The Midvaal municipality plans to reassess the permit process, living conditions and safety of residents when it comes to the private ownership of tigers.
The municipality has vowed to tighten its bylaws to regulate the process of keeping exotic animals.
This after a tiger that escaped from its enclosure was eventually killed on Wednesday morning when it was cornered on a farm dwelling in Walkerville. The tiger, named Sheba, had already attacked a person and killed dogs and a pig since her escape at the weekend.
Midvaal mayoral spokesperson Idah Satikhe said the process of strengthening its bylaws is to prevent such incidents from happening again.
Midvaal mayor Peter Teixeira has tasked a team to conduct investigations and draft bylaws, Satikhe told TimesLIVE.
“The process will involve looking into the permit process, living conditions of the animals, safety of our residents and so forth. We will consult different spheres of government and stakeholders from the wildlife sector to establish and strengthen bylaws regarding this,” she said.
The Gauteng department of agriculture, rural development and environment does not presently issue permits for keeping tigers. A permit is required only when bringing a tiger into Gauteng and transporting it within the province, spokesperson Nozipho Hlabangana said.
“In the past five years, the department has allowed only registered zoos to import tigers into the province and no permits to import tigers have been issued to members of the public,” Hlabangana said.
Where domesticated tigers are bought is not yet clear. Marco Claassens, the owner of Wildlife4Sale, a classified website for wildlife hunters, said tiger trade could be part of the black market.
His site, which allows wildlife sellers and buyers to connect, hasn’t received a tiger advert in years.
I think these are tigers from the black market, which we don't know about
— Marco Claassens, Wildlife4Sale owner
“What is now on the page is a few years old and those tigers had the relevant permits.
“I think these are tigers from the black market, which we don’t know about. Clearly, there are people breeding and we need to find out where they get their animals. We don’t have tigers sold in our network and not even in our WhatsApp group which has people who want to buy and sell wildlife,” he told TimesLIVE.
Sheba was reportedly euthanised by her owner, Rassie Erasmus, but the NSPCA has denied this. It said Sheba was shot by its owner as he failed to capture it safely.
“The NSPCA and the local SPCA in Vereeniging and Vanderbijlpark were not contacted and did not form part of the decision to shoot and kill the animal. This is not the first case of a wild animal escaping captivity, nor is it the first time that the animal is made to pay the price for irresponsibility and lack of compassion,” it said.
The NSPCA says it is considering taking legal action against the tiger owner after more investigations.
“The NSPCA is taking various angles into account and is giving serious consideration to taking legal action against the owner of the tigress. The NSPCA remains opposed to the keeping of wildlife.”
NSPCA spokesperson Keshvi Nair said owners can be held accountable in line with the Animal Matters Amendment Act. “In addition to this, the owner could face a civil lawsuit,” she said.
Tigers are kept in captivity for commercial use in a number of places across the country, said wildcat sanctuary Four Paws. Head of programmes Sarah Locke said this has become of real concern as it threatens wild animal populations and can even contravene international wildlife agreements.
“The breeding and keeping of tigers across SA is an increasing problem and this accessibility to tigers within SA means we are seeing more of such cases. Four Paws is urging the government to end the commercial trade of all big cat species, including tigers,” said Locke.
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