THE world’s last remaining population of a rare cycad species is under threat in Mpumalanga as local witchdoctors claim the primordial plants can cure HIV/Aids. Five men arrested in January with 50 of the increasingly rare E-cupidus cycad told investigators that the plants had been ordered for a local muti market. The cycads had been stolen from the Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve near Graskop, which is the only place where this specific species exists today. The remaining cycads in the reserve were fitted with microchips so that if they are stolen, they can be easily identified.