SAPS find carcasses, live duiker in car
AN alert policeman nabbed a suspected poacher with about R45 000 worth of buck in his car last Saturday.
Early last Saturday morning, Warrant Officer Tertius Neethling of the Port Alfred K9 unit noticed a red and white Toyota Corolla speeding into Port Alfred from the direction of Kenton on the R72.
He pulled the vehicle over on the Nico Malan Bridge just past the traffic lights. The driver said he was late for work as the reason for speeding. On searching the vehicle, Neethling found carcasses of two bushbuck, one grey duiker, one porcupine and a live dog in the boot.
Neethling heard strange sounds coming from a backpack in the boot. On searching the bag he found a dead springhare and a live grey duiker. In the vehicle he also found a spear and two knives, all blood-stained, a spotlight with a large battery and two ropes behind the driver’s seat. Three males aged 57, 30 and 26 were arrested.
They face charges of illegal hunting or possession of endangered wild animals and eight additional counts. The total value of the animals was estimated at R45000.
The driver was also issued with two warnings by an inspector from the local SPCA for transporting a live dog in the boot and for allowing the duiker to suffer.
The duiker had to be euthanised by SPCA.