Chukki

Kethegowda decided where to set the camera trap - at the perimeter his coffee farm shares with the forest. She’s not the first Leopard we’ve spotted, but certainly is one that takes delight in making repeated visits to Kethegowda’s farm. The camera has been able to spot and capture her least once every month since the set-up. After a short, but happening discussion we decided to name her Chukki. Thanks to their cautious and elusive behaviour, we are yet to encounter one in daylight, despite sharing the neighbourhood. They’re usually active and preying at night. Being an apex predator makes the Leopard an indispensable part of the food chain and ecological balance of the region and the planet. Their continuous survival requires an abundance of prey and forest cover. Their population is mostly threatened by habitat loss from forest fragmentation. This gives us more reason to remain committed to growing coffee in the way that we do - under the canopy of native, moist deciduous forest trees and not despite it! Environment conditions that allow these leopards to thrive are the ones that make possible the production of coffee too. We’d like to declare that the Panthera Pardus is a partner producer on this one.