This is Notes From the Hide, I am Sipho Mthembu, and today we have two hours. That is the window a vet gives us to dart a leopard, fit a GPS collar, take measurements and get her back on her feet before the Kruger sun makes it unsafe. I recorded the whole morning, from the first alarm call of a francolin near the baited tree to the moment she stood up, shook her head and walked into the grass as if nothing had happened. Along the way I will explain why these collars changed everything we thought we knew about leopard territory, what the vet checks first, and what the first week of data told us about one road and one fence. You are listening on Witspeak Podcasts. It is 4 am and very cold.