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Sharks hunting no game
30/07/2003 10:03 - (SA)
Craig Bishop
Durban - Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife is investigating allegations that members of the Natal Sharks rugby team illegally hunted impala from the back of a bakkie two weeks ago during a team-building exercise.
If found guilty, they could face a R10 000 fine or two years in jail, according to Ezemvelo's hunting department manager Stoffel de Jaager.
Last Saturday, M-Net's SharkBites programme, which was prepared in-house by the Sharks, showed three Sharks members - Etienne Fynn, Luke Watson and Eduardo Coetzee - sitting on the back of a bakkie on the Thaka Zulu game reserve between Vryheid and Melmoth.
Coetzee was shown firing a rifle from the back of the bakkie, and the next shot showed a dead impala being loaded onto the bakkie.
Watson was also shown, rifle in hand, standing next to a dead warthog.
The footage has angered animal rights groups who have questioned why any team-building exercise should involve slaughtering buck.
According to the Natal Nature Conservation Ordinance 15 of 1974, it is illegal to hunt animals, excluding birds, from the back of any vehicle without a culling licence or unless an animal is wounded. However, the legislation also states that culling licences are applicable only to the holder and are not transferable.
Hunt organiser Boet van Rensburg, who was in the same bakkie as the Sharks players, told the Witness on Tuesday that they fired from the back of a bakkie to sight in their rifles, but got off the bakkie before actually hunting.
Ezemvelo spokesperson Jeff Gaisford confirmed that the organisation has received several calls from concerned members of the public. In addition, a Durban paper published a letter this week from former Natal scrumhalf Brett Walker criticising the shooting.
SPCA regional inspector Daniel Stewart said that sports teams should be about "social gatherings rather than barbaric rituals. It puts across the idea that if the Sharks can do it, then so can any Tom, Dick or Harry.
"There is enough violence around that we do not need to show young children their sports heroes killing game."
Sharks CEO Brian van Zyl disputed Walker's criticisms, describing his letter as a "cheap shot".
"Our guys work their butts off and anyway the rest of the team were off visiting an old folks' home as part of the Sharks roadshow."
Gaisford said Ezemvelo wants to ensure that conservation legislation is upheld and that the organisation will investigate any apparent infringements as a matter of course.
- The Witness
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