Overstrand Municipality has received reports of a person feeding dassies (rock hyraxes) at Gearing’s Point in Hermanus and asking tourists for money, similar to the feeding of seals sometimes seen in Hout Bay.
The Municipality asks residents and visitors not to encourage or participate in this activity. Anyone witnessing someone feeding the dassies or soliciting money in this way is requested to report it to Overstrand Law Enforcement on 028 313 8996.
Dassies occur naturally throughout Overstrand and are often seen near lookout points and along cliff paths, particularly where people gather to enjoy the scenery or eat takeaways.
Feeding wild animals, despite your best intentions, could do more harm than good.
Dassies feed naturally on grasses, shrubs, leaves and other vegetation.
Dassies (Procavia capensis) are indigenous wild animals and form part of the naturally occurring fauna of the area. Although the site is not a formally proclaimed nature reserve, the animals remain wild fauna subject to applicable conservation legislation. Furthermore, the Overstrand Municipality Environmental Management Overlay Zone Regulations, 2020 expressly list “feeding, disturbing / pursuit of fauna” as a prohibited activity within the Municipality’s Environmental Management Overlay Zones. The artificial feeding of dassies is therefore not permitted within such areas, this site being part of the Urban Conservation, Coastal and Protected Area Buffer Overlay Zone.
The prohibition serves an important conservation purpose. Feeding wild animals interferes with natural foraging behaviour, promotes habituation to people and human-derived food, may result in unnatural concentrations of animals and can ultimately increase human-wildlife conflict. Wild animals occurring in municipal conservation open spaces should therefore be allowed to obtain their food naturally and should not be deliberately fed or attracted by members of the public.
Human food such as bread, crisps and sweets is not suitable for them and can cause health problems.
Feeding also teaches wild animals to associate people with food, which can alter their natural behaviour and may eventually lead to animals becoming dependent on or aggressive towards people.
