Concern over leopard-hunting quota

[AfricaHunting.com]

Johannesburg – The Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) has extended the zero quota on leopard hunting to 2017.

This quota has been in place since last January following an evidence-based decision by the Scientific Authority.

This was after an alert was issued by the Scientific Authority that the number of leopards in the country was unknown and hunting them could be detrimental to the survival of the species.

However, this decision has not gone down well with the Professional Hunters Association of South Africa (Phasa), which said it was deeply concerned about it and the unintended consequences of the extension.

“To the best of our knowledge, there is currently no reliable scientific evidence to substantiate the zero quota for the second consecutive year,” said Tharia Unwin, chief executive of Phasa.

According to DEA spokesperson Moses Rannditsheni, the decision to extend the zero quota was based on the review of available scientific information on the status and recovery of leopard populations in South Africa.

“The Scientific Authority recommended the minister extend the quota based on the information received and reviewed, with the possibility of introducing a precautionary hunting quota in 2018,” he said.

Rannditsheni said the Scientific Authority took into account input from the Scientific Steering Committee for Leopard Monitoring, comprising government institutions, NGOs, representatives of industry and academic institutions.

“Also taken into account were the results of systematic camera trap surveys undertaken in KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and Mpumalanga as well as relevant data from the industry obtained using Cat Spotter.

“Draft decisions from the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites CoP17) required all parties with leopard export quotas to review the leopard hunting quotas and provide the scientific basis for the quota allocated.

“This Cites review process will continue in 2017 to ensure that an appropriate quota is allocated for the South African leopard population,” Rannditsheni said.

“The status of the Norms and Standards for Leopard Hunting, which are soon to be published for public comment, was also taken into consideration."

“The Scientific Authority recommended in its proposed quota a zero quota for 2016 and that a number of interventions should be implemented to ensure the sustainable utilisation of leopard populations."

“This included the development of norms and standards for the management and monitoring of leopard hunting as well as the extension of particularly systematic camera trap surveys to all provinces where leopards occur."

Phasa’s Unwin said the department’s statistics for 2015 showed a legal offtake of only 42, 37 and 36 leopards during 2013, 2014 and 2015 respectively.

“This is far less than the approved Cites and national quotas and speaks of good selective and sustainable hunting practices.

“Given the above, it is our humble submission that the total number of leopards taken is probably less than 1% of the country’s leopard populations, if the latter is very conservatively estimated at 5000 leopards,” Unwin said.

She emphasised that the legal offtake of leopards was not the problem.

“On the contrary, without any legal offtake, there is no incentive for landowners to tolerate predators preying on small game or livestock, and this results in indiscriminate poisoning, trapping and illegal shooting,” she said.

“The loss of leopards in the wild due to illegal offtake and poaching for cultural and religious ceremonies far outweighs the loss of foreign income derived from the historically low legal offtakes."

“This is an ongoing concern and simply cannot be denied,” Unwin said.



Source: http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/concern-over-leopard-hunting-quota-7509107

 

[BRICKBURN]

I just did a search on the SANBI website for "status" information on Leopard. Nothing came up.

Who is operating these camera traps?
How are they determining this is a representative sample of South Africa's population of Leopard?

How are this following list of appointees drawing their conclusions and recommendations?


The following institutional representatives have been officially appointed by the Minister as members of the Scientific Authority:

• Dr Ernst Baard (Cape Nature)
• Ms Noluthando Bam (Eastern Cape Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism)
• Ms Thea Carroll (Department of Environmental Affairs)
• Mr Nacelle Collins (Free State Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environment Affairs)
• Prof John Donaldson (South African National Biodiversity Institute)
• Mr Johan Eksteen (Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency)
• Dr Jean Harris (Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife)
• Dr Mike Knight (South African National Parks)
• Mr Johan Kruger (Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism)
• Ms Sonja Meintjes (Department of Environmental Affairs)
• Ms Hermien Roux (North West Department of Economic Development, Environment, Conservation and Tourism)
• Ms Elsabe Swart (Northern Cape Department of Environment and Nature Conservation)
• Dr Adrian Tordiffe (National Zoological Gardens of South Africa)
• Dr Craig Whittington-Jones (Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development)

 

[BRICKBURN]

Although this is an older article, the scale of the poaching is astounding.
39% of the Annual Cites quota for the entire country of South Africa in one place.
Hunting is not the problem!


Is animal skin gang linked to church group?

A major wildlife poaching ring, allegedly connected to the Shembe church and tribal chiefs, has been exposed in KwaZulu-Natal after the chance arrest of a Mozambican leopard-skin smuggler.


Early on Thursday, police and conservation officers raided a house near the town of Ubombo and recovered millions of rands worth of animal remains, including the skins from nearly 60 leopards, a lion, several hyena and dozens from specially-protected smaller species.


"We found more than 150 skins, these guys had wiped out enough wild animals to stock their own game reserve," according to a detective in the joint South African Police Services and Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife investigation unit.


Nature conservation officials are hoping to trace the exact origin of the dead animals and suspect that several may have came from the Mkhuze area.


This is what they found: Skins from 58 leopards, one lion, five hyenas, 10 impalas, 14 samango monkeys, seven nyala antelopes, one zebra, 11 suni antelopes, two striped polecats, 11 grey or red duikers, 23 mongoose from various species, three thick-tailed bushbabies, a honey-badgers, three caracals, 10 servals, a porcupine pelt with quills and a 30kg bale of loose leopard skin pieces.


A 58-year-old man from the Manfene district will be taken to court in Ubombo on Friday morning to face numerous charges.


The investigators also seized an unlicensed firearm, a container of poison as well several head-dresses for traditional chiefs and items of church regalia fashioned from animal skins.


The wildlife poaching ring came unstuck after a routine roadblock near the town of Manguzi in northern KwaZulu-Natal.


According to Superintendent Deven Naicker of the South African Police Service Organised Crime Unit, a Mozambican national was deported recently after the discovery of five leopard skins at the roadblock.


The confiscated skins, thought to have been destined for a wildlife merchant in the Jozini area, were given to nature conservation staff for safe-keeping.


Soon afterwards, a R5 000 bribe was offered to conservation officers to secure the "return" of the skins.


Naicker said members of his unit were called in to spring a trap resulting in the early morning raid near Ubombo.


Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife co-ordinator Andy Davies said they would focus on tracking down the poachers who supplied the skins, as well as pin-pointing the conservation areas where the animals died.


Police Detective Inspector JP Roux said the financial value of the haul was still being calculated, but the leopard skins alone were believed to sell for almost R50 000 each on the black market, while a single lion skin could fetch about R250 000.


Other sources connected to the investigation said some of the items of religious regalia were thought to be destined for senior members of the Shembe church, while the animal skin head-dresses were of the type worn by traditional chiefs.


M-Net's Carte Blanche screened a programme recently blaming poaching for the high number of wildlife deaths in Mkhuze game reserve.


KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife has acknowledged that poaching was part of the problem, but suggested drought was also an important factor.


An audit is currently underway in the park to work out the current animal population levels.

In recent years game audits at Mkhuze have been limited to counting every two years, but ecologists have decided to revert to an annual census to build up a more accurate picture.

South Africa / 30 July 2004, 09:44am
Tony Carnie

 

[rinehart0050]

Sad state of affairs.