Conservation canines Archives - Endangered Wildlife Trust

Plant poaching: An underestimated threat to biodiversity

By Esther Matthew

Roadblocks for illegally traded wildlife products

Succulent poaching has shown a marked increase in South Africa in recent years. Many of these plants will literally bring you to your knees due to their tiny size. But, once you see the details on them, you are immediately transported to world that many people often walk over without noticing.

Unfortunately, poachers have taken note of this, which has resulted in an incredible increase in the illegal harvesting of these unique plants over the last five years, with approximately half a million plants poached in a year. This is a significant problem, with some plant species already pushed to extinction in the wild.

For the EWT Conservation Canine Unit and the Drylands Conservation Programme the solution to most conservation problems is getting nosy, and with that we mean using scent detection dogs to assist us in our conservation work, and in sniffing out any plants being smuggled. Dogs have an remarkable scent ability and are able even find a drop of odour in a waterbody the size two Olympic swimming pools! Keeping that in mind, our two programmes teamed up in 2023 and to train the first three scent detection dogs to help combat the succulent plant poaching problem. In joint operations, our efforts were aimed at screening vehicles at roadblocks and parcels at courier companies. In the first 2 months of working with these dogs we were able to assist the local law enforcement officials supported with four cases, resulting in nine arrests. So, it turns out being nosy is not always a bad thing, and it can even help save our endemic plants.

Thanks to the Dertour Foundation, Endangered Ink and Tourvest, we can continue the work with our dogs to help combat the poaching problem for not only plants but also a variety of other wildlife contraband

Roadblock with Police

SEWE – Southeastern Wildlife Exposition – 14-16 February 2025

Inspired by our travels from the African bush to the Asian jungles. Our exhilarating encounters with wildlife within their environment are the indelible memories inspired to draw animals.

‘Drawn to Protect” is our ethos, to support organisations who protect the magnificent wildlife and ecosystems, now endangered and at risk of extinction. Our INKS captures a moment of their wild life being lived, a life worth protecting. We hope our wild INKS will bring joy to an owner with the knowledge that their INK supports conservation.

We are proud to partner with Endangered Wildlife Trust as their roots began with founders Clive & Conita Walker to exhibit Clive’s wildlife art in 1973 at a conference in Texas. This event inspired them to sell art to raise funds for wildlife and this eventually led to establishing the Endangered Wildlife Trust. This story closely aligns with Endangered Inks’ story and our inspiration to support conservation with Carroll’s detailed art which she creates using a pen and pastels. We support EWT’s mission to conserve and protect threatened species and ecosystems to the benefit of all.

We are excited that the 20% donation from each INK sold at SEWE (SouthEastern Wildlife Exposition) in Charleston South Carolina will help grow EWT’s new initiative of Conservation K9’s anti-poaching unit and we at Endangered Inks love dogs, this was a perfect fit!

We look forward to working with EWT as Endangered Inks showcases Wildlife Art at SEWE in 2025 and to help protect endangered species.

MORE ABOUT ENDANGERED INKS HERE

MORE ABOUT SEWE HERE

About Carroll

An adventurer, animal lover and founding artist for Endangered Inks, Carroll is currently based between the UK and France with her Great Dane, Digby. Whilst her formative years were spent on the beautiful island of Bermuda it was clear from a very early age that her creative thinking, artistic talent and urge to explore would take her all over the world. Carroll studied for her Bachelor of Arts in Design at Parsons School of Design and at The Art Institutes. Moving to London, after leaving twelve years of working in southern and East Africa she completed her Masters of Art in Marketing & Design at Central Saint Martins.

Over the last twenty years professionally Carroll has channeled her creative talents into a successful career in marketing, specialising in luxury tourism with prestigious brands and advertising agencies. These brands include Hilton, Marriott, Ogilvy & Mather, The Royal Mint, as well as charities, Fauna & Flora International and PDSA .

