Illegal snare hunting continues to plague the KZN North Coast – and the problem is getting worse.

In 2024, 708 snares were found between Umdloti and Sheffield Beach, an increase of 78% from 2023. More than 150 snares were recently removed from the Umdloti coastal forest by a team of volunteers, who also found a dead baby duiker, two dead monkeys and a trapped dog.

Volunteers working with Snare Aware (a volunteer-run NPO) are angry about the slow and painful deaths the animals endure.

Read: Community action group fights wildlife crime, removing 71 snares from Ballito greenbelts

READ: Mount Moreland wetland faces growing threat from poaching

READ: Sheffield snares sweep operation a success

One volunteer, who asked not to be named for fear of his personal safety, told the Courier he was enraged by the wastefulness of the snare hunters.

“I don’t subscribe to the notion that those responsible, hunt for food because they are poor and hungry,” he said. “This is the second haul in a week in the same area, and we have found rotting bushbuck and duikers that have not been butchered for meat.

“It is the same everywhere we remove snares. The hunters don’t care; they cannot be that hungry if they don’t check their snares regularly. They just leave the bodies to rot.”

Snare Aware cleared 86 traps from the same part of the Umdloti conservancy last week where they had found 117 snares five days earlier. That day, the wildlife conservationists found carcasses of blue duikers, monkeys, a bushbuck and a dog.

Contact Snare Aware on Facebook for help with removing snares. Donations (below) to the NPO is much appreciated.

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