We’re still talking all things leopard but this time we chat with a real life citizen scientist. Owen Grobler lives on a wildlife estate in Hoedspruit, South Africa. As a new resident to the estate, Owen was driven to learn more about the peri urban leopards that were sighted in the area. Five years later what began as a passion project, has turned into so much more. A wildlife photographer by trade, Owen started following, recording and photographing the elusive big cats who called this disturbed landscape home. In conjunction with the publication of his book, “Searching for Spots”, over time the importance of co-habitation became more and more evident. More recently the future of the resident leopards is in the spot light and Owen is determined to go to bat for their safety and conservation.

In this podcast, hear about Owen’s personal encounters with wild leopards in a built up area and what that means for the leopards, and for the residents. The connection to any wild animal is special and in this case, Owen shares the painstaking lengths to which he has gone to photograph them.

We are also joined by conservation ecologist and project manager Marine from Ingwe Leopard Research who expands on the important role, people like Owen play in the study and conservation of leopards. The various links mentioned in the podcast are below: Owen’s Book: https://www.searchingforspots.com/ Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/searchingforspots/ Ingwe Crowd Funding https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/ingwe-leopard-research Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ingwe_leopard_research/

Next up in our series, we continue our chat with Marine Servonnat, project manager of Ingwe Leopard Research as we uncover how this delightful lady from France fell in love with Africa. Marine shares how she brought her passion for research and love for leopards together to establish, what just might be, the most significant contribution to their conservation we have seen in a while. Marine explains the role of AI in conservation and what the importance of collaboration of like-minded leopard lovers is. She expands on how you, as a citizen scientist, can contribute to the conservation of this beautiful icon big cat.

For more information about the rewards based fund raiser mentioned by Marine, here is the link: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/ingwe-leopard-research

The main sponsor of Ingwe Leopard Research is https://www.ontrackfoundation.org/

Collaboration is key so our thanks go to Transfrontier Africa https://transfrontierafrica.org/balule-

conservation-project and Wildlife & Ecological Investment https://www.wei.co.za/

Please give our friends a follow @ingwe_leopard_research

If you'd like to keep up to date with new episodes and other content, follow us on your preferred social media platform using the following link | https://linktr.ee/Ultimate_Safari

We’re very excited about our next series. Not only are we particularly passionate about leopards – as you may have seen from our logo, but in this case, we have the opportunity to collaborate with, what we believe, is a significant contribution to conservation – our other passion. Join us as we chat with Marine Servonnat, project manager and researcher for Ingwe Leopard Research, as we learn about the threats these magnificent big cats of Africa face, and why they need to be studied. We take a dive into understanding what citizen science is and how we, as citizens, can contribute to research and ultimately the conservation of leopards in South Africa.

For more information about the reward based fund raiser mentioned by Marine, here is the link: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/ingwe-leopard-research

The main sponsor of Ingwe Leopard Research https://www.ontrackfoundation.org/

Please give our friends a follow @ingwe_leopard_research

If you'd like to keep up to date with new episodes and other content, follow us on your preferred social media platform using the following link | https://linktr.ee/Ultimate_Safari