Accommodating the Wild? Leopard Conservation, Tourism and Local Communities in the Cederberg By Irené van Schalkwyk Submitted in fulfilment of the academic requirement for the degree of Master of Arts in the Faculty of Arts at the University of the Western Cape Supervisor: Prof. Shirley Brooks September 2019 https://etd.uwc.ac.za/ DECLARATION The study described in this thesis was carried out in Cape Town from March 2016 to September 2019, with fieldwork undertaken in the Moravian mission communities of the Cederberg. The study was conducted under the supervision of Professor Shirley Brooks of the Department of Geography, Environmental Studies and Tourism at the University of the Western Cape. This thesis “Accommodating the Wild? Leopard Conservation, Tourism and Local Communities in the Cederberg” represents original, unaided work by the author and has not been submitted before in any form, in part or in whole, for any degree or examination in any other University. It is being submitted for the Degree of Master of Arts (Geography) at the University of the Western Cape. The use of work done by others has been duly acknowledged in the text. Full name: Irené van Schalkwyk Date: 09 September 2019 Signed: i https://etd.uwc.ac.za/ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I would like to thank God for being my wisdom, strength and guide in the writing of this research project. Without Him I would not have been able to physically complete this dissertation. Secondly, I would like to thank my parents and siblings for their love, support and always believing in me throughout the course of my studies, especially my dad, uncle and Farren Sefela for assisting me during the intensive period of data collection. Whether it was driving to different communities or introducing me to different members of the communities. It would not have been possible without your support. My supervisor, Professor Shirley Brooks, thank you for your inspiration, support, wisdom, knowledge on this subject matter, encouragement and for fully trusting me with the handling of this thesis. A special thank you to my friends, Josh Cloete Jnr and Bigboy Zhou, for your support, motivation, guidance and for assisting me when I was technologically challenged throughout this thesis. Thank you to all my family, friends and colleagues for your support and motivation throughout this study. Finally, thank you to all the subsistence farmers and participants. Without your participation I would not have been able to complete this research. ii https://etd.uwc.ac.za/ DEDICATION To the local subsistence farmers of the Wupperthal communities and to those who suffered the loss of their livelihoods and houses in the fire of 2016 as well as the devastating fire of December 2018. iii https://etd.uwc.ac.za/ Table of Contents DECLARATION ................................................................................................................................. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................................................ ii DEDICATION ....................................................................................................................................iii ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 1 1.1) Rationale for the study ............................................................................................................ 3 1.2) Aim and Objectives of the study ............................................................................................. 5 1.3) Structure of the thesis .............................................................................................................. 5 CHAPTER 2: WILDERNESS, ANIMALS AND THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF NATURE ............................................................................................................................................. 7 2.1) Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 7 2.2) Nature and Wilderness ............................................................................................................ 8 2.3) Animal Geographies .............................................................................................................. 10 2.3.1) Animals and Boundaries ................................................................................................... 13 2.3.2) Animals and Society ......................................................................................................... 14 2.4) Key Focus in Animal Geographies ....................................................................................... 15 2.4.1) Human-Animal Conflict ................................................................................................... 15 2.4.2 Hybrid geographies? .......................................................................................................... 17 2.5) Wildlife conservation and trophy hunting in South Africa ................................................ 18 2.6) Mitigation of human-wildlife conflict ................................................................................... 20 2.7) Conservation and local communities .................................................................................... 24 2.7.1) Community involvement in wildlife conservation ............................................................ 25 2.7.2) Combining cultural values, economic incentives, and conservation goals ........................ 26 2.8) Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 28 CHAPTER 3: BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY ........................................................................ 30 3.1) The Cederberg ....................................................................................................................... 30 3.2) The Wupperthal Mission....................................................................................................... 31 . ....................................................................................................................................................... 32 3.3) The Cederberg Wilderness Area .......................................................................................... 35 3.4) Leopards and conservation ................................................................................................... 35 3.4.1) Leopard trophy hunting as conservation ........................................................................... 35 3.4.2) The Cape Leopard Trust ................................................................................................... 36 CHAPTER 4: METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................... 37 4.1) Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 37 4.2) Research Objectives............................................................................................................... 38 iv https://etd.uwc.ac.za/ 4.3) Data collection ........................................................................................................................ 38 4.4) Research Process.................................................................................................................... 41 4.5) Challenges experienced in the research process .................................................................. 42 4.6) Data Analysis ......................................................................................................................... 43 4.7) Ethical Considerations .......................................................................................................... 43 CHAPTER 5: CONSERVATION, LEOPARDS AND LIVESTOCK KEEPING IN THE CEDERBERG ................................................................................................................................... 45 5.1) Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 45 5.2) Leopard encounters: Past practices ..................................................................................... 45 5.3) Livestock keepers’ current experience: Losses due to leopard predation ......................... 48 5.4) Changing attitudes through education? ............................................................................... 55 5.5) On the ground: The relationship between livestock owners and conservation authorities/ advocates........................................................................................................................................ 58 5.5.1) Reporting and trapping ..................................................................................................... 58 5.5.2) The issue of compensation and local attitudes to leopards ................................................ 61 5.6) Addressing human-wildlife conflict? The Cape Leopard Trust and local livestock owners ........................................................................................................................................................ 65