http://www.theherald.co.za/article.aspx?id=520538
Well done Obsession...keep up the good work!
Hunt dogs decimating dwindling wildlife
class=ArticleDateThe Herald
class=ArticleDate2010/01/19
class=ArticleBylineGuy Rogers ENVIRONMENT & TOURISM EDITOR rogersg@avusa.co.za
ILLEGAL hunters in the Aloes Wild Flower Reserve and adjacent Swartkops estuary are decimating the resident animals and terrorising birdlife as they run packs of up to 25 dogs, a senior environmental officer has warned. Fisheries honorary control officer co-ordinator Wayne Rudman said yesterday the dogs were wiping out fast-dwindling populations of rabbits, buck, porcupines and monkeys and disturbing – and sometimes catching – breeding waterfowl.
Most of Rudman’s team are members of the local environmental watchdog group, the Zwartkops Trust. One of their big concerns was the security of pelicans which recently began breeding in the estuary after a long absence, he said.
“The pelicans are large and especially visible – but no animal has a chance when faced with 25 hungry dogs.
“Our impression is that, as quarry numbers dwindle, the pack owners are bringing in more and more dogs to enable them to catch what’s left.â€
The dogs were starved in the period leading up to a hunt, to sharpen their desire to catch something, and there were usually half a dozen men in charge of each pack, he explained. “The men usually carry knobkieries and pangas. It’s a dangerous and volatile situation. The authorities need to intervene.â€
The simplest and most effective intervention would be if the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) environment services department extended the Swartkops fishery honorary control officers’ mandate to include land-based environmental transgressions like this, Rudman said.
Honorary control officers have the authority to carry firearms and to monitor and make arrests where necessary.
The hunting gangs came from the New Brighton, Kwazakhele and Perseverence communities. Their forays sometimes took them beyond the Aloes Reserve and the estuary, into the bush at the back of Motherwell, almost to Addo. When they returned they usually stopped at the vlei under the power lines near Welfit Oddy, off the R72 “trunk roadâ€, where they skinned the animals that had been caught, washed themselves clean of tell-tale blood and packed the meat into carry bags, Rudman said.
“I’ve witnessed this myself. It’s hard to say how much they are catching but the fact that they’re coming every day indicates there must be pickings worth coming for.â€
The frequency and regularity of their incursions also seemed to indicate an organised activity, with the carcasses being sold on or shared between more people, rather than just a small subsistence endeavour, he said
Rudman’s warning follows the uproar which erupted in October last year when a municipal conservation officer shot dead a pack of 19 dogs belonging to a gang of men who were “collecting firewoodâ€.
The officer was responding after the men were caught by Coega farmers on private land with the dogs, a number of spears and the carcasses of a monkey and a porcupine in their possession. Animal welfare groups reacted with outrage but the officer argued that the dogs were clearly being used for hunting and could not be rehabilitated.
Rudman said “nothing had changed†since this incident and the hunters had redoubled their destruction of the wildlife in the area.
“The officer in that case was responding quite rightly to a complaint. But what we need is a proactive task force to tackle this situation, which is going to get worse and worse unless it is checked.â€
Municipal spokesman Luncedo Njezula admitted yesterday that the situation “is a concernâ€. “This activity is illegal. Environmental legislation prohibits any and all hunting by use of dogs. The NMBM does have signage at the entrance to all nature reserves prohibiting the entrance of dogs into municipal reserves.â€
Legislation provided for the eradication of problem dogs but they would in future be taken to an animal welfare pound first, where it would be determined what should be done with them, he said.
“Under provincial legislation, municipal officials have the authority to shoot these dogs on site, but we will only do so as a last resort.â€
Asked about Rudman’s proposal that his team should be given powers to tackle the problem, Njezula said the matter was “being dealt with by the municipalityâ€.
Well done Obsession...keep up the good work!
Hunt dogs decimating dwindling wildlife
class=ArticleDateThe Herald
class=ArticleDate2010/01/19
class=ArticleBylineGuy Rogers ENVIRONMENT & TOURISM EDITOR rogersg@avusa.co.za
ILLEGAL hunters in the Aloes Wild Flower Reserve and adjacent Swartkops estuary are decimating the resident animals and terrorising birdlife as they run packs of up to 25 dogs, a senior environmental officer has warned. Fisheries honorary control officer co-ordinator Wayne Rudman said yesterday the dogs were wiping out fast-dwindling populations of rabbits, buck, porcupines and monkeys and disturbing – and sometimes catching – breeding waterfowl.
Most of Rudman’s team are members of the local environmental watchdog group, the Zwartkops Trust. One of their big concerns was the security of pelicans which recently began breeding in the estuary after a long absence, he said.
“The pelicans are large and especially visible – but no animal has a chance when faced with 25 hungry dogs.
“Our impression is that, as quarry numbers dwindle, the pack owners are bringing in more and more dogs to enable them to catch what’s left.â€
The dogs were starved in the period leading up to a hunt, to sharpen their desire to catch something, and there were usually half a dozen men in charge of each pack, he explained. “The men usually carry knobkieries and pangas. It’s a dangerous and volatile situation. The authorities need to intervene.â€
The simplest and most effective intervention would be if the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) environment services department extended the Swartkops fishery honorary control officers’ mandate to include land-based environmental transgressions like this, Rudman said.
Honorary control officers have the authority to carry firearms and to monitor and make arrests where necessary.
The hunting gangs came from the New Brighton, Kwazakhele and Perseverence communities. Their forays sometimes took them beyond the Aloes Reserve and the estuary, into the bush at the back of Motherwell, almost to Addo. When they returned they usually stopped at the vlei under the power lines near Welfit Oddy, off the R72 “trunk roadâ€, where they skinned the animals that had been caught, washed themselves clean of tell-tale blood and packed the meat into carry bags, Rudman said.
“I’ve witnessed this myself. It’s hard to say how much they are catching but the fact that they’re coming every day indicates there must be pickings worth coming for.â€
The frequency and regularity of their incursions also seemed to indicate an organised activity, with the carcasses being sold on or shared between more people, rather than just a small subsistence endeavour, he said
Rudman’s warning follows the uproar which erupted in October last year when a municipal conservation officer shot dead a pack of 19 dogs belonging to a gang of men who were “collecting firewoodâ€.
The officer was responding after the men were caught by Coega farmers on private land with the dogs, a number of spears and the carcasses of a monkey and a porcupine in their possession. Animal welfare groups reacted with outrage but the officer argued that the dogs were clearly being used for hunting and could not be rehabilitated.
Rudman said “nothing had changed†since this incident and the hunters had redoubled their destruction of the wildlife in the area.
“The officer in that case was responding quite rightly to a complaint. But what we need is a proactive task force to tackle this situation, which is going to get worse and worse unless it is checked.â€
Municipal spokesman Luncedo Njezula admitted yesterday that the situation “is a concernâ€. “This activity is illegal. Environmental legislation prohibits any and all hunting by use of dogs. The NMBM does have signage at the entrance to all nature reserves prohibiting the entrance of dogs into municipal reserves.â€
Legislation provided for the eradication of problem dogs but they would in future be taken to an animal welfare pound first, where it would be determined what should be done with them, he said.
“Under provincial legislation, municipal officials have the authority to shoot these dogs on site, but we will only do so as a last resort.â€
Asked about Rudman’s proposal that his team should be given powers to tackle the problem, Njezula said the matter was “being dealt with by the municipalityâ€.