THE LEOPARD 



However, when leopards are known to be in the 

 neighbourhood the baboons seek out the steepest 

 krantz they can find, and find sanctuary at night 

 in crevices in the face of it, for these rock-cHmbing 

 Chacma Baboons of South Africa can scale the 

 steepest precipices. Previous to the advent of 

 civilised man with his firearms to this country, 

 the leopard was Nature's chief agent in keeping the 

 monkeyfolk from increasing at too rapid a rate. 



The Klip Dassie falls a comparatively easy prey 

 to the leopard, which lies concealed amongst the 

 boulders or under some scrub, and when the dassies 

 venture from their retreats in the rock crevices the 

 leopard springs out upon them. A leopard will 

 sometimes lie flattened down for hours near a 

 crevice amongst the rocks on a stony hillside, with 

 paw braced ready to make a drive at the first dassie 

 which may venture forth. 



Troops of Vervet Monkeys make their home in 

 the forest districts of South Africa, and the leopard 

 is a source of everlasting terror to them, for he is 

 an adept at climbing, and his ways are so secretive 

 and his tread so light that they are never safe from 

 his attacks. During the hours of darkness they 

 are at his mercy, for, unlike the Chacma Baboon, 

 they cannot climb krantzes to secure a safe retreat. 

 When a leopard is discovered by a troop of Vervet 

 Monkeys, they invariably desert the locality, often 

 travelling considerable distances, for they are well 

 aware that otherwise it is but a matter of time for 



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