Gemsbok Hunting!

[Michael Alexander]

I meant to post this item at the beginning of December, but it slipped my mind..... Anyhow, a friend of mine who works for nature conservation just had coffee in my kitchen and he reminded me of this incident....

Towards the end of November last year, the local Nature Conservation official in Oranjemund, caught a number of J&P ( the outsourced version of Parks & Gardens), employees , red handed down at the Golf course, hunting Gemsboks, they had set up snares and were caught packing gemsbok meat into plastic pkts..... anyhow, I believe there were 5 culprits and they are currently out on bail....

As my friend from conservation pointed out, that this type of crime happens on a daily basis all over Namibia, it is not uncommon in a country known for it's wildlife......

It seems just sad that it happened here..... although in all honesty we all know that it was'nt the first time....

Nature conservation officials are also not happy with the condition of the herds down here in Omund, lot of in breeding....

Just a bit of late news.....

   

[Patricia Lotte]

Someone should put these b*stards into plastic bags 

[Michael Alexander]

Spoken like a true Arab!    cuqui

[Patricia Lotte]

The I should add that we should cut of their balls and stone them ...

[georg ruf jr.]

Yes Mike. Very Arab... 

[SandyB]

where  is  the  " supervision "  or  is  the  Supervisor  also  in  on the game ...???

[Bertie Horak]

The Gemsbok is Oranjemund's "signature" animal.  Should be protected.  Culling will definitely not solve the inbreeding problem, in fact it will make it worse.  Common sense tells me if there's less animals - the gene pool is smaller - leading to more inbreeding.
I agree with Patricia - well I was born in the desert, so maybe there's some Arab in me?

[Richard Opperman]

I remember a guy from mining in the late 70s who was caught in the act of shooting gemsbok down at the log cabin - I know he was fired from the company. Cannot remember if he received any futher punishment?

[Pete (RIP)]

The outcome of the case which Mike opened this thread with is going to be extremely interesting as it occurred a day or two after the Sperrgebiet was formally declared a National Park (upgraded from its previous status as a Conservation Area).    One would imagine that, in the eyes of the Court, this would make it - technically - a more serious offence. 

Whilst the main charge of poaching will probably be based on the Nature Conservation Act (or its equivalent), the Diamond Act of 1999 is extremely useful in limiting the presence of known poachers in the diamond area.

The Diamond Act lists a number of criminal convictions which PRECLUDE applicants from being granted Restricted Area Permits (previously known as Diamond Area Permits).  Whilst the majority of these relate to offences involving acts of dishonesty, they also include persons who have previously been convicted of POACHING offences. 

The Act goes a step further in that it empowers the Ministry of Mines & Energy (Diamond Inspectorate) to withdrawn existing RAPs if the holder is under INVESTIGATION for any of these related offences.    That would mean that, in cases such as these where the villains are resident or employed locally, their respective RAPs lapse from the time of their arrest.   With this they are required to leave town and, obviously, may not continue their employment within the Diamond Area.  (They are given temporary access to attend court hearings). If subsequently convicted of poaching they are automatically - and permanently - disqualified from being granted RAPs now or at any time in the future. 

As can be seen, the various pieces of legislation that exist clearly complement each other.  In our circumstances they have great potential in assisting in the protection of the pristine, and very special environment, that is the Sperrgebiet. 

[Bertie Horak]

Great info Pete!  I just hope the people responsible for execution of these laws are not in any way involved too!

[Leon Sumter]

apart from the killing of Gemsbok, the use of snares is the cruelest imaginable way of hunting animals. I hope these scumbags get the stiffest sentence possible.

[Clive Symes]

Thanks for the update Pete, nice to know that legislation will be enforced for the bettergood of all.

There were a number of incidents like this in the 70's one I remenber was a young mining guy shooting seagulls, he too was fired & prosecuted ( albeit not from or with his own gun)

Is there no way that Nature concervation can bring in mature bulls to prevent the current in-breeding