Leopard stalks Solusi Varsity students

Dumani Moyo
STUDENTS at Solusi University and villagers from the surrounding areas no longer have to live in fear of a leopard that has been lurking outside the university campus for a month.
The stray male leopard was caught on Wednesday.
The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) spokesperson Mrs Caroline Washaya-Moyo confirmed receiving reports about the leopard and that the leopard had been captured.

“Following several reports of leopard sightings in the Solusi University surrounding areas, on Sunday the 22nd of March the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority rangers went for an assessment and on the 24th of March a ranger was deployed at the campus.

“A cage with bait was placed where a leopard spoor was sighted and on Wednesday last week a male leopard was trapped inside the cage and eventually captured and trans-located to Umtshibi National Park in Hwange on the Friday the 27th of March 2015,” she said.

She added that the Zimparks was grateful to villagers and people in the area who quickly reported the matter to the Parks authorities.

Leopards are known for their ability in climbing, and have been observed resting on tree branches during the day, dragging their kills up trees and hanging them there and descending from trees headfirst.

They are very agile and can run at over 58 km per hour, leap over six metres horizontally and jump up to three metres vertically.

“We are happy that the leopard was trapped and caught before attacking any person. We feared our young children and domestic animals would be attacked,” said a Solusi villager identified as Mr Brian Nkomo.
Another villager said it was not the first time to see wild animals in the area.

“Our area is associated with animals but this time around the leopard came very close to the people. It brought fear among the students and villagers and we are thankful that it did not attack human beings, it only attacked domestic animals like cats,” he said.