A vigilante group has threatened to bait Great White sharks with chickens stuffed with broken glass, and to "shoot every shark we see" in False Bay.
A caller to the Cape Times on Wednesday said the group was from Fish Hoek and Kalk Bay.
"We're going to use broken glass in chickens as bait. We're going to take out these Great Whites. We're going to shoot every shark we see," said the caller, who would not identify himself.
Hermann Oosthuizen, shark expert from Marine and Coastal Management, has received a similar call.
'It was illegal to kill Great Whites in South Africa' "I told him that it was illegal to kill Great Whites in South Africa and that he would be prosecuted. I asked him if he also wanted to kill all humans since he has a far greater chance of being killed by a human than a shark."
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"Since September Great Whites are also protected globally by Cites (Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species). Humans are not part of the shark's natural diet, but sharks are wild animals and their behaviour is unpredictable. There is nothing to say they won't attack humans, but it is extremely rare," Oosthuizen said.
An average of one person a year is killed by sharks in South Africa. There are more deaths annually by lightning.
Isabelle Webb, the daughter of Tyna, 77, who was killed by a shark at Fish Hoek on Monday, was appalled by the vigilante group's intentions.
"What sick minds. My mother would be horrified. It's the same mentality that calls for the return of the death penalty. My mother had such a respect for life in any form, from the smallest ant, to everything else, including sharks. She was the most gentle person imaginable."
Appalled by the vigilante group's intentions "What's the sense of killing sharks? The emphasis should be on research. It is a complex issue," Webb said.
She is also against the introduction of shark nets.
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