Saturday, November 28, 2009

Bushpig conservation related issue

On Sunday afternoon 22ND November my spotter ,Pedro, had just taken up his observation post to lookout for stock thieves and poachers as we have had some trespassing and goats being slaughtered in a certain area of our property.Nearby neighbours have reported snaring and although I haven't found any snares recently we have had a problem of stock theft and trespassing.

Pedro had been spotting every afternoon for the past week and had just settled into his position with my Zeiss 8X56 Binos when he spotted an individual walking along a cut line in the distance.The individual moved along cautiously and proceeded to Georges house,who is an employee on Blaauwkrantz.George was not at home and the person then entered his house through a window.He reappeared a short while later with a bag over his back.
He then walked to a position and put the bag down when he started herding some sheep that were about 1km from Georges house.Pedro had already alerted me by then via cellphone, and I in turn had contacted the Rapid Response Dog Unit from our Police Services who met up with me in less than half an hour of me phoning.
The extremely professional officers and I then approached or "stalked" the offender.(the wind direction made no difference on this stalk)
The suspect was duly told to freeze but instead decided to head for cover.
The police used all the hardware at their disposal to immobilise the suspect.

It turned out that this thief/poacher/trespasser has multiple other convictions against him for stock theft and poaching.He had a wire cutter on him and is no doubt the snaring offender our neighbours are complaining of.(they have solely game on their properties)
Bushpigs and warthogs are definitely this illegal hunter's favourite quarry besides our fat sheep or goats.
Due to us privately owning and managing our property and resources on our land we take extra care of our belongings and in so doing protect all our wildlife too.This is the beauty of privately owned land and wildlife in South Africa.(incentivised conservation)
Paying trophy hunters who sustain our wildlife resources with their currencies are then benefiting from this system by coming to our game rich locations.

No comments:

Post a Comment