National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, 2004 (Act No. 10 of 2004)RegulationsNorms and Standards for the Trophy Hunting of Leopard in South Africa, 2023 - effective 1 April 20235. Monitoring of Leopard Hunts |
| (1) | Upon completion of a leopard hunt, whether the hunted leopard involved a male seven years of age or older, a female leopard or an under-aged male leopard, the local hunter, or the professional hunter on behalf of his or her hunting client, as the case may be, must report the measurements of the hunting trophy and any other information deemed necessary by the Department, to the relevant issuing authority prior to the inspection contemplated in Paragraph 4(6), on the reporting form provided by the Department for this purpose. |
| (2) | The hunting report contemplated in subparagraph (1) must include— |
| (a) | the following measurements of the hunted leopard prior to the skinning thereof: |
| (i) | body length (mm, tip of nose to tip of tail); |
| (ii) | shoulder height (mm, tip of scapula to back of plantar pad); |
| (iii) | neck circumference (mm, immediately behind the ear); |
| (iv) | skull length (mm, greatest length of skull,measured as a straight line); |
| (v) | skull width (mm, greatest width of skull, measured across zygomatic arches); and |
| (vi) | weight (kg); |
| (b) | high-resolution photographs of the hunted leopard prior to the skinning thereof, of the following: |
| (i) | the side view showing the entire body with the hunter positioned directly behind the hunting trophy; |
| (ii) | the side view of the head, neck and shoulders showing the dewlap development (the head must be lifted); |
| (iii) | the frontal view of the face showing the condition and position of the ears, and facial scarring; |
| (iv) | close up of the nose clearly showing the pigmentation; |
| (v) | frontal view of the teeth showing colouration and wear on the canines and incisors; |
| (vi) | hindquarters showing the scrotum;and |
| (vii) | close-up of the underside of both front paws with claws extended; and |
| (c) | high-resolution photographs of the skull after it has been cleaned: |
| (i) | the lower jaw showing all the teeth and chipping of the enamel ridge on the back of the canines; |
| (ii) | the upper jaw showing all the teeth and chipping of the enamel ridge on the back of the canines; |
| (iii) | a side view of the lower jaw showing the canine and wear on the tips of molars and premolars; and |
| (iv) | a wide shot of all the teeth showing wear and broken teeth. |
| (3) | If a leopard hunt was unsuccessful,the local hunter, or the professional hunter on behalf of his or her hunting client,as thecase may be,must report this information on the same form contemplated in subparagraph (1), and submit such report to the relevant issuing authority, within 14 days after completion of the hunt. |
| (4) | If a female leopard or an under-aged male leopard was hunted, the— |
| (a) | local hunter, or the professional hunter on behalf of his or her hunting client, as the case may be, must provide a detailed report of the incident to the relevant issuing authority, together with a motivation on how he or she has assessed the age of the hunted leopard; and |
| (b) | relevant issuing authority must conduct a thorough evaluation of the information contemplated in item (a), and decide on the most appropriate course of action. |
| (5) | The issuing authority must report the information received in terms of subparagraphs (1), (3) and in respect of the previous hunting season, to the Department on or before a date to be determined by the Department,in order to receive the leopard hunting quotas from the Department for the following hunting season. |
| (6) | The Department must use the information contemplated in subparagraph (5), or any advice it receives from SANBI or the Scientific Authority , to manage leopard hunting quotas in an adaptive manner. |
| (7) | The Department may not allocate leopard hunting quotas to issuing authorities if— |
| (a) | all the hunting reports contemplated in subparagraphs (1), (3) and (4) have not been received by the relevant issuing authorities and the collated information contemplated in subparagraph (5) submitted to the Department; or |
| (b) | the Scientific Authority advises that such hunting quotas will impact negatively on leopard population viability. |
| (8) | The Department must establish and maintain a register containing, as a minimum, formation on the number of leopard hunting pemits issued and the number of leopard hunted successfully during a particular hunting season, as well as the measurements contemplated in subparagraph (2)(a). |