The provincial environment department will be investigating the incident in which a protected brown hyena was shot dead in the Seaview Predator Park.
The animal was shot on March 29 when, according to park management, it charged a staff member.
The incident followed a week of drama in which a pair of brown hyenas escaped from their electrified enclosure and pictures of one surfaced on social media after it was spotted in the nearby suburb of Clarendon Marine.
Eastern Cape department of economic affairs, environment and tourism regional environment manager Jeff Govender said the investigation would be undertaken by compliance and biodiversity officials from the department.
“When I heard these animals had escaped from the park, I alerted the management to the two informal settlements both within 5km of the park [Zwelidinga and New Rest] and told them to effect their break-out plan, which we had previously approved.
“The break-out plan says they must try to trap or tranquillise the escaped animals but as a worst-case scenario they must put them down.”
He said he was satisfied that the park possessed the necessary Threatened or Protected Species permits to keep two brown hyenas, and also with the overall state of the enclosure.
“We would not have issued them with permits if we had not inspected the enclosure and been satisfied with it.
“However, our investigation will now look into how this escape happened and how it can be prevented in future.”
According to the park, the brown hyenas, which also escaped in 2016, went missing on March 28 after chewing their way out of their usually electrified enclosure during load-shedding.
Leigh Strauss, a resident of Clarendon Marine in Seaview, said the community was alerted on April 1 by Ward 40 councillor Jaden Grobbelaar that a brown hyena was on the loose in the area and that, though it did not pose a danger, care needed to be taken to ensure small children were safe.
She said the following morning two bakkies arrived with a nine-member team looking for the animal.
“They were armed with hunting rifles and 9mm pistols.
“I asked, surely the intention is to dart the hyena?
“One of them told me ‘no, it is cheaper to shoot it’.”
She had immediately contacted the SPCA and the Animal Anti-Cruelty League and both organisations assured her they would intervene to try to prevent the animal being shot.
“If we had not [reached out to] those organisations and they had not put pressure on the park, the female that has since returned to the park would have been shot as well.
“I am so heartsore — the calls everyone was hearing was her calling to her companion, and now he’s dead.
“Was it really necessary to shoot him?
“There is a feeling in our community that we’re being lied to.”
Seaview Predator Park wildlife manager Jo-Ann Meiring reiterated the park’s standpoint that general manager Ronald Koen had no option but to shoot the male hyena after it charged him, and dismissed the accusations from Strauss.
“Our intention was to find and monitor the animals and then get our vet to dart them.
“However, we were specifically instructed by Jeff Govender to shoot them.”
She said staff would now be checking the electrified fencing on a four-hourly basis to prevent further load-shedding escapes.
She said the female that returned to the park at the weekend was still in dense bush near her enclosure and the hope was she would emerge soon.
She would then be captured and relocated for rewilding with the help of the Aspinall Foundation, which is a conservation charity, dedicated to returning captive bred animals to protected wilderness areas and reserves.
HeraldLIVE
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