Court to rule on fate of trophy rhino bull today

THE fate of a magnificent white rhino bull at Lalibela Game Reserve near Grahamstown scheduled to be trophy hunted for R1.5-million this weekend will only be known today.

Grahamstown High Court Judge Phakamisa Tshiki said yesterday he would hand down judgment at 2pm on an urgent interdict to stop the trophy hunt, which also includes two lions and a buffalo.

Tim Fenner, owner of the luxury eco-tourism lodge Kichaka, has taken on Bayeti and Lalibela in court to urgently stop the hunt.

Kichaka is a member of a conservancy made up of, among others, itself, Lalibela and Bayeti.

Bayeti owns all the animals on the reserve and is tasked with managing the game in terms of a conservancy agreement with other members.

Members of the conservancy – billed as being a large eco-tourism habitat where game, including the big five, roam freely – have fallen out over the proposed hunt.

Kichaka’s advocate, Ben Ford SC, argued yesterday that the hunt was contrary to the conservancy agreement which stipulates strict conditions for game management and culling.

Ford said not a single one of the contractual requirements had been met.

He said six lion cubs had also been culled in May in contravention of the conservancy agreement.

Advocate Shaughan Cole, for Bayeti, denied there had been any contravention of the conservancy agreement and accused Fenner of sticking his nose in where it did not belong.

He said Bayeti was simply applying sound conservation ethics.

“There is no wholesale slaughter on Lalibela. It’s conscientious [game] management.”

They were concerned that the massive bull would not only impregnate his three-year-old daughter but also break her hips because of its weight.

Cole said it was necessary to do away with the rhino bull in the most commercially viable manner as this would bring in funds to protect the other rhinos from poaching.

He warned that if the interdict was granted it would inevitably lead to other rhinos dying, either from poaching or because of the size of the bull.

Ford dismissed the predicted “death and destruction” as hysterical nonsense to justify the unjustifiable.

He said there were numerous options available, including swapping the bull out for another bull, contraception of the female they were concerned about, or simply selling the bull to another reserve.

“All this emotive stuff of inbreeding and broken hips surfaced for the first time [this year] when this R1-million [trophy hunt] was suddenly up for grabs.”

He said the judge was being asked to decide only whether or not there had been a contractual contravention and to grant the interdict to allow mediation to take place.

“The bottom line is if an order is not given then the rhino is dead. There is no going back.”

The case has elicited public outrage and the public gallery of the court was filled with people protesting against the proposed hunt.

‘ There is no wholesale slaughter on Lalibela. It’s conscientious [game] management