April is Prevention of cruelty to animals month!

April is Prevention of Animal Cruelty month and Ubizane likes to support the cause! We would like to inform the public on how it is not only domestic animals suffering from cruelty.  The wildlife has been put in the line of fire and some species risking extinction if humans carry on destroying at this rate.  We have compiled a few facts to spread awareness of how much damage wildlife conservation is suffering. 

   Speeding Kills.  

Normally this would be an AA ad to prevent human loss but what most of us forget is that speed also kills a lot of our wildlife every year. 

Thousands of reptiles get killed on roads in South Africa every year because it’s hard to see a small creature walking over the road when you are driving speedily to your destination.  When in areas with long grasses on the side of the road, try be extra vigilant about what’s going on, on the road.  There might just be a snake sneaking over the road or a tortoise slowly making his way across.
The larger animals are a lot harder to miss when crossing the road but if you speed, there’s a big chance you can kill the animal as well as endanger yourself.  Larger antelope and animals, such as Kudu are known to jump in front of cars during early morning hours and late at night.  They jump high enough to jump fences easily so if you’re in an area with a lot of wildlife during those hours, make sure you drive slower to ensure you have time to stop for the animals crossing the road.

    Report animal abuse

If you witness someone harming any wildlife, report it.  It’s the only way you can prevent it from happening again.  You can get in contact with the local SPCA and if they cannot help you, you can ask them the contact details of the nearest Wildlife Conservationist. 

    Rubbish!

The worst habit some of us have is to simply throw a paper wrapper, empty can or bottle or an empty plastic bag out the window or in the water when nearby a river, dam or the ocean.   This is the easiest way of damaging not only the environment but also endanger animals who do not know what the foreign objects are.  Animals can eat the plastic and choke on it and fish can get entangled in bags.  So the golden rule is to never throw rubbish on the ground and rather keep it until you can find a rubbish bin.
 

   Don’t feed animals

It is sometimes hard not to feed a helpless little creature but in actual fact you are disturbing the natural ways of living for the creature.  If there’s a monkey in your area, don’t feed him and make him used to eating at your house, off foods that he might not normally get.  One day you will stop feeding and when that happens the animal won’t know how to find its own food.  This goes for birds as well.  If you have a bird feeder in your garden, you either keep feeding the birds or don’t feed them at all.  When you forget to feed them, they will not know where to find other resources of foods and might suffer because of this.  The best thing to do for any animal rather than feeding them, if you want to help, is to build a pond with a water source for them.  Water is always something that all animals need.  If you can make a pond in your area, make sure it has a constant source of water and doesn’t dry up in summer or freeze in winter. 

     Minimize amount of herbicides and pesticides

Poison might be good to keep the pests away but not all animals are pests.  Remember that animals – any animal – can eat the poison that you spread outside and it is just as dangerous to them as the pest that you’re trying to keep out.  Try to minimize your use of these poisons and spread it responsibly where other animals will be safe from it.

If you have any other tips for April’s Prevention of cruelty to animals month, feel free to comment on this blog to inform readers on more handy tips!