Mbombela matric makes art from poachers’ snares
A matric student of Curro Nelspruit transformed hundreds of wire snares into a school assignment.
During a four-day sweep of The Rest and a neighbouring farm outside Mbombela, Curro matriculant Jaydan Greef helped the SA Bush-Warriors Association (Saba) decommission 379 wire snares.
Now the snares form part of Jaydan’s shocking and brilliant artwork and anti-poaching educational installation.
“One night in August, my mum and I heard a dog howling in the green belt adjacent to our property. We called Jaco Kloppers of Saba, but were unsuccessful in locating the animal at first. Instead, we found an incredible number of snares, wild animal carcases and skulls, including dog skulls and a recently killed silver-backed jackal,” he said.
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“Then, luckily, we found the husky. We got there just in time as the wire was already cutting into his abdomen and he could not move.”
The experience spurred Jaydan and his mum, Jennifer, to do four more sweeps with Kloppers. It also gave Jaydan the inspiration to create his final matric exam in visual arts at Curro. The piece is called “Lack of humanity”.
Jaydan said, “There are people willing to do the unthinkable to those who have no voice at all – the animals. The cruelty of the snares was my inspiration for this project.”
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His art teacher at Curro, Karien Bosman, said, “Jaydan’s passion for life and wildlife in particular stands out in this work. The art is here to make us think about what’s going on in society, and Jaydan has achieved that through his passion for his subject.”
Jennifer was shocked by the number of snares, animal carcases and skeletons so close to their home.
“This awful experience had such a profound impact on Jaydan that he decided to base his final IEB art project on the poaching issue. And it all started with a husky in a snare,” she said.
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Her creatively gifted son was so impressed by Kloppers and his canine companion, Jessica, that he has bought a puppy that is a similar breed to her.
The rescued husky has since been adopted by a fanatic who has called his new friend “Mack”.
