Following the escape and the euthanizing of Sheba the tiger in Gauteng this month an alarm has been raised of ongoing operations of illegal wildlife trading in South Africa.
The Johannesburg wildlife veterinary hospital, said illegal pet trade is an act in many parts of South Africa.
“People get illegal indigenous wild animals from places where unscrupulous people illegally breed these animals. They reach South Africa through people poaching animals from the wild and people buying poached animals.
“It’s not as common in the Western Cape as legislation is more stringent and better enforced in the region,” the Johannesburg Wildlife Veterinary Hospital said.
Animal Welfare Society spokesperson Allan Perrins said while the Western Cape has very strict rules and regulations around indigenous wild animals in captivity, “we would be naïve to believe that the scourge is parochial and only limited to Gauteng.
“Poaching is big business. It is apparently very lucrative and has evolved into an organised crime with big pay days for the ‘top dogs' who scourge at the pathetic sentences and hopelessly inadequate fines metered out by the Court,” he said.
The SPCA echoed these sentiments and said the laws are enforced by provincial wildlife conservation authority - CapeNature.
Wendy Willson the Legal and Operations Lead at hospital, said there has been a big increase in illegally traded wild animals as pets since the organisation’s inception. She said they noted a 200 – 1000% increase, dependent on species.
“Very little is being done from a legislation point of view to prevent tragedies such as what happened with Sheba from happening again.
“Another challenge we face is that currently, there are very few tangible consequences to owning such wild animals, especially if they are exotic – meaning the reward currently is still greater than the risk. It is clear that more education, regulation and effective enforcement are needed in this space,” she said.
Perrins however, said there are adequate laws but they are not correctly enforced.
“We recently conducted an unannounced inspection on a local Pet Shop illegally buying and selling chameleons and bird nests.The shop owner would allegedly pay school children R1 a nest and a few rands for a chameleon, that he would illegally sell for a handsome profit to collectors,” he said.
Perrins said the escape and shooting of Sheba should remind citizens of the dangers of illegal pet trade.
“Tigers cannot be domesticated and do not make ideal pets. They are unpredictable wild animals with an instinctive predisposition to hunt and kill. Her escape and subsequent shooting was an absolute travesty and should serve as a reminder to every one of the very real dangers associated with keeping wild animals as pets,” he said.
The SPCA said illegal pet trade largely takes place online with breeders willing to ship live animals, or their eggs, around the world. Mostly this is considered legal trade.
“Animals, such as lizards and snakes are often carried on a person who will board a flight to transport these animals to buyers elsewhere in the world. Often times animals are shipped in sea containers marked as confectioneries with a false return address to limit the sender being identified. A lot of these animals will die in transit, never making it to their final destination,” The SPCA said.
Spokesperson for the Department of Forestry, FIsheries and Environment Albi Modise said tigers are currently not regulated in terms of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, but under appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
“The Department’s primary function is to protect indigenous species, and this is done by regulating activities that impact on indigenous species through a permit system. Restricted activities such as keeping, selling, transporting, breeding, etc. involving species that are listed as threatened or protected (TOPS) are regulated in terms of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, 2004 (Act No. 10 of 2004) (NEMBA), as well as provincial conservation legislation. Activities involving indigenous species that are not listed as TOPS are regulated in terms of provincial conservation legislation.”
Modise said South Africa meets its obligations in terms of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which restricts international import, export, re-export and introduction from the sea, through permits required in terms of NEMBA.
“The CITES regulations do not regulate domestic activities such as the keeping of species included in the annexures of CITES, although it does require the registration of persons who wish to trade internationally in specimens of species included in Appendix I of CITES, or those who wish to breed animals that are included in Appendix I in captivity for commercial purposes.
Keeping of non-indigenous species is regulated by the provinces.
“The DFFE is working with the provinces in the planning and execution of a joint compliance and enforcement operation focused on large predator breeding and keeping facilities for the 2023/24 financial year.