The City of Cape Town, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and Environment (DFFE) and other stakeholders have joined forces to try to put an end to and limit the illegal, destructive and cruel practise of feeding, habituating and using seals to elicit money from unsuspecting tourists visiting the Hout Bay harbour.
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The City and DFFE informed the general public, tour operators, tour guides, and all visitors that feeding, approaching, harassing, and disturbing seals is a criminal offence under the Threatened or Protected Marine Species Regulations and a violation of the City’s Coastal By-Law.
Anyone caught feeding, disturbing, or harassing seals at the Hout Bay harbour may be arrested and charged with a crime.
The following activities may result in a spot fine of up to R3000 for violating the City’s Coastal By-law:
- Paying someone to feed a seal or to perform any tricks or acts on the seal
- Posing for a photo with a seal
- Sitting on or in contact with a seal
- Being within 5 metres of a seal
Following a large-scale operation led by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) with assistance from City of Cape Town staff to capture and relocate five habituated seals from Hout Bay harbour to Kleinsee in the Northern Cape, illegal seal feeding and cruel habituation of seals continues in the harbour.
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Eddie Andrews, Deputy Mayor and Mayco Member for Spatial Planning and Environment, said, ‘We are appealing to members of the public, tour operators, tour guides, and all our visitors to join us in working with the City and DFFE to put an end to the abuse and cruelty that seals endure during training.’
‘We ask for responsible tourism that respects and appreciates our coastal wildlife from a safe and respectful distance, without interfering with the animals at all times,’ Andrews said.
If there is no incentive for those who abuse, train, and feed wild seals, it will stop.
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