
we'll identify whether
it's a male or female.
If it's a female,
we're good to go.
And then we can chase it in the
tree and put that collar on.
- That sounds excellent.
- Let's go.
- Ready Dan?
(truck starting)
- [Dan] Our hope is to collar
the first ever
leopards in Mozambique.
Catching a leopard
is no easy task.
First the team needs to find
a leopard track and follow it.
But then they need
to get it in the tree
so that the vet can dart and
immobilize the cat safely.
The team searches
hundreds of miles of road,
for a suitable leopard
for the hounds to follow.
- So seven in length.
But I think this is that
- [worker] Female.
- Female. Yeah.
- [Worker] Is this
tonight? Yeah.
- So the back paw is much
longer than the front paw.
(dogs barking)
- We've got a couple of
leading hounds as in any pack.
And you need a few.
If you don't know your
hounds by their call
then you need the collars
to look at the GPS to
to see which hound is which.
so 70% of the hounds I
can distinguish on call,
but some of the other
like the young girls
we don't know yet.
So those ones we need
to follow on the GPS.
- Funny. Yeah.
- So we're trying to catch
some females to put collars
on them.
So we're gonna
follow the tracks.
The hounds are gonna
tell us how fresh it is.
Get the hounds on the
track and we're gonna try
and chase the cat up the tree
and then put a dart in her
and then catch it with the
net and put the collar on.
(speaking in foreign language)
(hounds barking)
(man whistling)
(speaking foreign language)
(hound howling)
(man whistling)
(dramatic music)
(hounds howling)
(water splashing)
(hounds barking)
- The drug we're using is
something called Xyliotol.
It's probably safer for her and
just safer when they come to
when there's more
people around so.
And then we'll just
have to sit with her
while she wakes up again.
(gun clicks)
(dog barking)
(dart firing)
(leopard hissing)
- She's coming.
(men yelling)
(dogs barking)
(leopard making
distressed noises)
(leopard growling)
that will inform the
conservation of the
species as a whole.
This leopard research
is taking place
in an open system
that is protected
by the funds generated
through hunters.
(leopard growling)
- [Dr. Ryan Van Deventer] Once
the animal has been darted
- And will take measurements.
- 64.0
- We take a
photograph of the mit
and the right hand side
of each individual.
And what that provides us
with is identification.
We also insert a microchip
into the back neck
of each individual
that we collar.
And then that provides us with
an accurate identification
code for each animal.
(dart firing)
(leopard hissing and falling)
- She's coming
(men yelling)
(dogs barking)
(leopard growling)
(triumphant music)
- [Dan] Once the
leopard is darted
the team uses the
opportunity to gather samples
to aid in research before
fitting the collar.
(triumphant music)
- So then you fit the GPS
VHF collar on the individual.
What these collars
provide us with
is a wealth of information.
What it does is it provides us
with active tracking abilities.
So once that animal is movable
you can actually
track that individual
with the telemetry signal
as part of the collar.
But what it also does
is it's got a GPS unit
and that unit transmits
to the satellite
and it provides us remotely
from the computer in the office
to give us a ping on the way
that the individual is moving.
When it can also tell
us if it's a female
and she's starting to have cubs
she'll start to move in
a very very confined area
usually returning
to the same position
in a star shaped pattern
which is typical of when
they're out hunting,
coming back in,
feeding their cubs,
and going out again
later and coming back in.
- [Dan] Science can perform
best practices in conservation
and help to ensure a
future for the species.
- [Dr. Ryan Van Deventer]
We are only at the
beginning stages of our
leopard collaring program
and with each individual
collar we end up learning
a lot more about leopards as
a whole and their ecosystem.
The more we know the
more we can manage
and the more we can conserve.
- [Dan] You can only
manage what you understand.
While there are no easy answers
to solving
human-wildlife conflict,
knowledge is what
enables convservationists
to manage areas where humans
and wildlife live together
as effectively as possible.
(uplifting music)
(dramatic music)
- [Narrator] Leopard, the most
deadly of all apex predators.
Leopards are one of the most
calm of the large cat species.
Their secretive
nature and resilience
allows them to survive amidst
many human communities.
Sadly in many of
these landscapes,
human wealth is stored
in the form of livestock.
With that livestock being a
favorite prey of leopards.
It puts them in direct
conflict with the humans.
(dramatic music)
Hunting has become a
controversial practice
in modern times.
My name is Dan Cabela and
I'm traveling the globe
to explore the true impact
that hunting is having
on our remaining wild
landscapes.
