Beware of snares in the veld

POLOKWANE – Farmers and smallholding residents are fighting hard on a daily basis to ensure no snares or traps have been placed on their properties after various animals were injured, killed and stolen recently.
Farm owner Kobus Pretorius said he was lucky to have been able to rescue one of his kudus last week when it was caught in a snare. Pretorius said one of his farm employees had come across the kudu that was trapped in the snare. He said in the past there had been several snares removed from the property by him and his employees, but the snares were put in different places all the time. “I don’t understand why people just can’t leave something that does not belong to them alone. I have worked hard to get to where I am and have what I do. Why can’t other people do the same?” he stated.
“Most local poachers who do not need huge animals like elephant or buffalo, use snares to trap small animals like dik-dik, other small buck and even hares,” he said.
Another farmer, Justin Lombaard, said one of his dogs was caught in a snare and he had to fork out a lot of money to get the dog treated at a vet because the dog had been badly cut by the wire snare. “When these people steal they do not realise the danger they pose to innocent animals and they do not realise the amount of money that their theft costs. First you need to replace the animals that have been stolen and then you have to take out money for the care of animals that have been injured,” Lombaard said.
Both farmers added that they had lost several animals through these snares and in some cases even foxes and domestic cats were caught in the snares and only found after they had died.
Lt Col Alpheus Mokale, provincial police stock theft unit and anti-poaching coordinator said here had been several cases reported of animals that had been stolen and that the problem had been seen all over the surrounding areas of the city.
He urged residents to do regular checks for snares and report the matter to the police. He also warned that residents should not approach poachers at all as they may be armed and dangerous.
Municipal spokesperson, Tidimalo Chuene, said the same problem had been seen in the Polokwane Game Reserve as well and the municipality had set additional security measures in place to deal with the problem.
“The measures in place have been very successful up to now and no animals have been lost since,” Chuene said.
Polokwane police spokesperson, Capt Ntobeng Phala said poaching in any form was a criminal offence and usually went with other criminal charges like trespassing.
He called on residents on smallholdings and farms to get involved in the local community policing forum (CPF) in their area, which would assist them in a situation where assistance was needed immediately.
He said in many cases the CPF assisted the police to secure areas from crime.