A Durbanville man and owner of a game farm in Darling, has been sentenced in the Malmesbury regional court on charges of illegal hunting, trade, possession and translocation of game.
Ryan Wall (48) pleaded guilty on charges in three separate cases arising from illegal activities he conducted over a period from 2015 to 2016 on his game farm, Doornfontein Wildlife Estate, outside Darling.
Wall was fined R240 000 or alternatively six years imprisonment, as well as a further fine of R930 000, suspended for five years on Wednesday 23 March after he pleaded guilty on four charges relating to the illegal hunting, trade, possession and translocation of game.
Wall was caught in 2015 hunting two trophy eland bulls outside of the hunting season and without the necessary permits. He was also in possession of 40 blue wildebeest, which he had acquired illegally.
Two of the charges on which Wall was convicted related to the purchase, translocation and subsequent release of fallow deer, a nationally declared invasive species, in 2016.
The trade and translocation of invasive fallow deer is strictly prohibited in the Western Cape, where it poses a serious risk to the province’s unique biodiversity and food security, says Dr Razeena Omar, chief executive officer of CapeNature, in a media release.
Activities involving the hunting, trade, possession or translocation of wild animals and/or their carcasses in the Western Cape is regulated by CapeNature.
“The successful prosecution of all three cases against Wall is the result of work spanning more than six years by the stock theft and endangered species unit of the police, CapeNature and the national prosecuting authority. CapeNature welcomes the prosecution and is satisfied with the sentence,” Omar says.
“These type of offences involving the illegal possession, hunting, transport and trade in protected wild animals for personal financial gain and the trading in and spreading of alien invasive species in the Western Cape are viewed in an extremely serious light,” she says.
“Invasive species cost South Africa’s economy billions of rands per annum. In addition, more than a billion rand of taxpayers’ money is spent per year on trying to manage the problem,” she says.
Permit enquiries can be directed to permits.fax@capenature.co.za and suspicion of any illegal activities can be reported on www.capenature.co.za/contact-us.
