Poachers may kill game farms
Illegal hunting, especially with huge packs of dogs, is wiping out the genetics of wild populations
VIOLENT crime in the form of home invasions is not the only criminal threat farmers face. Nor, in terms of sustainability, is it necessarily the most important one.
Farming’s viability hinges on the security of its assets and crimes directed at them can push a farm to collapse.
While it might be tempting to think of poaching as a mere nuisance, for many in the farming economy this is rapidly developing into a significant threat to their viability.
Last year, a report by Agri-sa on crime affecting farms reported that more than a quarter of farms (close to 29%) had experienced illegal hunting in 2017. Kwazulu-natal is particularly vulnerable to this. Agri-sa’s report suggests the province has been hit hard in terms of the preponderance of poaching incidents (with the Free State and Limpopo in terms of the financial losses suffered).
This is not the headline-catching poaching of rhino or elephant. Rather, this is the illegal hunting of plains game, typically antelope.
The template for poaching is well-established globally as trespass and the illegal pursuit and killing of animals. In South Africa, it is frequently undertaken with packs of dogs to run down and despatch targets.
“Artisanal or subsistence hunting” invariably involves local community members and while it’s damaging, the relatively small scale on which it takes place limits the impact. It can be dealt with by engaging such hunters and offering alternative sources of meat.
Far more serious is hunting carried out on a semi-commercial basis. This may be done to harvest game for resale. But it is also linked to gambling, with participants betting on their packs bringing down prey.
Hamish Skead, professional hunter and farm security co-ordinator in Estcourt, has extensive experience of this, having been regularly confronted by large hunting parties.
He says: “In my time, I’ve seen hunting on various levels – in the biggest, you can’t count the dogs. They stretch for kilometres. I’ve seen three or four taxis packed with dogs arrive for hunts. You lose count of them. When they’re set to hunt, the damage they can inflict is mind-blowing. As three of them can bring down a fullgrown kudu bull, not much can get away, especially the smaller game.
“The hunters are also armed – not always with hunting weapons, but with handguns. For me or a ranger to confront them is a risk.”
Hunting of this nature has a ripple effect on the farming economy.
Anthony Arde, who farms in Estcourt, points out concerns have circulated since the 1990s about the link between the decline of various species, such as cranes and oribi, and dog hunting. Wildlife is a farming resource, feeding the tourist potential of the countryside. Its destruction represents a material loss for farmers – and for the economic prospects of the broader community. Says Arde: “Illegal hunting, especially the gambling stuff, is wiping out the genetics of the game population. The dogs kill indiscriminately and go particularly for the young, which disrupts the natural replenishment of the herds.
“Dog hunting has also made the game skittish. It’s harder to get near the animals, which spoils the tourist attraction since tourists want to see them in their natural habitat.”
Combating poaching imposes its own raft of costs. One is fencing in properties – in a frustrating attempt to keep poachers out – along with the repeated need to repair them.
Erecting fencing can approach R200000 a kilometre; so to fence in a sizeable property demands an outlay that runs into millions of rand.
Another is the need to hire rangers to monitor and protect the game. Training costs are high, and at an average monthly cost of R9 000-R10 000 to employ a ranger, the price tag for a team large enough to act as an effective deterrent can be prohibitive.
On top of this, the prospect of a violent confrontation with poachers necessitates keeping a legal team on retainer. Technological innovations such as thermal imaging cameras and magnetic sensors offer potential solutions – but also at a steep price.
Unfortunately, poaching has grown on the back of a larger problem. It has been enabled by the frayed state of governance.
Poaching is damaging agriculture and ravaging a fragile ecology. There is irony and shame in this. It’s taking place at a time when the stewardship of the environment is recognised as a strategic policy imperative that demands appropriate attention. Yet botched policies, indifferent administration and corruption within the system ensure this is not forthcoming.
So, as poaching chews away at their operations, farmers find themselves largely on their own.