Justin Bonello_Leopard_South Africa_Documentary

Last week we went up to the Baviaanskloof to continue building the story about leopards, but this time I was less focused on these wild cats and the predator conflict with the domesticated animals we eat, and wanted to hear more about the farmers’ side of the story – after all, there are always, Read More

Justin Bonello_Leopard

Here’s an update for you about Half-tail, the leopard that was shot and killed by a farmer in the Koo Valley. He was a vitally important research leopard that was reported missing a couple of weeks ago and we had suspected that he had been killed. A couple of days later we received confirmation, Read More

Justin Bonello_Leopard

We’re finding that leopards are really elusive to try and track down and with good reason because they wouldn’t have survived in this drastically changing landscape if they weren’t, so we’re quickly realizing that the only way we are going to get them on film is through the use of camera traps. We’re still, Read More

Last week Sunel, my Director of Photography and her assistant, Mari, dashed up to Robertson after we heard that a leopard may have been shot by a farmer. This was Half-tail; a collared male with an enormous range of around 40 000ha that has been a key player in the ongoing research being conducted, Read More

You all know that I’m currently filming a series on the Leopards of the Western Cape and I need help! We are currently filming in the Robertson area of the Western Cape, and the battle scarred, mature and beautiful leopard below (I’ve named Half-tail because he was missing half of his tail – probably, Read More

I’ve just received word from the Landmark Foundation that Scarface has been located! This is the male leopard that has been eluding us since his tag and release on the 14th of September 2014. We were all very concerned about him,and after several weeks of searching for a signal from his GPS collar, the, Read More

This leopard project is unfolding at a rapid pace. Last week we sent two units to keep up with the story while I was also away on a reccie. Shaun went back up to the Baviaanskloof, while Sunel went up to the Northern Cape to follow the story of another leopard.  Jeannine McManus of, Read More

As you know, I’ve been going up to the Baviaanskloof as often as I can to follow the story of the endangered population of leopards that exist in the Cape Fold Mountain Belt. This has been in my head and heart for many years, but it was only recently that I’ve  figured out exactly how, Read More

Justin Bonello_Leopard_Felicity

My mission into the Baviaanskloof last week really put this whole idea of filming leopards into perspective for me. We spent hours on the ground, trekking by foot into the wilderness and even went up in a plane to try and get a signal – all to no avail. The one thing that stood, Read More