Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Valli Moosa says he is ”absolutely embarrassed” about a leopard that had to be put down after being injured in a trap on his family’s farm in the Western Cape.
The farm, Paardenkloof, is in the Babylonstoring Mountains near Bot River. Moosa owns a 30% share in the 1 500ha property, which he acquired last year.
According to reports, the leopard was caught in a gin trap set by workers on Monday evening to catch what they thought was a caracal killing sheep on the farm.
However, when the trap was inspected the following morning the workers discovered a leopard caught by a foreleg, and so severely injured it had to be euthanised by a vet.
Leopards are a protected species in the Western Cape, and may not be hunted or caught without a special permit.
On Wednesday afternoon Moosa said he received a ”frantic” call from the farm on Tuesday morning after staff found the leopard.
”The farm had been losing sheep, and on Sunday [January 25] another was taken. A worker on the farm then went to the local co-op and bought a trap for a rooikat [caracal]. The farm has never had a trap before.
”This is a terribly unfortunate thing — I feel so bad about it,” he said.
There were plans to place about two-thirds of the farm under conservation, and declare it a protected area in terms of provincial legislation. This was to protect the valuable fynbos and renosterveld on the property.
Moosa said it had been embarrassing to have to explain to Cabinet colleagues what had happened.
He had issued strict instructions to workers on the farm never to use a gin trap again.
The minister said when he heard that the leopard had been trapped he immediately called Cape Nature Conservation (CNC), which arranged for conservation officers to visit the farm.
The use of gin traps is discouraged by CNC, which has mounted a campaign in the province to make farmers aware of when they should use them.
According to Dr Kas Hamman, CNC’s director of biodiversity, this should only be ”in absolutely extreme cases”.
He said on Wednesday that the trapping of the leopard on Paardenkloof will be thoroughly investigated, and the results should be available by the end of the week.
He said CNC wants owners who are suffering stock losses to contact it for advice on a solution.
In June last year, a leopard was caught in a gin trap on the Kaaimans River near Wilderness, and had to be put down by conservation officials.
At the time CNC made a plea to the public to use traps only after careful consideration.
”The incident illustrates yet again the damage that the unscrupulous use of gin traps causes to the wildlife of the Western Cape,” CNC said in a statement at the time.
Legislation is in the pipeline that will require the use of such traps to comply with minimum standards.
In a statement on Wednesday, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) said the Paaardenkloof incident shows that traps are indiscriminate.
It condemned the use of gin traps as inhumane and unacceptable.
”It’s no use talking about ‘target’ prey. This is a classic example of what can happen. Animals suffer terribly.
”The NSPCA reiterates its calls for such devices to be banned and asks that this incident be taken as further motivation for our stance, particularly as the honourable minister has seen the suffering first-hand,” the NSPCA said. — Sapa