Baboon as Leopard Bait, Yes or No?

I have heard different info from different PH's and was wondering what you guys here on the forum think about this topic.


Looking forward to your replies.

Cheers,

Oliver

Hi Oliver,

Baboon will definitely work but they are not easy to find. I would rather use Impala or Warthog wich are more common and not so difficult to find. Leopard do eat Baboon but you must remember they have realy big and sharp K9's and Leopard would rather avoid a confruntation with Baboons to prevent injuries. Survival of the fittest. As soon as a leopard is on bait you can use any kind of meat and he will eat it.

Hi Oliver

I would say that the first thing that you would need to take in to consideration is how many baboons are in the area that you are hunting leopard in. A leopard is a creature of habit to a certain extent if they are used to hunting bushbuck or impala they would more likely target them even if baboons do move through the area. Baboons like Neil said have a tendency to fight back and injury would be something that a top cat like a leopard would avoid at all costs since it could even mean death. From my experience warthog is the best bait to use when targeting leopard since they are widely available and young ones are somewhat of a specialty pray because they always tend to get cornered in the warthog whole in saying this the leopard will only enter the whole if the mother is nowhere to be found.

In my area in the Waterberg there is an abundance of baboon, and i shoot them daily because they come into the garden and attack the workers and dogs, so they have become a real pest. I myself have had a couple of close calls with wounded baboons, where i have shot them at point blank with a 9mm pistol. The leopard on our farm are also very strange as they have taken giraffe, and even have attacked the rhino. Every time i shoot a baboon I leave it out in the bush, and I am sure the leopard takes them, but i have never really checked, so i would guess that they are used to baboon. Some people tell me that you need to skin the baboon before you use it as leopard bait.

Oliver,

It seems to me you have a Leopard problem and not a Baboon problem. I have never heard of leopard that took a Girraffe down nor attacking a Rhino this is a very strange thing going on at your farm. Was the Girraffe a small calf? You might have a Leopard with rabies. NO JOKES!

Getting back to the baiting. When you first start to bait for leopard you should avoid human scent on the bait and by skinning the Baboon you will touch it a lot and leave a lot of human scent on the bait. Secondly an animal that is skinned do not look natural.

Ja we do have a leopard problem, far too many... I have applied for a problem leopard permit, and should be getting it soon. The giraffes were fully grown.

Thanks for the info on the skinning of the baboon. I am just thinking of using baboons as bait here because there are so many and they are easy to get, and i find it better to shoot them than to shoot the impala and warthog, of which there are also plenty, but nowhere near as many as there are baboons.

Neil once again I would have to second you on the sent matter. Giraffe + Leopard?
This is a first for me I think you guys might be on to something with the rabies Leopards don’t take giraffe normally. We have over 40 giraffe on my place and I have never had a problem with a leopard attacking one. Wow I would love to hear more.

We had two giraffe taken by leopard. One the leopard jumped from the tree and took him by the neck. The other the leopard chased the giraffe and it tripped and he then went for the kill. We have also lost Zebra to leopard lately.

Thank you Louis, I think Oliver is sitting with a big problem regarding his Leopard.

Even Lion that hunts in pacs struggle to take a Giraffe down. Well Oliver you better start to shoot those killing machines. I would suggest that you shoot a Baboon for bait and put a trail cam on it to see what's what.

If Oliver has that big of a leopard problem then, it seems to me, that he needs to get in a hunter or two that will pay him to remove a leopard or two. Might as well make a profit....