POLOKWANE – Animal carcasses, clearly that of zebra and giraffe among other wild animals, were found next to the railway tracks, close to a smallholding in the region of Veldspaat Street.
The find included older carcasses of which the bones have already turned white, but fresher carcasses in the same vicinity showed bones that still had pieces of meat on.
According to a professional hunter Review spoke to on condition of anonymity, the carcasses and bones might have been dumped as the animals were originally poached.
“Even a giraffe’s bones are worth a lot of money, so one has to ask why this too was dumped.” He explained that in cases where hunters have the necessary permits, the animals’ meat is processed on the premises where the hunt occurred.
Lt Col Alphius Mokale from the police’s anti-poaching unit urged residents to open a case with the police in events like this one.
“Poaching can be reported at any police station from where it will be followed up by the anti-poaching unit. As far as I know there is currently no investigation involving the specific animals,” he told Review. “We discourage people from illegally dumping carcasses.”
He said perpetrators could face heavy fines or jail time in the case of poaching.
According to butchers in the city, they only process meat if the client who hunted the animals had a permit to do so.
The carcasses will be either given back to the client or left at the butchery for the bones to be processed.
Municipal Spokesperson, Matshidiso Mothapo, said as far as he knew, there is a dumping site specifically for carcasses near the city’s dumping site.
Still no comment from Burckels Napo, Spokesperson of the Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (Ledet).