Being very fortunate that her work has taken her all over the world with footprints in Africa, Australia, Europe, Asia and USA. Drawing and painting resigned to being a personal hobby during this period, sharing her works with her close family and friends. Carroll decided to focus on reconnecting with her drawing skills in 2019. Looking for inspiration she unearthed boxes of old photographs she’d taken whilst living in Africa, sifting through she realised many of the animals in her photographs are now classed as endangered, their numbers shrinking at an alarming rate. This realisation led Carroll to want to support conservation using her art, establishing ENDANGERED INKS in 2020.
Carroll’s signature style is pen and ink mixed with pastels, she likes to create realistic detail using various techniques, creating a unique work of art which we call an ‘INK’

What is the conservation canine unit?

The EWT’s Canine Conservation Unit (CCU) is a special project established to support the conservation efforts of the EWT through scent detection and tracking dog services. The unit is also available as a service provider to our conservation partners, private landowners and other stakeholders, where dogs can perform a variety of priority conservation-focused tasks. This is further supported by the EWT through handler training and certification. There are two types of work done by the EWT’s K9 unit. Anti-poaching dogs are trained to track people, locate snares, find arms and ammunition, and help with the detection of evidence at crimes scenes. Our detection dogs are capable of detecting various plant and animal samples, and thus have a wide range of possible conservation benefits and applications. We are continuously exploring new roles for our conservation canines to ensure that the EWT remains recognised as an industry leader in the field of working dogs.

MORE ABOUT THE CANINE UNIT HERE

EWT TORTOISE CONSERVATION CANINES – NOSY FOR NATURE

By: Esther Matthew – Specialist Officer | Drylands Conservation Programme

Chelonians includes all tortoise, turtle, and terrapin species. For the purposes of this article, we will use the term “tortoises”.

South Africa is one of the most biodiversity-rich countries in the world and is home to no less than two of the world’s most well-known botanical “biodiversity hotspots”, the Succulent Karoo and Fynbos Biomes. However, few people are aware that South Africa also holds the title as the tortoise capital of the world. South Africa is home to no less than 13 tortoise species, most of which are endemic to the country.

The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), in partnership with the Turtle Conservancy (TC) launched tortoise conservation research projects over the last two years to locate viable populations and implement conservation action for three of South Africa’s most Endangered tortoises in the dryland areas of South Africa, including the Karoo, which is home to nine of the 13 tortoise species found in South Africa.

There are five species of dwarf tortoise globally, four of which occur in the South African Karoo and one in Namibia. As their name implies, dwarf tortoises rank amongst the smallest of the tortoise species. South Africa also has one Critically Endangered tortoise species, called the Geometric Tortoise. Unfortunately, over the last 20 years researchers have started to notice an alarming decline in population numbers for all of three of the country’s Endangered tortoise species. This significant impact can be attributed to factors like habitat loss, poaching, and crow predation that has been specifically being observed.

Certainly, the human teams have struggled to find a single viable population of both the Karoo and the Speckled Dwarf Tortoise over the last two years of extensive surveys. More than 20 surveys have yielded depressingly few live animals, and in most cases only shell fragments are to be found. All these species are elusive and well camouflaged, making it difficult for even the well-trained eye to spot. As such, it has been vital for us to look at other survey methods, such as using scent detection dogs.

The EWT’s Drylands Conservation Programme, therefore, started training scent detection dogs to assist with tortoise fieldwork projects. Two Border collies, Delta and Dash, have been assisting our team in the field to help locate tortoises with a little guidance from their handler Esther Matthew. Delta has been contributing to this research for the last two years, while Dash only recently started helping after passing his certification. The dogs have helped increase the number of finds, with Delta almost setting a record of six tortoises found in 50 minutes for one of the species. The detection dogs make our search efforts a lot more efficient as we are able to move faster and find hidden tortoises we would likely have missed. Their assistance in the field contributes to data collection for species distribution mapping and monitoring the survival of species in the wild. We can’t wait to see how their “nose work” will continue to benefit the conservation of these unique tortoise species.

