Director, Leopard Program
Dr. Guy Balme is the Director of Panthera’s Leopard Program in Africa and is a leading field scientist for Panthera’s Munyawana Leopard Project. Guy is the first recipient of Panthera’s Kaplan Graduate Awards Program, the world’s only scholarship program devoted to supporting outstanding young biologists in the field of cat conservation. In 2009, through the Kaplan Awards Program, Guy completed his doctorate on the conservation biology of a nominally protected leopard population in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He was instrumental in impacting new legislation that regulates trophy hunting of leopards in KwaZulu-Natal, and helped to revise the provincial protocol for managing damage-causing leopards outside protected wildlife areas. These efforts have led to a dramatic recovery of the region’s leopard population and are currently being tested in other countries home to African leopards. (Read Guy’s Africa Geographic “ Return of the Leopard” article to learn more about leopard sport hunting laws.)
In his capacity as a field researcher, Guy has developed an adept knowledge of the capture and immobilization techniques used on large carnivores. He has also worked broadly with the different sampling methods used to estimate carnivore abundance. In addition to his studies in Africa on lions and leopards, Guy has worked extensively in Brazil implementing jaguar conservation initiatives, in Mongolia studying snow leopards and in Iran monitoring Asiatic cheetahs and Persian leopards. Guy has contributed to eight scientific papers and numerous popular articles on carnivore ecology and conservation.
Selected Publications Featuring Dr. Balme
- Larche, L. (June 2012). Top 200 Young South Africans. Mail and Guardian.
- Vergano, D (January 2012). Study: Limited lion hunting better than outright ban. USA Today.
- Michler, I (December 2011) Think Before You Walk. Africa Geographic.
- Blame, G (February 2010) Return of the Leopard. Africa Geographic.
- Garcia, D (September 2006) From Making a Killing to Saving a Species Science Magazine.
Selected Scientific Publications by Dr. Balme
- Peter Lindsey, Guy Balme, M. Becker, C. Begg, et. al (2012) Illegal Hunting and the Bush-meat Trade in Savanna Africa: Drivers, Impacts & Solutions to Address the Problem. Panthera/Zoological Society of London/Wildlife Conservation Society report
- Lindsey, P., Alexander, R., Balme, G., Midlane, N. & Craig, J. (2012) Possible relationships between the South African captive-bred lion hunting industry and the hunting and conservation of lions elsewhere in Africa. South African Journal of Wildlife Research 42(1): 11–22.
- Balme, G., Hunter, L. & de Woronin Britz, N. (2012) A case of offspring adoption in leopards, Panthera pardus South African Journal of Wildlife Research 42(1): 63–66.
- Balme, G., Hunter, L., Braczkowski, A (2012) Applicability of Age-Based Hunting Regulations for African Leopards. PLoS ONE 7(4).
- Lindsey, P., Balme, G., Booth, V., & Midlane, N. (2012) The Significance of African Lions for the Financial Viability of Trophy Hunting and the Maintenance of Wild Land. PLoS ONE 7(1).
- Chapman, S. & Balme, G. (2010) An estimate of leopard population density in a private reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, using camera-traps and capture–recapture models. South African Journal of Wildlife Research 40(2): 114–120.
- Packer, C., Kosmala, M., Cooley, HS., Brink, H., Pintea, L., et al. (2009) Sport Hunting, Predator Control and Conservation of
Large Carnivores. PLoS ONE 4(6). - Balme, G., Slotow, R., Hunter, L. (2009) Impact of conservation interventions on the dynamics and persistence of a persecuted leopard (Panthera pardus) population. Biological Conservation 142(11): 2681–2690.
- Balme, G., Hunter, L., Slotow, R. (2009) Evaluating Methods for Counting Cryptic Carnivores. Journal of Wildlife Managment 73(3):433–441.
Click here for more scientific publications by Dr. Balme
Panthera Press Release Featuring Dr. Balme
