WNPS lecture: The leopards of Londolozi
View(s):
Don Heyneke
‘The Leopards of Londolozi -From farmland to world renowned safari destination’ is the title of the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society lecture for May that will be delivered by Don Heyneke on May 19 at 6 p.m. at the Met Department Auditorium, Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo 7.
Londolozi, a Zulu word meaning ‘the protector of all living things’, is a private game reserve in South Africa that has become world renowned as a model for conservation development. When John, Dave and Shan Varty took over the former farmland in 1969, it was a severely downgraded habitat and animals that had once been so plentiful had all but disappeared. They embarked on a mission to restore the land and bring back the animals.
Today, it is arguably the best place on the planet to view leopards in the wild. Londolozi represents a successful model for tourism that creates wilderness habitats bordering national parks for the purpose of conservation and tourism.
Don Heyneke, a game ranger and photographic guide at Londolozi, is in Sri Lanka this month on a guide exchange programme with a local tented camp operator. His presentation will explain the story of how a farm on the border of Kruger National Park has been restored to a wilderness haven which offers fantastic viewing of Africa’s Big 5.
It will also include a discussion on the famous leopards of Londolozi that have been documented on film over several decades.
The presentation carries an important message for Sri Lanka. Can we develop the land bordering our National Parks into sustainable concessions that benefit our wildlife and local communities?