Illegal poaching threatens biodiversity in City’s nature reserves
28 January 2016
A spate of illegal hunting incidents over the past months has led to a sharp decline in animal numbers in nature reserves across the Cape peninsula.
Cllr Johan Van Der Merwe, Mayoral Committee member for Energy, Environmant and Spatial Planning, reports that poaching has affected some animal populations including small antelope such at the Cape grysbok as well as porcupines and the Cape hare. Also at risk are other mammals including caracal and mongoose.
Crackdown on poachers
In September 2015, three suspected poachers were caught in the Wolfgat Nature Reserve with a bag containing three porcupine carcasses. They were taken to the Mitchells Plain police station where a case was opened against them. The Grassy Park SPCA was also contacted to collect the pack of 18 dogs that accompanied the poachers on the hunt.
In 2012, three men who were caught with a dead grysbok in their possession were fined R10 000 each, after they were observed by witnesses on the border of False Bay Nature Reserve. Other cases last year were withdrawn due to lack of evidence.
According to Cllr Van Der Merwe, gambling fuels much of the poaching with bets placed on the various dogs involved in the hunt. Most poachers tend to live within walking distance of a reserve and are usually accompanied by a pack of dogs.
“Poachers can usually be identified when three to five people are walking with a pack of dogs near nature reserves. In addition, the setting of snares remains a problem in some areas and detecting this activity is difficult. Snares are usually placed along game paths and in holes in the fences,” said Cllr Van Der Merwe.
Some of the poaching is for meat, but many animals are also killed for their horns, hooves and organs. Porcupine quills, for example, are used extensively in the tourism industry.
Threat to local biodiversity
While the species being targeted are not threatened with extinction, their continued exploitation will lead to the animals becoming eradicated locally. Already, the City’s conservation staff have observed that little browsing of vegetation is taking place in the Macassar Dunes and Wolfgat Nature Reserve, indicating that porcupine and antelope numbers have been greatly reduced in this ecosystem.
“The City vehemently condemns illegal hunting because it depletes the already low animal numbers in our natural areas and disrupts the sensitive ecological balance. In addition, the hunting methods are considered inhumane and result in a considerable loss of our natural heritage.
“Tackling poaching is made all the more difficult by the size of the nature reserves. Fencing them off is not always feasible due to the vast areas involved, and many reserves are coastal. Costs and the threat of vandalism or theft also make this method of prevention ineffective, and determined poachers simply cut through or climb over the fences,” said Van Der Merwe.
Wolfgat is one of the City’s 14 nature reserves which protects important biodiversity and coastal processes while providing scenic drives and promoting tourism, recreation, environmental education and job creation initiatives.
Report illegal hunting
Report suspicious activity or poachers to the Environmental Emergency Response hotline on 083 499 1717 or call the City’s Call Centre toll-free on 0860 103 089.
This news article is reproduced and edited with kind permission from Cape Community Papers. Original article appeared in The Plainsman, Wednesday 20 January 2016, on page 6 and was written by Kaylynn Palm.
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