MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Bushbuck are a species of wildlife spotted quite regularly in the Mossel Bay area.

Members of the public are reminded that they are a protected species. 

It is illegal to kill a bushbuck. 

Conservancies in the greater Mossel Bay area regularly undertake anti-snare walks in which conservancy members remove snares that have been made and laid to trap wild animals. 

CapeNature communication officer Luke Folb says: "Bushbuck (Tragelaphus sylvaticus) are listed in Schedule 2 of the Western Cape Nature Conservation Ordinance 19 of 1974, as a protected wild animal." 

CapeNature's website notes that the organisation "is the chief custodian of the Western Cape's natural environment and is governed by the Western Cape Nature Conservation Board". 

Folb says: "In general, for contraventions of the Nature Conservation Ordinance involving bushbuck, the maximum penalty that can be issued by a court is R10 000 or two years’ imprisonment or both, and a further fine not exceeding three times the commercial value of the animal involved. 

Penalty increases 

"If a bushbuck is hunted in a provincial or local authority nature reserve, that penalty increases to R100 000 or ten years’ imprisonment or both and to the further fine of up to three times the commercial value of the wild animals involved." 

For more information on hunting game and permits, see www.capenature. co.za. 

Folb also says people should not feed wild animals. 

He notes: "CapeNature does not encourage the feeding of wild animals out of concern for the risks posed by human-wildlife interaction, that may result in habituation and possible safety challenges." 

Mossel Bay Advertiser enquired to CapeNature regarding the regulations on bushbuck after a staff member of a conservation organisation contacted the Advertiser, alleging he had witnessed a group of people chasing after a bushbuck, trying to corner it in a field and throwing poles at the animal. 

The conservation officer pointed out that the animal charged at one of the group. He said it was both illegal and dangerous to try to attack a bushbuck.

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