BUT ISN’T A STRAWBERRY A FRUIT?
Look what the Biodiversity Study found lurking in the Waterberg!
By Marlize Greyling
The Waterberg Bio-Region is home to some magnificent leopards, with their dark and beautiful spots. As recently discovered by the FBIP Waterberg Biodiversity Project mammal team, it is also home to at least TWO strawberry leopards!
Dr. Mark Keith (UP), head of the mammal team, and his team make use of passive sampling for mammal distribution in the Waterberg using camera traps, which are strategically placed using a grid system. Thus far, we have placed camera traps on 16 properties around the Waterberg. Camera traps stay on site for 6-8 months and then rotated to a new property. The use of camera traps is invaluable for monitoring elusive animals such as the leopard.
So, what is a strawberry leopard? Also called Erythristic leopards, this is still the same species as the normal leopard (Panthera pardus) but has a pink tone (as can be seen in the image below). The pink tone is likely due to a genetic condition called Erythrism, which produces an overproduction of red pigments and/ or underproduction of dark pigments.
Why is it exciting to spot one of these strawberries? Well, this is the rarest genetic form of leopard, with only twenty individuals recorded between 1976 and March 2022. Most recordings are within North-West and Mpumalanga Provinces, with one recording in Limpopo. The sightings of these strawberry leopards have increased over the last 40 years. The reasons for this increase are a little less exciting….
From the limited studies that have been conducted (2 scientific papers) there are three main reasons for the occurrence and increase of strawberry leopards:
1. Population fragmentation
2. Population decline
3. Hereditary recessive gene
To properly protect these beautiful and important animals further research in the Waterberg is needed to:
1. Determine whether erythristic leopards are a visible sign of increasing threats to the viability of local leopard populations.
2. Determine leopard population size & adaptive ecology.
As such, Waterberg Research Support Centre (WRSC) and Marine Servonnat form the Ingwe Leopard Research Project (an On Track Foundation project) has joined forces to determine the Waterberg leopard population status and start tackling the above research questions. Together, we are gathering and amalgamating all leopard sightings (pictures) & locations in the Waterberg. An important factor in doing this successfully and effectively is through the participation of Waterberg landowners, managers, locals and tourists.
Please contact WRSC at info@waterbergresearch.org.za for further information and how you can get involved!
REFERENCES:
- Pirie, T.J., Thomas, R.L. & Fellowes, M.D.E.2016. Erythristic leopards Panthera pardus in South Africa.Bothalia 46(1), a2034. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/abc.v46i1.2034
- Tensen, L., Power, J., Camacho, G., Godinho, R., Jansen van Vuuren, B. & Fischer, K.2022.Molecular tracking and prevalence of the red colour morph restricted to a harvested leopard population in South Africa.Evolutionary Applications, 15: 1028-1041.https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/eva.13423