This practice goes as far
back as human history can
remember,
but does it have a place in
modern conservation
Human wildlife conflict
is prevalent across Africa
in areas where people still
live with wild animals.
Leopards are often at the
heart of this conflict
their opportunistic nature,
leading them to prey
on the livestock of
tribes like the Maasai.
I'm spending some
time in Tanzania
a place where human wildlife
conflict is an everyday event.
Tanzania is one of
the last strongholds
of functional natural
ecosystems left in Africa,
and the ancestral home
to the Maasai Tribe.
This tribe has coexisted
with wildlife for centuries.
Maasai are true pastoralist
Traditionally nomadic by nature.
They follow the rains with
their vast herds of livestock.
They have truly maintained
a tribal culture.
One which has been shaped
by a harsh existence in
an unforgiving landscape.
As a westerner it
is easy to think
that a leopard should be
protected at all costs.
But to a Maasai herdsmen
the leopard represents a threat.
They see them as vermin,
much as an American sheep
rancher looks at a coyote.
- (speaking in foreign language)
A leopard's just jumped
and grabbed the guy's goat.
Must be another sort of
conflict situation, I guess.
These people here lose
a hell of a lot of goats
and sheep, I suppose.
And the occasional
calf to leopard.
And I hate to know
how many goats
are taken each year by leopard.
Probably it runs
into the hundreds.
Which in some ways is
leopard's doing their own,
but can't take temptation
away from them.
(jeep rumbling)
- So is this an
unusual situation
or does this happen often?
- The livestock
- This happens a lot Dan.
You could ask any of these
herders are out here,
there a leopard and they'll
all say, yeah in that valley
or another person would say
yes, over in that valley.
You could easily say,
well over a hundred goats
and sheep would be
taken by a leopard
in this area every year.
Maybe a small goat might be
worth about $50 or something.
The equivalent now that
adds up quite quickly
amongst the community
find a big value there.
- [Dan] On our
way we come across
some Maasai herdsman and
stop to talk to them.
This nice green fleshy
grass, which I'll show
but that's also why
these people are here
with their sheep and goats.
Anyways have a look at it.
Lot of vibrance of life
around here at the moment.
- (speaking in foreign language)
- (indistinct) marveling
their goats and sheep.
So day before yesterday
there was an old man
looking after the goats
and this leopard came and one
of the warriors came along
and basically almost
had a competition
and it still took the goat.
So yeah.
(speaking Kiswahili)
I'm just telling, telling
him our sympathies.
- Where there is livestock
in the same landscape
as big cats.
There's going to be conflict.
(truck rumbling)
- Let's chat to these guys.
- (speaking in foreign language)
- (speaking in foreign language)
- Okay.
So he says, he says around
about midday sometime
leopard grabbed one
of his goats, and so.
- Where's it now?
- Down there in the bushes on my
so we'll go and have a look.
- (speaking foreign language)
- So he's saying that is
actually, this happen every day.
I suppose every day
means frequently
but he says he's
lost two goats today.
He doesn't know where
the other one is.
- [Dan] When livelihoods
are threatened,
conflicts are resolved
one way or another
often ending in
communities taking matters
into their own hands.
(people yelping)
(people singing and whistling)
(people celebrating)
- One of the factors
that makes managing
this conflict so difficult.
Is the fact that
we know so little
about leopard as a species.
One such area where
leopard populations
and movements aren't
well understood
is the Zambezi
Delta in Mozambique.
(dramatic music)
The Cabela Family Foundation
has undertaken to learn
more about leopards
in the Zambezi Delta
to help to make
better conservation management
choices going forward.
Our hope is to collar the first
ever leopards in Mozambique.
By undertaking to collar
several individuals.
The hope is that science can
inform conservation management
by learning more
about the species.
(safari music)
- So for the past few
weeks, we've been searching
for female leopard tracks,
with the goal of trying
to dart and collar
a female leopard in
the Zambezi Delta.
- Hey copy that,
we'll do that now.
So we're in Mozambique at
the moment in Bacardi Living.
And we're just getting ready
to go out tonight to
look for some leopards.
- [Willem] And so the way we
do this is we use vehicles.
So at nighttime, when
the leopards are active
we drive roads that
have been cared.
- [Dr. Ryan Van Deventer]
So we pretty much drag
the roads the whole
of this afternoon
just to smooth them out.
So it just enables us to
pick up tracks easier.
So we gonna go out and see
if we can find any spua.
