South Africa: Seized Poachers' Dogs Face Death

Esther Lewis

17 May 2010

Muti gatherers and betting syndicates are using cross-bred greyhounds to illegally hunt game in the Cape's nature reserves, causing immense harm to the ecosystem, the City of Cape Town's biodiversity management unit has said.

According to Julia Wood, manager of the biodiversity unit, poachers usually hunted for meat but in Cape Town the main reason for hunting was the muti trade, where animals were killed for horns, hooves and organs.

Porcupine quills were also used extensively in the tourism industry.
Wood said the gambling aspect was of growing concern as bets were being placed on which hunting dog would make the kill or take down the animal.

In most cases, hunters used packs ranging in size from six dogs to 25.

Greyhound cross-breeds were preferred because they were very quick and natural hunters.

Poachers moved through the bush with the dogs, flushing out wild animals, Woods said. When the animal was brought down, the poachers beat their frenzied dogs away from the injured animal and bludgeoned the animal to death with wooden sticks or steel rods.

Last week, two men were arrested for illegally hunting grysbok in a protected area in Philippi.

The nature conservation ranger unit was tipped off that three men and a pack of dogs were moving between an open space between Philippi and Mitchells Plain.
An observation point was set up in the area, ahead of the suspected poachers.

The team made their move when the dogs closed in on the animal.

One suspect was able to get away, but two were arrested by the rangers and taken to Mitchell's Plain police station where they were charged under the Nature Conservation Act for illegal hunting.

The SPCA was expected to lay a further charge of cruelty to animals.

Cape of Good Hope SPCA chief Allan Perrins said that the grysbok's carcass was in their possession, and an inspection showed that it was beaten to death.

The SPCA also confiscated the suspects' pack of eight greyhounds.
Perrins said the suspects had been previously caught for the same offence.

While some of the greyhounds were adopted by new owners, others were beyond rehabilitation and had to be put down.

"The future of these greyhounds is very uncertain," said Perrins of the remainder.

Hunting with dogs is outlawed in the Western Cape.

Dogs are only permitted to retrieve fowl or track wounded animals.

Hunters needed permits and the written consent of land owners if they wished to hunt on private property.

According to local provincial conservation laws, perpetrators can be fined no more than R10 000 or face two years' imprisonment, or be issued a fine no more than three times the commercial value of the animal.
The City of Cape Town says only four cases of poaching had been opened since 2007.

Woods said that poaching was extremely difficult to police.

The most problematic areas were the open spaces on the Cape Flats, Macassar, Wolfgat, Philippi, Strandfontein, Atlantis and Blaauwberg.

Perpetrators were apparently difficult to catch as they hunted at any time of day and during all weather conditions.

"They are often more familiar with the bush environment than law enforcement staff, who are trained to operate in urban areas," said Wood.

There is also no ranger unit dedicated to address poaching at the moment.
While there is no way of keeping track of individual animals, Wood indicated that there was almost no browsing occurring in the Macassar Dunes and Wolfgat Nature Reserves.

She said this meant that porcupine and small antelope have been removed from the ecosystem.

All antelope species, genet, and Cape hares - which are the most targeted during hunting - are protected. While not globally threatened with extinction, many of these species may become locally extinct if irreversible habitat destruction and hunting continued, Wood said.

Police Warrant Officer Ian Williams confirmed that the two male suspects, a 29-year old and a 52-year-old, were arrested and charged under the Nature Conservation Act for Illegal Hunting.