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Reach Within to Embrace Humanity
R email us: info@rotarykenton.co.za
This website was last updated on 05 October 2011 |
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SNARE REMOVAL PROJECT Project Manager - Leigh Fogarty 2011/2012. Join us in our fight to combat this scourge. Donate freely and support The Rotary Club of Kenton.
RELEASE OF BUSHBUCK INTO THE JOAN MUIRHEAD RESERVE - October 2011
Latest news on the snare problem. To-date 68 snares have been removed - (October 2011). June 2010. Monday 28th June Leigh and game guards Jack and Toto spent 7 hours in the bush in Kenton. No snares were found in the Joan Muirhead reserve, and the team came across plenty of buck spoor with plenty of middens all over the reserve. However 4 snares were once again found in the bush below the municipal offices and 4 more were found next to a building site in Oxford Road. Two Grysbokkies were seen in the bush between Oettle Street and the R72. Leigh reports that all over Kenton, the bush is being used as a dump for house-hold and human waste. Leigh suggests that Rotary puts together a clean-up team, which he is prepared to lead, in order to tackle this problem. May 2010. The usual snare hunt took place on 20th May when the team found no snares in the Joan Muirhead Reserve. The bush near building sites remains a problem and three snares were found in such areas. Two more snares were found in the fence between the Municipal yard and the bush. Two Grysbok and one Blue Duiker were spotted. March 2010. Leigh, Jack & Toto set out again on their search for snare. After breakfast they headed into the dune behind Shelly Bay and Dry Bone Valley. To their enjoyment they found no snares but did notice pleanty of buck spoor. Then into the Joan Muirhead Reserve & Conniston Road, where 2 snares were found. Five more snares and two traps, all of which had been recently set, were found in the bush below the Municipal Offices. Five more snares, one with a blue duiker carcass were found in Ocean Avenue in the bush behind a building site next to the school. Leigh says that the amount of human waste and rubbish is disgusting and clearly builders sites appear to be the main cause. Workers on building sites simply use the bush as a toilet. Builders should be more responsible by supplying and ecouraging workers to use portable toilets. The Assegaai Conservancy recently held their AGM and congratulated The Kenton Rotary Club on our enthusiasm. February 2010. Leigh, accompanied by Rob Speedie, joined the team of snare finders on Tuesday 15th February. One more snare was found and two suspects were arrested ( a citizen's arrest !! ) for hunting with dogs in the coastal bush behind Jacob's Ladder. The suspects were handed over to the SAPS. Leigh and his snare-finders patrolled on Tuesday 6th October and five more snares were found. Leigh says the snares were old and rusty and had probably been laid many months before. Promising signs were again, plenty of buck spoor. The second snare hunt took place on Monday 24th August with Rotarians Bryan Connock and Leigh Fogarty accompanying Jack and Toto on their snare hunt. Eight snares were removed on this occassion and encouraging spoor signs were noted. On Tuesday 13th July Leigh Fogarty accompanied our two game guards on a snare spotting outing. They combed the bush from the Bushman's River Mouth to Middle Beach road and found only one snare. A good sign. On the first outing 16 snares were found. Leigh spotted 2 Greysbokkies and lots of spoor and droppings. Another good sign. No snares were found in the area bordered by Conniston Road as well as the area below the Municipal Offices and Bathurst Street. Two snares were found in the bush between Oettle Street and the R72. The afternoon was spent combing the Bushmans River Mouth area. Very little evidence of Bushbuck spoor was found and no trace of Blue Duiker or Grysbokkie spoor or droppings was found. Not a good sign. Lee says that spotting snares is an extremely difficult and specialized task and our snare finders are doing a great job. Remember to click on the photos to view enlarged versions.
These snares are almost impossible to see at times. Look carefully...!
A guinea fowl trap The carcass of a blue duiker A grysbokkie carcass
Horrific traps Leigh Toto & Jack our team. A blue duiker carcass
Jack Toto A well hidden snare
Human waste Our bush is a mess; Waste usually found around builders sites Snare eradication in Kenton and Bushmans. There has been mounting concern about the increased poaching of buck in the area, and Kenton Rotary is determined to eliminate the very cruel snares being used. Using game guards from the Assegaai Conservancy, 22 snares and one guinea fowl trap were removed on the first day. One snare still had the decomposing body of a blue duiker in it. Some weeks ago, Rotarian Glenda Webster heard a buck bleating in a snare and was able to have it rescued by Alan Jardine. Snares in the Bushmans area will be tackled next and the entire area will be patrolled regularly to remove new snares. On an encouraging note – grysbok and blue duikers and what appeared to be Bushbuck droppings were sighted, so there are still buck there.
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TARY CLUB OF KENTON
2012 Rotary Convention.
A beautiful Bushbuck Ram being
released into the Joan Muirhead Reserve in Kenton through the efforts of Rotary Kenton.
October 2011
A young Bushbuck ewe finding a new home in the Joan
Muirhead Reserve in Kenton. October 2011. 
