Snaring of animals on the rise in the Kruger Park

Snaring has become a threat to both endangered species and the delicate balance of local ecosystems.

Iconic animals such as leopards, lions, elephants, and even pregnant giraffes have been caught in the deadly traps, leading to their untimely deaths.

Speaking to the media on Wednesday, SanParks spokesperson Ike Phaahla says there have recently been two incidents where animals were killed by snares in the Kruger National Park (KNP).

"Snare poaching is mostly across the boundaries, and the sad thing is that it's very indiscriminate.  Anything that walks into a snare gets taken, whether it be a leopard, a lion, an elephant.

"Recently we saw a giraffe that had been living with a snare for almost a month and it was also pregnant, so, two animals were killed ruthlessly by the snares."

Snares that used to be made of single wire strands to trap small buck like duikers and impalas are now almost as thick as the steel cables used to hoist containers on to ships.

Phaahla adds that an integrity management system has been introduced into the Park since November to curb poaching within its ranks.

This includes the use of polygraph tests, to dictate whether employees have been dishonest about the infiltration of criminal syndicates within the Park.

He believes that the polygraph tests will assist with bringing the poaching level to a manageable state.

"The easiest way for every person that manages high value assets is to be infiltrated and we unfortunately are suffering the success of doing the other operations.

"They've infiltrated people within our ranks, but we are on top of it and we're very confident that we won't stop poaching completely, but at least to a manageable level, where our future generations can still be able to come and see a rhino running in the wild."

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