Aren’t monkeys also Ezemvelo’s problem?

With the drought and rapid growth of Ballito and adjacent areas, monkeys looking for food have become a major problem.

They tear open rubbish bags put out for collection. Someone in Zen Drive has made a monkey-proof wire cage in which to put a rubbish bag. If Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife staff consider it their responsibility to relocate duiker from a developing area maybe they should also consider other animals such as monkeys.

However with so few permanent staff it appears that to look after both terrestrial as well as marine wildlife this seems unlikely. It would be interesting to see the job descriptions of the Ezemvelo staff to know their areas of responsibility.

It was good to see on television that on the South Coast a number of compliance officers were considered South African heroes for protecting marine wildlife. When our Ezemvelo staff were asked about these additional staff they seemed to know nothing about them. This might have been because it appeared that the non-paid honorary officers were involved with these new black recruits.

I must say compliance officers is a much better title than law enforcement officers. It was good to hear that Zimbali had swapped some of their overstocked bushbuck population for impala. These buck have different ecological niches and if Ezemvelo Wildlife staff were involved with this swap they should be congratulated.

DL WILLIAMS

Ballito