Pta's phantom beast a killer

2002-11-15 23:22

Eagan Williamson

Pretoria - The tale about a phantom leopard slinking around Pretoria suburbs at night has taken a new urgency after it was found that some big carnivore had killed eight antelope in a nature reserve close to the city.

Beeld recently reported that a leopard was roaming the streets of Faerie Glen at night. Acting on the report, the nature reserve has revealed that a mysterious beast was killing off its antelope.

Personnel at the nature reserve to the south of the city are at a loss to what big cat could have killed eight of their antelope. Traps set to catch the killer have remained empty.

Terrain manager Chris Conradie believes a female leopard with two or three cubs are to blame.

"A caracal could not eat 25-30kg of meat within 24 hours," he says.

The first carcass found in the reserve was nearly stripped of meat, and the antelope's neck had been broken. Conradie says a caracal would not have been able to do it.

Soon afterwards, two more carcasses were found which had been picked clean within 24 hours.

Forensic tests on the latest carcass have left reserve authorities none the wiser. Also, the rocky terrain makes tracking almost impossible.

Deon Cilliers, project manager at De Wildt Cheetah Breeding Project, believes a caracal might be to blame.

"There are hyenas in the area, which could explain why so much of the meat had been eaten. Also, a fully-grown caracal could easily break an antelope's neck."

But it would be impossible to tell what kind of animal is on the loose in the outskirts of the city. And unless the beast is caught, nobody will ever know.

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- Beeld