Snapshot LEC

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Leopard Ecology & Conservation (LEC) is a non-profit organization based in Khutse Game Reserve, Botswana. The goals of the project, founded in 2000, are to understand the status and habitat needs of leopards and lions both within and outside formal conservation areas in the Kalahari region, as well as the development of effective strategies to mitigate increasing human-predator conflict. Our aim is to promote the long-term conservation of large felids as key components of a healthy, functioning ecosystem in the Kalahari. To achieve our vision, LEC actively collaborates with the Botswana Department of Wildlife and National Parks and other government departments to enable our research to be integrated into wildlife management policies.

We aim to obtain leopard and lion population estimates across Khutse GR and the southern portion of Central Kalahari GR. Due to the low densities of all mammal populations in the study area and the lack of a road system that may properly cover the study area, we employ a multi-methodological approach to strengthen and validate our conclusions. The LEC team, in collaboration with Snapshot Safari, is testing the effectiveness of a camera trap survey to assess medium and large carnivore populations in Khutse GR.