Suspect arrested for harvesting seal in Cape Town; reveals thriving black market for the seal meat

WARNING: CONTAINS GRAPHIC CONTENT

A man was arrested in Cape Town on Thursday, for harvesting a seal on the beach along Baden Powell Drive close to Strandfontein Pavilion.

PICTURE SUPPLIED

The City of Cape Town’s Law Enforcement’s Wayne Dyason, said its Marine and Environmental unit officers on patrol, received a tip off about the incident.

‘’The officers arrived on scene and caught the suspect who had just cut up a Cape Fur seal. The suspect was arrested and charged under the National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act (Nemba) for being in possession of an animal on the Threatened or Protected Species (TOPS)  list,’’ said Wayne Dyason, Law Enforcement Inspector at the City of Cape Town.

‘’The suspect also confirmed there is a thriving black market for the seal meat,’’ he added.

In June, six Cape Fur seals were stabbed at sea, and washedashore at Kommetjie’s Long Beach.

In January, four suspects were arrested, after the brutaland deadly attack of a Cape fur seal, at Monwabisi beach.

 

Done By: Mitchum George