If we do find
something pretty fresh
we'll bring the dogs in, get
them to track the animal,
push it up into a tree.
We'll dart it in the tree.
And we just wanna get some
collars on these animals.
A little bit of an enigma,
very elusive animal.
(truck rumbling)
- Good evening, Dan.
- Evening. Good
to see you again.
- Yes. Always is.
- See, you got
the team together.
- Yes. The hounds all loaded.
We sweeped all the
roads this afternoon.
We'll go out.
Let's go and try and
find a fresh track.
So we just gonna drive slowly,
check the baits
that we've put out.
As soon as we get a track
we'll identify whether
it's a male or female.
If it's a female,
we're good to go.
And then we can chase it in the
tree and put that collar on.
- That sounds excellent.
- Let's go.
- Ready Dan?
(truck starting)
- [Dan] Our hope is to collar
the first ever
leopards in Mozambique.
Catching a leopard
is no easy task.
First the team needs to find
a leopard track and follow it.
But then they need
to get it in the tree
so that the vet can dart and
immobilize the cat safely.
The team searches
hundreds of miles of road,
for a suitable leopard
for the hounds to follow.
- So seven in length.
But I think this is that
- [worker] Female.
- Female. Yeah.
- [Worker] Is this
tonight? Yeah.
- So the back paw is much
longer than the front paw.
(dogs barking)
- We've got a couple of
leading hounds as in any pack.
And you need a few.
If you don't know your
hounds by their call
then you need the collars
to look at the GPS to
to see which hound is which.
so 70% of the hounds I
can distinguish on call,
but some of the other
like the young girls
we don't know yet.
So those ones we need
to follow on the GPS.
- Funny. Yeah.
- So we're trying to catch
some females to put collars
on them.
So we're gonna
follow the tracks.
The hounds are gonna
tell us how fresh it is.
Get the hounds on the
track and we're gonna try
and chase the cat up the tree
and then put a dart in her
and then catch it with the
net and put the collar on.
(speaking in foreign language)
(hounds barking)
(man whistling)
(speaking foreign language)
(hound howling)
(man whistling)
(dramatic music)
(hounds howling)
(water splashing)
(hounds barking)
- The drug we're using is
something called Xyliotol.
It's probably safer for her and
just safer when they come to
when there's more
people around so.
And then we'll just
have to sit with her
while she wakes up again.
(gun clicks)
(dog barking)
(dart firing)
(leopard hissing)
- She's coming.
(men yelling)
(dogs barking)
(leopard making
distressed noises)
(leopard growling)
that will inform the
conservation of the
species as a whole.
This leopard research
is taking place
in an open system
that is protected
by the funds generated
through hunters.
(leopard growling)
- [Dr. Ryan Van Deventer] Once
the animal has been darted
- And will take measurements.
- 64.0
- We take a
photograph of the mit
and the right hand side
of each individual.
And what that provides us
with is identification.
We also insert a microchip
into the back neck
of each individual
that we collar.
And then that provides us with
an accurate identification
code for each animal.
(dart firing)
(leopard hissing and falling)
- She's coming
(men yelling)
(dogs barking)
(leopard growling)
(triumphant music)
- [Dan] Once the
leopard is darted
the team uses the
opportunity to gather samples
to aid in research before
fitting the collar.
(triumphant music)
- So then you fit the GPS
VHF collar on the individual.
What these collars
provide us with
is a wealth of information.
What it does is it provides us
with active tracking abilities.
So once that animal is movable
you can actually
track that individual
with the telemetry signal
as part of the collar.
But what it also does
is it's got a GPS unit
and that unit transmits
to the satellite
and it provides us remotely
from the computer in the office
to give us a ping on the way
that the individual is moving.
When it can also tell
us if it's a female
and she's starting to have cubs
she'll start to move in
a very very confined area
usually returning
to the same position
in a star shaped pattern
which is typical of when
they're out hunting,
coming back in,
feeding their cubs,
and going out again
later and coming back in.
- [Dan] Science can perform
best practices in conservation
and help to ensure a
future for the species.
- [Dr. Ryan Van Deventer]
We are only at the
beginning stages of our
leopard collaring program
and with each individual
collar we end up learning
a lot more about leopards as
a whole and their ecosystem.
The more we know the
more we can manage
and the more we can conserve.
- [Dan] You can only
manage what you understand.
While there are no easy answers
to solving
human-wildlife conflict,
knowledge is what
enables convservationists
to manage areas where humans
and wildlife live together
as effectively as possible.
(uplifting music)