The EWT tortoise conservation work is supported by Turtle Conservancy, Dwarf Tortoise Conservation, Rainforest Trust and the IUCN NL. A special word of thanks to Ford Wildlife Foundation for the vehicles that safely gets our staff and working dogs to the remote locations across the Western- and Northern Cape, where we conduct our vital tortoise surveys.

Please note, that landowner permission and valid permits from relevant conservation authorities in each province are always required for the use of conservation detection dogs. Additionally, all tortoises are protected species and listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) as well as provincial legislation such as the CapeNature Conservation Ordinance of 1974 and National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act 10 of 2004. As such, it is illegal to collect any tortoise species in South Africa, and they may not be kept as pets without a permit. However, please report sightings of these rare species to us at ewt@ewt.org.za.

Collaborative Action to Address South Africa’s Snaring Crisis

The EWT pledges less talk and more action to address South Africa’s snaring crisis at the inaugural Snare Mitigation Symposium

140 delegates attended the inaugural Snare Mitigation Symposium

Twenty-two speakers presented at the Snare Mitigtation Symposium

One of the Snare Mitigation Symposium panel discussions

WARNING: SENSITIVE IMAGES BELOW

The importance of less talk and more action to address the snaring crisis in South Africa is key to the conservation of all species.

This, and the need for greater collaboration and partnerships to address the negative impacts from the illegal snaring of wildlife, were among the outcomes of the inaugural two-day national Snare Mitigation Symposium in Pretoria.

The meeting of 140 delegates delved into the impacts, drivers and solutions to this increasing threat to wildlife and the economy. Co-led by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), the Cape Leopard Trust (CLT), the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and South African National Parks (SANParks), the inaugural Snare Mitigation Symposium was held at Environment House on 10 and 11 September 2024.

It brought together leading experts in wildlife crime, government officials and representatives of numerous stakeholders across the sector to examine the multifaceted aspects of the snaring crisis. The purpose was to understand existing and potential new complexities, and to share experiences and knowledge to reduce the problem both inside and outside conservation areas, in order to identify and co-create workable solutions for the benefit of people and the environment.

Snaring is motivated by complex socio-economic and cultural drivers and the symposium explored snaring from a myriad of angles and viewpoints. Information gained highlighted that animals are snared largely for personal or commercial use and is occurring at unsustainable rates across all provinces and in diverse landscapes. Sadly, many species including leopard, lion, hyena and other predators are killed as by-catch in snares originally set for bushmeat.

A key insight from the symposium is that we need more community interaction amongst stakeholders towards achieving positive outcomes for this threat to wildlife. Communities living with wildlife, and those linked to snaring, need to form an integral of the solutions being proposed, and to be undertaken, to address snaring.

No solution will be credible without the involvement of the relevant community voices in co-development of solutions. Solutions need to be diverse, purposely inclusive and tailored to, and by, the people living in the affected areas. Technological advances were showcased to improve snare detection and data collection.

Among the legal solutions highlighted by Ashleigh Dore, the EWT’s Wildlife and Law Project Manager, the need for legal reform to ensure laws applicable to snaring are the same across the country. Ashleigh also introduced a restorative justice approach to respond to snaring. Restorative justice is a holistic, inclusive and problem solving approach to justice that involves all parties involved in or impacted by the crime to (1) identify and respond to harm from the crime and (2) prevent reoffence.

Senior Conservation Manager Lourens Leeuwner, during his presentation on the threats of snaring countrywide, highlighted the results of the EWT’s recent project and proof of concept to determine whether anti-poaching dogs could be used for snare detection. The Canine Conservation Unit had spent several days testing techniques to detect snares in a farming and conservation area in Limpopo. Using two EWT anti-poaching canines, Ruger and Kisha, the team set snares in the veld before sending out rangers to find the items. While rangers only found some of the snares placed for the test, the canines had, in all cases, successfully tracked the scent of the person who had planted the snares and other items, finding most of the snares. As further proof that this technique works, the dogs were taken on a routine patrol of a farm that has problems with poachers using snares to catch wildlife. During this patrol, Ruger discovered a snare that had been planted by a real-life poacher. While there is a lot more work that needs to be done, this is proof that the concept works – an extra tool in the arsenal to combat poaching.

