SANParks to cull 2,600 animals, says 'disguised trophy hunting' not allowed

SA National Parks (SANParks) has issued a tender for the culling more than 2,600 animals in six of its 19 national parks.

The tender was issued to “credible service providers which have experience and capability in the culling industry”. The 2,620 animals that need to be culled include ostrich, gemsbok, warthog and zebra.

The tender has a number of conditions with which the winning bidders must comply, including that no “disguised trophy hunting” was permitted.

The winning bidders must also ensure the harvested meat was processed through a registered abattoir. Being in possession of or consuming liquor during the culling operation, or bringing any alcohol to any part of the culling operations, was strictly prohibited.

The conditions also require that all refuse generated by culling operations must be removed from the park by the operator.

“This includes ammunition, shells and domestic waste, and so on. Under no circumstances should any of the above items be disposed of with the entrails (should the latter be disposed of in the veld)," the tender states.

The contract will be for one year.

SANParks seeks to have these animals culled:

• Namakwa National Park — 250 ostrich, 200 gemsbok;
• Mokala National Park — 400 warthog, 200 springbok, 20 waterbuck, 100 ostrich;
• Addo Elephant National Park — 1,000 warthog, 100 kudu, 100 plains zebra;
• Camdeboo National Park — 10 deer, 100 ostrich;
• Tankwa National Park — 80 ostrich; and
• Karoo National Park — 60 ostrich.

Dr Luthando Dziba, SANParks managing executive for conservation services, explained the cull in an interview on Cape Talk on Tuesday.

“We strive to ensure we continually improve the resilience of the ecosystem to ensure biodiversity is maintained or even improved. Culling is one of the tools we have as conservation managers to ensure we remove excess animals. If we have too many animals, especially in some of our smaller parks, that could negatively affect the state of our ecosystem,” Dziba said.

The closing date for the tender is August 14 at 11am.

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