The Wild Heart Wildlife Foundation will be playing an integral role in relocating these magnificent predators back into the wild.
Wild leopards are often shot by farmers to protect livestock or hunters kill female leopards, sometimes not knowing that they have cubs. These cubs are captured; some get badly injured during their capture. The leopard cubs are orphaned and will either be sold into the pet trade or used in canned hunts.
These cubs are rescued and rehabilitated so that when they are old enough, they can be released back into the wild. Organisations like the Wild Heart Wildlife Foundation play an integral role in protecting, treating and releasing wildlife in South Africa. Do you remember the story of leopard cub found hidden on a farm? They play a huge role in saving her.
Their latest project has been to help Olive (Female – 2 years old), Solo (Male – 2 years) and Beau & Bahati (Males – both 1 year old). These four juvenile leopards have been living at an ethical sanctuary waiting to be moved to a bigger space where they can fully develop into the powerful predators they are.
“These four beauties were saved from a life of exploitation, and deserve a real chance at a happy future. These leopards have been lovingly looked after at a very safe & ethical sanctuary, but for their ultimate benefit, they now need to be placed in a larger facility, with more space to aid in their rehabilitation, with the goal of being released into a wild environment.”
“We are transporting these four big cats from Port Elizabeth in the Cape Province South Africa, to a much bigger and better halfway house in Mpumalanga Province where they will be completely rehabilitated and prepared for final release into a safe, wild environment and non-hunting reserve in Southern Africa.”
The Wild Heart Wildlife Foundation have worked hard to get all the puzzle pieces in place to move the leopards. They have arranged a large number of donations to help with the task of moving the leopards across the country.
“We have the crates, we have the vets, we have the expensive monitoring equipment, we have the vehicles and the manpower to help relocate four beautiful Leopards – all we need help with now, is sponsorship of the fuel.”
You can see the four beauties below. If you would like more information about the fuel sponsorship, you can check out the Facebook post here. We will keep you updated on their journey when we get updates.
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