“There is a big difference between a “tree-hugging” attitude and realistic ethical wildlife management” These two concepts should not be confused to be the same. Sadly it can never be assumed that a game lodge is managed or owned by an ethical person as proven over and over. Game lodge owners should be more carefull who they employ as management. Its not only about managing finances, logistics and staff.

Baboon and Monkey Abuse

There are too many incidents of wildlife cruelty to describe here but the following one will explain the differnence between wildlife management and wildlife cruelty. The following incident occured at a well known commercial safari lodge where a lodge manager wounded multiple monkeys while the lodge guests were out on safari. (game-drive) One large male monkey climbed to the top of a large Jackal berry tree after being shot and wounded. The lodge manager kept on shooting the Monkey again and again with his air-rifle but because the monkey hid behind a branch protecting itself, he could only hit its arms and legs. Blood was dripping down from the tree while the monkey was screaming in agonising pain and distress. Since the monkey was clinging onto the branch from the top it took hours before the monkey finally died. Why was such a person employed as a game lodge manager? The Monkeys were attracted by the rotten food of the lodge’s open trash dump site and by the staff throwing their left-over food out where animals have access to it. Due to incapable and unethical management the monkeys got innocently and brutally killed inside a place where they were legally protected and supposed to be safe from those type of humans. They wrongfully treated the symptoms of the problem. Wonder how many hundreds, if not thousands, of Monkeys and Baboons were killed inside protected reserves.

All over the country, in and outside nature reserves, monkeys and baboons are unfairly labelled as problem-animals. The problem is actually people who do not understand wild animals and are the root-cause themselves. Whenever food is accessible to Monkeys and Baboons they will take it and return to check for more. As part of the survival strategy of any wild species they become more opportunistic when resources become scarce. One would expect that people managing wildlife would know this. Is killing animals, which were lured by open refuge dumps inside protected areas, not equivalent to hunting or poaching? Multiple experiments have been conducted in this regard and proved that monkeys and baboons are not the problem. When there is no food accessable to them they become conditioned that they can not get the food and remain self sufficient without raiding the lodges.

Some people throw food out in the open bush and animals come along and feed on it. The animals systematically loose the fear of people and become more dependant on that food. The people then label the animals as “problem animals” and kill them inside a place called a “Nature reserve”That is a technique used by hunters”Lure and kill”

Domestic Animal Abuse

Why is the topic of domestic animal abuse in this Wildlife Website? Simply because so many employees who work in the conservation industry ironically abuse animals at their homes outside the reserves. If that sounds questionable, just go visit and see for yourself. One would presume that people working inside wildlife conservation areas would have developed caring feelings and actions towards animals. Sadly to many employees it is only a job, nothing more. Many game lodges have attemted and still try to transfer the caring mindset to their employees but honestly, its not visible out there. In some cases one can’t really blame the employees because the management of game lodges provide bad examples.

South Africa is a third-world country , therefore not nearly as advanced regarding animal protection laws yet. There are also vast areas outside cities where animals are horrificaly abused in the hundreds of thousands and this amount is not exagerated! The animal protection associations can barely cope with animal cruelty in the cities, let alone millions of hectares of land beyond. Despite Governmental regulations there are still uncountable cases of cruelty. Let us assist the Government and private organisations by reporting and attending to incidents. Let’s avoid the attitude of presuming that someone else will take care of it.

Certain Pet Owners

• Holding on to their pets while they are not financially capable to provide adequitly for them.
• Exploiting dogs for security but fail to provide all that dogs need to have a decent life.
• Not giving their pets medical care.
• Companion pets- Selfish pet ownership.
• Physically hurting animals when they don’t obey.
• Unsupervised interaction of children with pets.
• Unsupervised elderly people with impaired brain function.
• Not keeping their animals protected from other animals.
• Thinking that pets only need water and cheap sub standard food.

Animal breeders

Breeding animals for financial gain and or without vetting buyers is creating opportunities for abuse and cruelty. Why are animals bred and sold when there are thousands of neglect, abuse, cruelty and mistreatment cases? This includes all species of mammals, birds, reptiles and insects which are bred for sales or recreation. Take racing pigeons for example and count how many of those pigeons get disorientated on the return flights without ever being retrieved. Some pigeons are flown when they are barely a year old. Some flights have recorded many many pigeons not returning. Those pigeons are not adapted for free living and die horrible deaths purely for someone’s enjoyment or competitive desires. 

Many Pet shoppes

Selling a huge variety of creatures without inspecting whether the buyers can or will look after the creatures. Selling pets is creating opportunities for abuse and neglect. The more pets the more abuse. More to follow…

Euthanasia

The option of Euthanasia is to be considered more seriously and earlier. The fact is that animals can not suffer when they are not alive. A common senario is where people are reluctant to euthanize their animals while the animals are beyond good health. As emotionally attached as they might be, it is not about the emotions of the owner- it is about what is best for the animal.

Info to be added…