Hot on cycad thieves' heels

2005-07-14 16:53

Pretoria - Limpopo conservationists have appealed for help in finding cycad thieves who have brought a species of the plant to the brink of extinction.

According to Colin Patrick, manager at the Mountain View game farm near Hoedspruit, the Mariepskop variation of Encephelartos Laevofolius is in danger after the cycads were uprooted and a well-known mother plant extensively damaged during an attempt at stealing them.

The thieves were believed to have been interrupted by a joint operation between the Limpopo conservation department, the local police and the Hoedspruit air force base.

Acting on information received about cycad thefts on the south-western side of the Mariepskop Mountains, Bert Howard of the conservation department launched an investigation.

Number of cycads removed

After an aerial survey by the Air Force's 19 Squadron revealed less than expected, the investigating team did a ground search.

They found the injured mother plant and discovered a number of cycads had been removed.

The robbers' overnight spot was found, and also the place where they split up when they were scared off by helicopters.

The spoor led the team down the mountain to where they discovered a pile of cycads had been dragged down the mountain and left in the bush in Kampersrus, a village at the foot of the Mariepskop Mountain.

Nine of these were up to two-metre-long stems hacked off the mother plant.

The air force took the plants to the base on top of the mountain and then to a safe place.

"I want to thank the Air Force for their invaluable support during the two days," said Howard.

Anyone with information on the cycad thieves is asked to contact Howard on 015-793-2471.

Cycads stolen, possibly for resale

In the same week, 17 cycads of the same species, commonly known as the Kaapsche Hoop cycad, were stolen in the Kaapsche Hoop area, near Barberton.

They may have been intended for the foreign market.

A cycad expert from Pretoria has been tasked to rescue what he can from the hacked and uprooted plants.

"The ideal is to return them to nature, but this experience makes one wonder if this would be best option for their long-term survival," concluded Patrick.

In June 11 men were awaiting their next court appearance on July 25 in connection with other cycad thefts near Hoedspruit.

They were arrested during an operation by the Mpumalanga parks board, the department of Justice, Limpopo's environment department and police.

During the operation 105 of the protected indigenous plants - estimated to be worth R240 000 - were confiscated.

Police also confiscated a 9mm pistol, ammunition, a cellphone, two klipspringer skins, a bushbuck skin and a spotted genet skin.

Those cycads were handed to the Mpumalanga Parks Board for replanting.

- SAPA