CAPE TOWN – A Darling game farmer was sentenced in the Malmesbury Regional Court this week after pleading guilty to four charges relating to the illegal hunting, trade, possession and translocation of game.
Ryan Wall, 48, from Durbanville, faced charges in three separate cases arising from illegal activities he conducted from 2015 to 2016 on his game farm, Doornfontein, situated outside Darling in the Western Cape.
In a statement on Wednesday, CapeNature said in 2015, Wall was caught hunting two trophy Eland bulls outside of the hunting season and without the necessary permits. He was also in possession of 40 blue wildebeest, which he had acquired illegally.
Two of the charges for which Wall was convicted related to the purchase, translocation and subsequent release of fallow deer, a nationally declared invasive species, in 2016. The trade and translocation of invasive fallow deer is strictly prohibited in the Western Cape, where it poses a serious risk to the province’s unique biodiversity and food security.
Wall was slapped with a fine of R240 000 or six years’ imprisonment, and a further fine of R930 000 suspended for five years.
CapeNature said the successful prosecution of all three cases against Wall was the result of work spanning more than six years by the SAPS Stock Theft and Endangered Species Unit, the National Prosecuting Authority and themselves.
“These types of offences involving the illegal possession, hunting, transport and trade in protected wild animals for personal financial gain and the trading in and spreading of alien invasive species in the Western Cape are viewed in an extremely serious light,” CapeNature chief executive Dr Razeena Omar said.
“Invasive species cost South Africa’s economy billions of rand per annum. In addition, more than a billion rand of taxpayers’ money is spent per year on trying to manage the problem,” he added.
Activities involving the hunting, trade, possession or translocation of wild animals and/or their carcasses in the Western Cape is regulated by CapeNature.
Permit enquiries can be directed to [email protected] and suspicion of any illegal activities can be reported via https://www.capenature.co.za/contact-us
Cape Times