Craig Saunders and his girlfriend Roxanne Smith are running a South Coast Anti-Snaring group which is going the extra mile to assist in saving the coast’s wildlife.
Craig says it all started one day when he and his brother, Ryan were fishing at a dam and they decided to do a hike and came across a few snares which they removed. And from then, they just enjoyed the hikes and started removing snares.
A few months later they started getting a few friends involved to join them on their mission to help the environment.
Peter Coetzee, Tim Halliday and Roxanne have since joined and have been learning a lot and seeing in person as to what the snares do to animals, after a few patrols they can spot snares from a mile away.
“We have been growing with new faces on most patrols we create. We have been supported and sponsored by Michael and Natasha Henn from Henn’s Arms and Ammunition who is our main sponsor in this good cause.” Alex Skene and Liz Willey from Umtentweni Conservancy have also recently started coming on board to support them. The main goal at the end of the day is to have a snare-free environment.
Craig pointed out that snaring is an unethical way of hunting as it causes animals to suffer.
“Not only the wildlife gets affected but also your domestic animals who wander off in the bush. So we try to approach farmers in the local areas to remove snares in the surrounding bush areas,” said Craig.
Hopefully, it becomes a snare free area in the near future and the populations of some wildlife grow. Craig added that he hoped the group would also start growing and move around more, covering more and bigger farm areas.
“Obviously by removing the snares on farms we have not found any live animals to rescue. We have come across dead bush buck, bush pig, duiker and porcupine. Recently some farmers’ dogs have been caught in snares and luckily found alive and the animals survived.”
When it comes to creating awareness, Craig said the aim is that everyone knows about snares and where they are found and what they are made out of.
“We are currently compiling a booklet regarding snares and other groups in KZN that do the same patrols,” he said.
Anyone is welcome to join the group. Like their Facebook page: South Coast Anti-Snaring or contact Craig on 072 2587907 to be added to their WhatsApp group.
They are also looking for sponsors for refreshments for the team doing the patrols, as it is all volunteer-based.
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