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South Africa: 'Try traps on your own cojones'
Conservationists are calling on the government to outlaw all forms of gin trap, the toothed, sprung leg-holds used by farmers to kill thousands of wild animals each year.

And they have reacted furiously to proposed research into "soft" -- rubberised -- traps, supported by University of the Free State academics and officials of Cape Nature and the National Department of Environmental Affairs.

The project, which would be conducted on farms in the Northern Cape, sparked a catfight between conservation NGOs after the Cape Leopard Trust supported research into "soft" traps as an interim alternative remedy.

However, following criticism from fellow NGOs and inquiries by the Mail & Guardian, Quinton Martins, the trust's project manager in the Cederberg, dissociated his organisation from the research.

Gin traps are banned outright in about 90 countries around the world, but are legal in South Africa except when capturing protected species such as leopards and rhinos.

Tim Snow, manager of the wildlife conflict prevention group at the Endangered Wildlife Trust, said gin traps were inhumane and could not target specific species. "Our experience shows at least 50% of gin traps catch non-targeted animals," Snowsaid.

He added: "There is no such thing as a 'soft' gin trap. I'd like to suggest that the people who want to apply to use these devices test them on their own cojones [testicles] first."

Bool Smuts, director of the Landmark Foundation in Baviaanskloof, Eastern Cape, described "soft" gin traps as barbaric and a "green-washing" effort. "They continue to fracture limbs, cut off blood supply, tear ligaments and tissues and cause dehydration and stressful deaths.

"The animals still chew off their limbs and break their teeth trying to free themselves from these devices," Smuts said.

http://www.mg.co.za/article/2008-09-25-try-traps-on-your-own-cojones
 

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