Among the key decisions adopted as outcomes included further research on the drivers and alternative livelihood solutions, more cohesive legislation to address snaring and other wildlife crimes, more centralised reporting and monitoring to ascertain the extent of the problem, and creating a greater understanding of the impact of snaring not only on biodiversity, but also on the economy and well-being of communities.

At a workshop following the event, the host organisations strategised next steps related to key themes and action points identified during the symposium that will include a wide range of stakeholders. Looking to the future, greater teamwork and communication between State, private sector and civil society will be cultivated to find sustainable long-term solutions for both people and wildlife.

A wire snare set to catch animals by the neck. ©Cape Leopard Trust

A snare setup in front of an animal burrow. ©Cape Leopard Trust

A wire snare along a fence line where many animals move. ©Cape Leopard Trust

A Snaring Concern

By Lourens Leeuwner, Senior Conservation Manager: Business and Wildlife

Snaring for the bushmeat trade has become one of the most prominent threats to wildlife nationwide and is no longer a low-impact subsistence activity but the most common form of illegal hunting.

In other words, snaring is not necessarily driven by hunger but has evolved into a commercial business. To saturate demand, animals up to the size of an elephant are being poached. Usually set along game trails and around water points, these wire traps are set in areas with bountiful game with the intention to catch animals as they pass by. Snares are the silent drivers of extinction.

On 10 and 11 September, the EWT will be co-hosting the inaugural Snare Mitigation Symposium with the Cape Leopard Trust, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, SA National Parks and the SA National Biodiversity Institute in Pretoria to discuss and seek possible solutions to the pervasive threat to wildlife and the economy caused by illegal hunting with snares.

Snaring, which is essentially the use of a trap, is illegal in South Africa. Because of the nature of snaring, it is challenging trying to catch poachers red-handed and to present adequate evidence to link them to the crime and to successfully prosecute them.

Snares can be made from a variety of materials but fencing wire and cable is usually preferred. The materials are easy to obtain and snares are quick to manufacture, easy to set and difficult to detect. Their effectiveness and secret nature make them the perfect hunting tool.

Animals caught in snares experience great suffering caused by stress, injuries and mutilation, usually leading to their demise. Even when the caught animal manages to escape, the snare usually remains on its body and tightens with time. Being increasingly compromised, the animal’s condition tends to deteriorate until it can no longer continue.

Looking at the bigger picture, snaring can contribute significantly to changing the demographics and size of animal populations, ultimately contributing to the loss of biodiversity. Although, it is mostly game animals that are targeted by the poachers, the indiscriminatory nature of snares leads to what is known as bycatch: the capture of non-targeted animals such as snakes and other reptiles, mammals including predators, and even birds – many of which are Endangered.

Most conservationists and land managers find snares in the field on a regular basis and have to deal with the consequences of illegal poaching through the loss of not only valuable game, but also domestic animals along the line.

As a means to address snaring, the EWT recently undertook a project and proof of concept to determine to determine whether anti-poaching dogs could be used for snare detection. Thanks to funding from the Taronga Zoological Society in Sydney, Australia, our Canine Conservation Unit spent several days testing techniques to detect snares on Madike nature reserve in Limpopo. Using two EWT anti-poaching canines, Ruger and Kisha, the team set snares in the veld before sending out rangers to find the items. The trial was completed four times in different terrain with rangers only finding some of the snares and items dropped randomly in the veld. To prove this concept works, the rangers were again sent into the veld to find snares and the other items; this time with the dogs. In all cases, the canines successfully tracked the scent of the person who had planted the snares and other items, finding the majority of the snares. As further proof that this technique works, the dogs were taken on a routine patrol of a farm that has problems with poachers using snares to catch wildlife. During this patrol, Ruger discovered a snare that had been planted by a real-life poacher.

While there is a lot more work that needs to be done, this is proof that the concept works – an extra tool in the arsenal to combat poaching.