In light of snaring becoming an increasingly common practice in the Western Cape, the City of Cape Town and the Cape Leopard Trust joined forces on Friday to host a snare awareness information session and conduct a snare patrol at the Melkbos Corridor and Blaauwberg Nature Reserve.
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A snare is an anchored noose made from wire, rope or cable that is used to capture an animal. Despite being an illegal hunting method, it is commonly used to catch wildlife for bushmeat across the country. In the Western Cape, it is mainly used across agricultural, fynbos and peri-urban landscapes to target game species such as small antelope and porcupines.
‘This illegal hunting method is indiscriminate and cruel. Animals are usually trapped in a snare for an indefinite number of hours and they usually sustain massive tissue damage and they cannot simply be released without treatment,’ says City’s MMC for spatial planning and environment, Eddie Andrews.
‘The pain the animal endures is unimaginable,’ he added. ‘We urge residents to refrain from using snares and to report them if found.’
According to the City, caught animals die from dehydration, starvation and infected injuries where the snare cuts into the flesh. Regardless of the cause, it is a slow and agonising death.
Additionally, snares have significant negative impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem function. Snares remove prey animals that leopards, caracals and other predators eat, which may increase the likelihood of predators shifting their focus to hunting domestic animals.
Sometimes, even predators themselves get caught in indiscriminate snares.
‘When I attended the launch of the Snare Free Campaign in 2023 I was profoundly impacted by the serious environmental impact of indiscriminate snaring,’ says Councillor Alex Lansdowne, who helped initiate and participated in the information session.
‘I committed to Cape Leopard Trust that we would arrange a snare awareness training session for City of Cape Town Conservation Staff. The training session and snare patrol we conducted [on Friday] is that commitment honoured,’ added Lansdowne.
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The snare awareness session was attended by conservation officials from across the City’s reserves to improve their knowledge, elevate their skills on how to mitigate snaring and transfer their learning back to their reserves.
According to the Cape Leopard Trust, snaring is becoming more common across the Western Cape.
The extent of the snaring crisis was emphasised during the information session when it was mentioned that a Cape Leopard Trust patrol officer found 671 snares during 209 patrols across 112 properties in the Boland region as part of the one-year snare-monitoring project.
The City added that anecdotal reports of snares and animals caught in snares within the region also appear to be worryingly high.
‘I encourage all residents to support the Snare Free Campaign, and contact the Snare Free hotline and nature conservation authorities if they observe any snares in the environment,’ said Lansdowne.
Residents who discover a live wild animal caught in a snare in the Western Cape are reminded to maintain a distance and call the Snare Free hotline on 076 127 8485 with the following details:
- The animal’s location (GPS coordinates/pin preferable)
- The species of animal caught (if known) and other situational information
- Your name and contact details
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Picture: City of Cape Town / Facebook