A team from the Endangered Wildlife Trust spent some time combing the bush of the Medike Nature Reserve, removing a total of 26 poaching snares.
South Africa (09 June 2023) – The Endangered Wildlife Trust’s conservation K9 team recently did a snare sweep at the Medike Nature Reserve, which they run, and managed to remove 26 snares.
Canine (K9) rangers are some of the noblest conservationists around. Working with handlers that become family, these canines face incredible dangers to protect our local wildlife. The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) has an incredible team that works on many projects to better South Africa.
The recent sweep to find snares is an important one as snares are an incredibly cruel method used by poachers. Oftentimes, poaches will not check snares for weeks, leaving entrapped animals to suffer and starve before dying a slow and painful death. If the animal is strong enough, it pulls itself free, either gravely injuring itself further, or pulling the snare loose from its location and remaining trapped but at least mobile.
It is maddening to see the damage that a noose of wire can cause. So seeing the EWT rangers removing them gives us hope!
“The EWT’s Soutpansberg Protected Area Rangers recently teamed up with our Conservation K9 team for a snare sweep campaign at the EWT’s Medike Nature Reserve.
A total of 26 snares were removed from the property and the team also found a bag of snares that were left behind by poachers – possibly for future use. Conservation K9 Pirate, a five-year-old Belgian Malinois trained in human scent tracking, was able to help the team track from one snare to the next, as well as indicate snares the humans in the team might have missed in thick vegetation, behind rocks, etc.
The EWT addresses threats to species and their habitats across the Soutpansberg by promoting formal protection of the area and facilitating the development of local jobs in the ‘green’ job sector. We actively engage the communities and landowners in and around the Soutpansberg to build capacity, generate awareness, and create resilience against environmental changes.
We are building a community of conservation practices across the region to benefit the Soutpansberg’s natural resources, wildlife, and current and future generations of people dependent on the area”
You can help by supporting organisations like the Endangered Wildlife Trust. If you are hiking or walking in natural spaces and notice a snare or lose wires, collect them and throw them away as soon as you can. You will save at least one life with every snare you spot!
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