FREE TO ATTEND
3 Free to attend events
We were pleased to invite anyone to one or all of our free events
Tuesday 14 March 18h00 SAST (GMT+2)
A film screening of the ‘To Skin a Cat’ documentary and Q&A with the filmmakers Greg Lomas and Colwyn Thomas, joined by Panthera’s Furs For Life Project Coordinator, Tristan Dickerson.
In southern Africa, as many as 800 leopards are harvested each year to supply the demand for their furs. With fewer than 5,000 leopards remaining in South Africa, this illicit trade poses a significant threat to their survival. Many leopards are harvested so their coveted furs can be used in ceremonial regalia by cultural and religious groups that revere the species. One such group is the Nazareth Baptist Church eBuhleni, commonly known as Shembe Church. After discovering that Shembe followers were using as many as 15,000 leopard furs during religious gatherings, Panthera, in partnership with the leadership of the Shembe Church, initiated Furs for Life in 2013.
Working with the Shembe community and graphic designers, Panthera created high-quality and affordable synthetic leopard fur cape or amambatha known as Heritage Furs. More than 18,500 capes have already been distributed to the Shembe Church with support from Peace Parks Foundation and Cartier.
Thanks to the pioneering efforts of the Shembe leaders, affordable synthetic furs are gaining increased acceptance as viable alternatives to authentic leopard furs. Panthera’s research indicates that the project has significantly reduced demand for and acquisition of authentic furs, potentially preventing hundreds of leopard deaths each year.
‘To Skin A Cat’ is a full length documentary film chronicling this project.
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Wednesday 15 March 16h45 SAST (GMT+2)
The ‘Arabian Leopard Deep Dive’ series is the first-ever educational, bilingual language (Arabic and English) film collection providing a comprehensive overview of the Arabian leopard, and the ongoing conservation efforts to save the subspecies from extinction.
Join the Catmosphere Foundation team afterward for Q&A
The Arabian Leopard Deep Dive content is co-curated, validated and co-launched with Catmosphere partners, The Royal Commission for AlUla, Panthera, the Arabian Leopard Fund and Saudi’s National Center for Wildlife.
Comprising 10 films, the series raises awareness and addresses common misunderstandings about the Arabian Leopard and its plight, and is positioned to encourage support across the Arab-speaking world, and internationally, for action to ensure its survival.
Each film is between approximately 1 – 2 minutes in length covering topics like habitat, behaviour, diet and breeding.
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Thursday 16 March 18h00 SAST (GMT+2)
In the Tracks of Leopards – Join Painteddog.TV for a live drive on the edge of South Africa’s Kruger Park.
Founded in January 2019 by the complementary duo of Brent Leo-Smith and Wium Dörnbrack, Painteddog.tv is a technology-driven wildlife and conservation film production company, and organiser of life-changing safari.
Brent and Wium’s over 30 years of combined safari, conservation, and film-making experience has helped them guide Painteddog.tv to achieving some remarkable feats in a surprisingly short time.
After having established the Painteddog.tv as wildlife documentary film-makers and the “go-to” wildlife media film-crew in South Africa’s Lowveld region during 2019, in 2020 the company developed unique live broadcast capabilities which allowed us to become the first and only company in the world to have successfully hosted major live and interactive virtual conservation events like an elephant collaring, painted dog collaring and live-streaming a hyena den camera.