eSwatini gov’t taken to court over quarantine of imported antelopes

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eSwatini gov’t taken to court over quarantine of imported antelopes

4:38 CAT | 09 Aug 2018

The government of eSwatini has been taken to court over its decision to quarantine for 30 days some 95 antelopes that were imported from South Africa by a conservation group.The quarantine condition was imposed by director of Veterinary Services in eSwatini Xolani Dlamini so that the antelopes are screened and cleared for illnesses that could pose a threat to other animals in the game reserve where they will be kept.

In the court papers, Big Game Parks (BGP) Trust expressed fears that the animals could die “due to exposure to injury while kept in confinement.”

“To confine the animals in an enclosure in the manner required by the condition would cause injuries and death, especially to the Tsessebe antelopes because they are highly aggressive,” BGP argued in court papers.

Dlamini is defending the government’s move, arguing that the isolation of the antelopes was necessary to protect the integrity of the country against animal diseases.

In 2017 the European Union suspended all meat imports from eSwatini for 10 months after the arrival of three buffalos that were presented to King Mswati III as a gift by Zambian President Edgar Lungu.

Source: APA