Female Leopard Misstakenly taken

[Mike Wachtel]

I read a self published book off the shelf of the lodge on my recent (July/August '22) Namibia leopard safari. It was written in 2013, and detailed just the situation you describe; PH says pull the trigger, it turns out to be a female. In this account, the female leopard was seized, but the hunter was able to continue to hunt, and took a "legal" Tom. I'm sure the PH faced severe penalties, not only from the government, but also the property owner who employed him, but he continued to be the PH for many years, so he didn't lose his license.

 

[mark-hunter]

interesting subject I missed earlier.
I wonder how this ended?

 

[Tokoloshe Safaris]

the game scout wasn't a government employee… i was told he worked for the land owner? i appreciate all the responses everyone… i kind of assumed what you said Phoenix Phil… either 1 or 2… I am not really interested in publicly shaming the outfitter…it was the same company i hunted with in RSA and Zim.. but in Zimbabwe they went other another name… and it is nothing to change company names and continue to operate in any manner they see fit…. i am just upset as with the leopard and nyala i am out over 10K with nothing to show for it and they dont seem to care at all…. kind of the same experience i had hunting in England… so it is just frustrating. I mean i know that when hunting not everything goes as you plan…. but it would have been nice to be informed of my options when this happened instead of after the fact.

Zimbabwe, Lion, Leopard and Elephant MUST have a National Parks Ranger present while the hunt takes place. Leopard must be a mature male only. The only exception that I know of is a PAC animal which a visiting hunter would be prohibited from shooting.

 

[Zambezi]

I would put this at the feet of the PH. What if it wasn't a leopard in question but something like one of the tiny ten. I remember growing up that Oribi were royal game in Zambia. A great percentage of people can't tell the difference between an Oribi or a Duiker or a Klipspringer etc. Let alone male or female, young or old... What if the PH says shoot that Klipspringer and it turns out to be an Oribi... to me that is still the PHs fault. Maybe slightly less so but still largely his responsibility.

We all, hunter and PH, have a responsibility to correctly identify but it is so much harder with leopard and lion that have a legal age component too. Shoot one that is not of legal age and you're breaking the law. I bet 92.5% of people couldn't age a lion or leopard correctly. So does it now become the hunter's fault. I don't think so.

Why bother having a PH if not to keep us within the law. If it is all the hunters liability then we may as well do away with the PH and just go blasting about the bush with him in tow to drive the bakkie.

Would also love to know how this turned out. Charging a client for his mistake just adds insult to injury.