Six-year sentence for Durbanville man caught with endangered species
Cape Town - A Cape Town wildlife trafficker who kept 56 protected birds, snakes and spiders inside home in Durbanville, has been sentenced to six years imprisonment and ordered to pay R100 000.
SAPS Kuils River Stock Theft and Endangered Species Unit and CapeNature arrested Nicholas Aitchison at his residence last year.
Sentencing proceedings took place on September 27 2024 at the Bellville Regional Court after Aitchison was convicted of 16 charges relating to the illegal trafficking and possession of 56 protected birds, snakes and spiders.
He was sentenced to six years imprisonment and ordered to pay R100 000.
CapeNature explained that part of the sentence was suspended for five years on condition that he was not convicted of contravening any national or provincial environmental laws relating to the acquisition, disposal, trade, import, export, transport, possession, keeping in captivity or capture of wild animals or for defeating or obstructing the course of justice within that five-year period.
They said during the execution of multiple search and seizure warrants, 56 wild animals were found at the residence in Durbanville, the majority of which were species that are prohibited in private captivity in the Western Cape.
Luke Folb, Communications Officer for CapeNature said through a collaboration between CapeNature, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service’s Office of Law Enforcement and the national Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment’s (DFFE) Environmental Enforcement Fusion Centre, the man was linked to two other known and convicted international wildlife traffickers.
He added during the search at Aitchison’s home, they seized more than 40 highly venomous snakes.
Three of these were an adult Mangshan Pit Vipers which is a critically endangered species that are only found in a small forested mountainous area in Southern China.
“According to the most recent conservation assessment by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), there are less than 500 adults of this species left in the wild,” he explained.
“The illegal harvesting of this species from their natural habitat in China and the subsequent international trafficking of these snakes for the illegal exotic pet market and specialist hobbyists and collectors poses an extreme risk that may push this species into extinction.
“China has never authorised the legal export of any Mangshan Pit Vipers.”
CapeNature CEO, Dr Ashley Naidoo said they were satisfied with the conviction and sentencing.
“It should serve as a deterrent for people that involve themselves in wildlife crime in the Western Cape and as an example of the enforcement and prosecution success that can be obtained through provincial, national and international collaboration across environmental law enforcement, criminal justice and private sector role-players.”
CapeNature said they were working with the DFFE, the Mangshan National Nature Reserve and the Chinese government to return the three Mangshan Pit Vipers to China where they may be used in a conservation breeding programme and their offspring returned to the wild and bolster the critically endangered population of this species in their native habitat.